by Lisa Graves
Even though my heart started to race at the thought, I realized I was already halfway there. I was relaxed. I was happy. And I was warm and comfortable. I took a deep breath of the fresh air, filling my lungs completely. I slowly let it out and closed my eyes.
Holding completely still, I tried to become one with the earth. I visualized my body sinking into the grass and dirt below me. I noticed that thinking of myself and nature merging as one was making me the most relaxed I had ever been. I tried to delve into my mind and figure out how to let go.
I kept very still as I tried to project. Nothing happened. I felt like I was missing something. Like there was something Elliott forgot to mention. As far as I was concerned, I was doing the first part flawlessly. What did I leave out? I replayed his words again. Safe? Check. Comfortable? Check. Relax? Check. Worries melt away? Check. Let go? Nope.
I couldn’t help it, and I knew it wasn’t helping me, but I started to get frustrated. Lying there like some loon, trying to tap into my mind. I opened my eyes just so I could roll them at myself. Charlotte might be right after all. This certainly sounded crazy.
The sound of movement out by the headstones caught my attention. I sat up to see who, or what, was making the noise. Speak of the devil. Correction, think of the devil. Charlotte was headed right for me.
I rolled back onto my hoodie and tried my best to ignore her.
“I thought I’d find you here.” Yep. She sounded cheerful as ever.
I smirked. “Lovely to see you too Harlet. To what do I owe this pleasure?”
“Have you seen Nicholas?” She shot me a dirty look as she said his name. This girl was crazier than me if she thought that I would purposely bring on all this drama. “He keeps disappearing on me,” she added with a sigh.
I turned her words from the other day around and flung them at her. “Are you sure he isn’t a figment of your imagination?” Another smirk flashed across my face before I had a chance to hide it. I shouldn’t push her buttons, but it was too easy. Elliott was probably right. Nicholas was rubbing off. Anyway, in my opinion, she deserved it lately.
The dirty look she gave me got dirtier. “Have you seen him?” she repeated.
“Why does it matter?”
“I will not let you ruin this for me Lilly. Go play with your imaginary boy and leave Nicholas be!”
“I would love too!”
“What does that mean?”
“Has it crossed your mind that Nicholas might be the one that’s not leaving me alone?”
That stopped her for a fraction of a second, before she derived her own meaning from my words. Of course it was the wrong meaning. “So you are trying to steal him!”
“There’s no point in talking to you. Go stalk him!”
“I would if I knew where he was.” She smiled a sinister smile. “Maybe if I hang around you long enough he’ll come around.”
“That would be a good plan, except for the fact that I don’t like being around you. You are like a little dark rain cloud these days. I don’t want you tainting the air around me with your negative attitude!”
“I hate you Lilly Black!” Charlotte stomped off towards home.
I jumped up and screamed in frustration. I was never going to see Elliott at this rate. Charlotte was still irate for reasons beyond my control. I had a date with the wrong boy in less than an hour. And for the life of me I couldn’t get myself to let go. Whatever that meant!
I paced out into the cemetery part of my meadow and stewed for another ten minutes or so. I wanted to go home, but I wanted to be sure I didn’t run into Charlotte again. I didn’t feel like another confrontation right this minute. We were sure to have a fight if she ever found out about the date.
After waiting long enough that I shouldn’t run into Charlotte, I bolted home. I wasn’t in a particular hurry for my date, I just figured running might help expel some of the negative energy Charlotte had injected in me.
I ran all the way up my porch and didn’t stop until I was up the stairs to my room. I ditched my hoodie on my bedroom floor and realized I was sweaty and gross. I shouldn’t have ran. I grabbed a clean pair of jeans and tank top, and headed to the bathroom for a quick shower. Not that I was getting ready for my date. I just didn’t want to stink.
I was trying to hurry. I practically jumped in and out of the shower. I was quickly running gel through my hair when there was a knock at the bathroom door.
“Lilly?” It was my mom.
“Yeah?”
“Nicholas is here. He wants to know if you’re ready for your date?”
I groaned. “I’ll be right down mom.”
