Cerulean Found

Chapter 12 - Onward

I have no idea what time it is when the rain finally ceases and bright sunshine streaks down into the cave. "I guess we should go," Josh says as he hands me back my floppy hat.

I nod, sad that our time together in the cave is now over. He lets go of my hand and pulls the towel from around us and stands up. I reluctantly crawl back to my rock, the one where I was sitting. I grab my straw bag and shove the towel inside of it.

Josh reaches for my hand and helps me up. I am pleased to see that he leaves his fingers intertwined with mine.

We leave the cave and walk the short distance back to the trail. My feet sink several inches every time they touch the muddy ground. I noticed that the air is much more humid than before.

"Where are we going?" I ask when Josh starts back down on the trail. "Back to the resort" Josh stated. "Aren't you going to take me wherever it was we were heading to before it started raining?" I inquire.

He thinks for a moment before answering. "I thought you would want to go home."

"I do, but not now. You brought me on this hike and said you wanted to show me something. Now that we're out here, I want to see it," I say. He grins. "Besides, my family will be shopping in the town, if I get back too early, I'll be alone," I add.

"Alright. We can continue on, if you insist," he says. "I do," I state. "Then, it's settled. Up we go," he says as he turns and leads me up the trail.

I have no idea where we were walking to. The path seems to go on forever. The sound of waves crashing is audible on both sides of us now, which only makes me even more confused as to where we are.

As we walk, I begin to realize that I don't know anything about Josh beside the fact that he is a boy who lives on a boat with his dad. His life is a complete mystery to me.

"Where are you from?" I ask, determined to learn as much as I can about this cute boy.

"North Carolina, born and raised," he states proudly. "Is that where you live? Abbo said that you only are on Jalukka part of the year," I ask.

"Yeah. My parents are divorced, so I live with my mom in Asheville during the school year and then I spend summers and some holidays here with my dad," he explains. "Why does your dad live down here," I ask. "After my parents got divorced, I was like 5, my dad quit his job in finance and sold everything so that he could move here. He wanted to get away from North Carolina, and my mom's family," he says. "You have to understand, he never wanted a job in finance, it was too constricting and I think too soul crushing. He's more of a free spirit. You'll see what I mean when you meet him," he says.

The thought of me meeting Josh's dad startles me. Why did he even mention that? Does that mean he likes me? I wonder.

"The suit and tie, 9-5 job just wasn't for him, but he did it for my mom because her dad, my grandfather, didn't think he was good enough," he states matter of factly.

"Oh, that's too bad," I reply. "Yea, my mom came from money, and my dad didn't. He was from a hard working class family in Baltimore. My mom never worked. She never had to. I think that's why they broke up. He really didn't like the money, it's not what motivated him and my mom loves nice things. They were just too different and trying to be people they weren't. So dad came down here for a fresh start and to pursue his dream. You see, he always loved the water and wanted to sail, but my mom and her parents always thought it was just a phase or a hobby. Little did they know that it was his passion. His whole life. What I remember most about when my parents were still together, is all of the time we spent at our house on Lake Lure. Whenever we were there, we were on the water... and we were there a lot." Josh states.