Nate's head is buried into his iPad and his headphones are in their usual place, wedged into his ears. I stop about a three feet away from the little circle that they had formed around the large tree in the center of campus.Trent smiles up at me when he sees me standing in front of him and the rest of his friends. His braces catch the sunlight as he does and I have to squint my eyes. "Hello Trent," I politely say returning his smile. My eyes scan to Gavin who has frozen with his sandwich brought halfway to his mouth. Nate's body goes rigid when he hears my voice but his face lifts up towards the sun. "Gavin," I add my eyes narrowing with humor. Then I manage to smile at Molly. "Hey," I say to her before I add, "mind if I sit?" My voice is off, more timid than usual but I am hoping they don't notice. They look around their little circle, eyes speaking for them. I shuffle my feet against the dirt, my lunch tray in hand, waiting to be accepted. My focus is mainly on the boy leaning ag
The night is chilly and my light denim jacket is not cutting it. I am also not wearing the right shoes to walk in mud. The constant drizzle of autumn is falling upon us and my white Chucks are hating me for it. "Why are we walking so far out?" I ask as I move a branch out of my face. I hold it back until Nate has passed by as well. We have been walking through what is known by the public as Lover's Land, an open grassy field that is surrounded by forest which can easily hide the canoodling bodies that inhabit it on Friday nights. I've never considered it a creepy place until tonight. The moon is only a sliver in the sky, casting a shadow over the black painted scenery that is soon going to launch a homemade matchstick rocket. My stomach is in knots from the what-ifs of endless scenarios. I arrived to Nate's extra early to drive him here and watched carefully as they assembled it. Nothing seemed to be ammiss. I know what to look for. "You don't want to start a forest fire, do you?"
Cupping both of his cheeks, I press my lips against his, savoring the gasp that leaves his mouth when I do so. I swallow it and my mind turns hazy. I instantly want more. I slant my mouth over his, grabbing at his neck to pull him closer. Nate's hands immediately find their way to my waist, the one zone I first showed him was okay to touch me, and I smile against his lips. I press myself closer to him and enjoy the way his lean body feels against mine. His large hands mindlessly squeeze my sides pulling me even closer. I smile again. Happiness is the main emotion I feel when I'm with Nate. Lust is a close second. As I push my tongue against his, I am lit up once again at the response I get, all darkness around us forgotten. His hands press harder against my lower back and I am now flush against him. I wrap both of my arms around his neck and hold him close. Our breathing has turned frantic. Our hands grab at each others clothing, my hands raking down his chest while his fingers gra
Everyone is looking.All attention is on Nate and me as I step out of my car and walk over to his side. He opened the door himself but I am right there to grab onto his hand to walk into the school. It's comical really, how everyone's heads are turned and their eyes and mouths are wide open. Danny and some friends stand in the grass, tossing a football around like they do most mornings, staring, watching, most possibly in shock as Nate and I stroll hand in hand by them. The football hits Danny in the side of the shoulder as he is caught off guard at our public outing. I try my best not to make eye contact because though I feel slightly uncomfortable at the moment, I feel more proud to have Nate holding my hand in public. This was a large step from the shy, timid, boy who stuttered his first and fifth sentence to me. "I don't have to have working eyes to know everyone is looking at us," Nate says low in his throat, his head ducked closer to my ear as we walk across the front court.
Forty minutes.Nate is forty minutes late.I sit outside the Haynes' house on their front steps contemplating on calling Nate for the tenth time. Where is he? I had knocked on the door almost an hour ago and Tim answered, no longer surprised to see me when I did this. He had said Nate went to the library, which shouldn't have me worried, but it did. He knew we had our date tonight and knowing Nate, his punctual self would have been here. He didn't seem like someone who would stand me up.I check my phone again, sighing when it goes straight to voicemail. Bright headlights turn the corner and I stand up. The car screeches to a halt in front of Nate's house and I begin to walk towards it. Molly steps out of the car. At first, jealousy rears its ugly head and I stop in mid stride. What was she doing here? Movement out of the corner of my eyes near the passenger seat catches my attention and for a second I stop breathing. My chest tightens to the point it feels like fire sears straigh
"Thank you, Dr. Henderson. Thank you so much." Lucy sniffles and Tims arm tightens around her shoulder. She then turns to me and mouths a thank you as well. But I look away. I don't deserve her gratitude. "Kelly, are you coming home?" My dad asks as he walks down the stairs. "I want to see Nate really fast," I say looking up towards his parents for their consent. Lucy smiles tightly at me and I can tell she would like to talk to me about tonight but what she doesn't know is that I have no clue. Molly is already gone out the door. "Okay." My father's eyes stay too long on my face and I move away from him before he can read my expression. "Don't bother them for much longer. It looks to have been a rough night." He walks passed me but before he shuts the door behind him, he looks back at me. "And do you mind if I take my baby back so that you don't get blood on her seats?" He winks, as if to lighten the mood, and I toss him the keys to his pickup that Nate requested for our date tonig
The last time I was even this far out of town had been the night Alyssa and I decided we wanted to skinny dip in Lover's Lake, a sad excuse of a puddle about a mile from Lover's Land. It had reminded me of a horror film or maybe even Jaws, which we both joked about while wading in the gross, dark pond water. It hid our rebelling bodies well and it had freaked me out because I couldn't see what was under me.It had been a pretty exhilarating night until Danny and Ryan had figured out where we were and stole our clothing. That had been an interesting night home. And they knew I was afraid of the dark. But glancing over at the person beside me made all my worries fade away. Most of his injuries have faded from a pungent purple to a tauny yellow. He no longers grimaces when he moves. It only took a few weeks. "If I remember right there's a sign that says Private Property right before the road ends. You can pull onto that road and then park in one of the fields," Nate instructs. "Don't
Although I know he is uncomfortable when I compliment him, I don't retract my hand but instead brush a curl that circled his ear off his skin. "I'm scared too," I admit and lay back down. This time, I'm the one that's uncomfortable. I wasn't scared of much, but this kid, the wonderfully amazing guy has me in a constant spiral. The stars above us twinkle and Nate has yet to speak."Do you ever wonder if the stars talk back?" I roll my head in Nate's direction and try my hardest to connect his eyes with mine. He doesn't answer, but gazes at me with no particular destination. His breathing is still labored under his hands crossed over his chest.I continue before my brain can get sidetracked by his eyes, desperate for a change of subject where I don't feel so vulnerable."When I was little I was morbidly obsessed with death. I spent a lot of time with my grandparents and when my grandpa passed away I had constantly asked where we go when we die. Every person had had the same answer: H