I did one final check to make sure I didn’t look like I had tried to get ready. Happy and satisfied that I looked normal as ever, I left the bathroom to go punch Nicholas. But when I saw him he looked so different, I forgot to.
He was waiting at the bottom of the stairs with a bouquet of gardenias. He had obviously gotten ready. His untidy shaggy blond hair was still untidy, but it was done on purpose. I could see he had product in his hair. He also had exchanged his usual t-shirt for a nice white button-up shirt. He did look nice, but he wasn’t Elliott.
My mom kept eyeing us. Switching from me, to Nicholas, then back to me. Nicholas handed me the flowers.
“I said no presents.”
“You could say thanks.”
I gave him a dirty look instead. I took the flowers and handed them to my mom. “Will you please put these in a vase for me?”
She was trying to read the emotions in the atmosphere. Nicholas’s was easy to read, unfortunately. But I sensed she didn’t understand where I was coming from. No one did. She finally answered, “Sure,” and went into the kitchen.
Yelling back to my mom, “I’ll be back later!” I followed Nicholas out the door.
I was surprised when I realized he drove here. He lives a whopping two blocks away, at most. I practically fell back in shock when he opened the passenger door for me. I hesitated, but got in the car. A deal’s a deal.
“Where are we going?” I asked Nicholas as he climbed into the drivers seat of his tan 1983 hand-me-down Mercedes.
He winked at me as we drove off. “It’s a surprise.”
Chapter 13. The Date
I saw my mom peak her head out the door as we drove off. She looked as bewildered as I felt, considering the stipulations I had put on this date. Not that Nicholas was listening to them. I had the flowers to prove it.
I didn’t know what he was up to, and that worried me.
I was quiet. I looked out the window as Nicholas drove north along the road that hugged the base of the mountain. Warm air blew in from the windows of the car. I noticed Nicholas kept looking over at my confused expression and smiling. He was enjoying this.
“So will you tell me where we’re going now?” I asked.
He looked at me and raised an eyebrow, “And ruin the surprise? No way!”
A few more minutes went by in silence before Nicholas made a right turn towards Dimpledell.
Dimpledell was a wealthy neighborhood set in the mountainside not fifteen minutes from where we lived. There were many million dollar homes and mansions set amongst the rocks, trees, and wildlife; but there were no restaurants. Why was he bringing me here?
I was becoming more and more perplexed with this date by the minute. But I wasn’t going to let him know that. He could probably read it on my face anyhow.
To my surprise, Nicholas turned up what looked like a private drive. As far as I knew he didn’t know anyone that lived up here. How could he? He was always with me.
The pavement ended in a circle turnabout. But there wasn’t a house at the end of the drive, as I had expected. Nicholas pulled to the side of the turnabout and parked the car.
“Ready for our date?” he said with a grin.
I rolled my eyes. “If we must.”
“We must.” He wasn’t the least bit hindered by my lack of enthusiasm.
We both got out of the car. He ran around to the
back and popped the trunk open. He then joined me on the passenger side carrying a gigantic picnic basket. At least he listened to one of the rules. With his free hand, Nicholas grabbed mine and led me to a trail that you could only find if you knew where it was. I would never have spotted it from the pavement.
It wasn’t a long hike. Or difficult. We didn’t talk as we walked. Nicholas knew I appreciated silence, and I could tell he was doing everything he could to make me happy. Instead of feeling awkward, as I had expected, I felt relaxed. Nicholas had that affect on me. I watched the last rays of sun filter through the trees and light the trail in speckles of white. Not ten minutes into the hike I could hear something that sounded like water up ahead.
The sun was setting fast and I started to worry if we would be able to find our way back in the dark. Just as I was about to voice my concern to Nicholas he stopped us on the trail and set down the basket.
“Are we there?” I asked, though this particular place on the trail didn’t look like it would be our destination. There were too many trees.
“Not quite hoe,” he winked at me, and pulled a flashlight from the basket. Looks like he’d thought of everything. I swallowed my concerns. Internally I cringed. Nicholas must have had this planned for a long time. He recaptured my hand as we made our way further up the trail.
Dusk had officially engulfed the valley. The white light specks that had lit the path were fading to dark pink in the sunset. Thank goodness for the flashlight. There was a certain edginess to my thoughts. I realized that I was excited to see where we were going. The anticipation was getting to me and I could clearly hear water now. We must be by a stream.
The earlier irritation had been replaced with intrigue. However, my feelings for Nicholas hadn’t changed as easily. We had been walking for about twenty minutes when I noticed a flickering of light up ahead. It seemed to come from behind the dark shadowy trees, casting long shadows that reached out for me. Where could light be coming from? We were on a freak’in mountain.
I looked at Nicholas with a confused expression on my face. He was all grins. Moments later, we stepped into our destination.
It was a small clearing tucked next to the mountain face. The black, rocky wall curved around in a semicircle and rose up sharp on two sides. Within the rock, I could barely make out a shallow cave. Water fell off the steep ledge above, creating a little waterfall. It pooled out in a circle a few feet larger than a jacuzzi where it hit the earth. The overflow of water created the stream I heard as we came up the mountain. And there was light, it just wasn’t bright.
Nicholas must have come here before collecting me for our date. Three lanterns were already lit and strategically placed around his blanket from the cellar and tucked in the cave. It was so sweet.
I looked at Nicholas with shock and surprise all over my face. Unfortunately, I needed to work on hiding my emotions better, especially when it falsely encouraged a certain blond headed friend.
“You said no restaurants, so you’re going to have to settle with PB & J. I also brought Dr. Pepper and some soda crackers.” He shrugged as he sat down on the blanket and started to ransack the basket. “If you want.”
The amount of effort he’d put into this was heartbreaking. Especially since I was sure to break his. My feelings for Elliott only seemed to strengthen with time. And it wasn’t just the three days. Elliott had hundreds of years on Nicholas, I could feel it when I was with him. We were meant to be together. We had always been together. Yet here I was on a date with Nicholas. I sat down on the blanket beside him. Life is never easy.
“What do you think Lil?”
“I think this place is. . .” I should lie, I thought, but the truth came out, “amazing.” His smile got bigger. “How did you find it?” I asked.
“Some kids in my history class were talking about it awhile ago.” He handed me a sandwich. “Do you like the waterfall? I think it’s romantic.” He winked at me.
I shrugged my shoulders and took a bite. “If you’re into that sort of thing.” Which I was.
Again we were quiet. We ate our sandwiches and drank our sodas listening to the music of the waterfall beside us. Finally, the hard part of the date began.
“Lilly?” There was a shift in the tone of Nicholas’s voice that immediately put me on edge.
“Yeah?”
“Will you be my girlfriend?”
I looked up at him in surprise. Nicholas wasn’t ever this forward. He was usually shy. I was shocked when he just sat there looking at me while he waited for my reply. He didn’t even divert his eyes. But I wasn’t as ballsy. Suddenly, the waterfall seemed to captivate my attention.
I tried to be diplomatic. “I told you that wouldn’t be a good idea.”
“Because of Charlotte.”
“Yeah.”
“But that’s not the real reason you don’t want to be with me, is it?”
I started to squirm and bit my lip. I looked at Nicholas. He didn’t look uncomfortable either. Where did all of this confidence come from? He took my leg closest to him by the ankle and proceeded to cuff my pant leg up to my knees.
“What are you doing?”
“Cuffing.”
“So I see.” I couldn’t keep my eyes on his for long. The water proved a good diverter.
He didn’t explain further.
“Are you going to answer my question Lil?”
I looked down at a nearby rock. “Probably not.”
That’s when I noticed how he touched me. It was the same as that night I’d fallen asleep crying in his arms, like I was extremely fragile. It confused me. According to me, I was tuff. Once I was cuffed to his apparent satisfaction, Nicholas stood and pulled me up with him.
“Was there a point to that?” I asked.
“Yep.” He smiled in the lamplight, and pointed at the water.
It wasn’t until he sat down at the edge of the water and dropped his legs in that I realized the point of the cuffing. He patted the ground and I reluctantly took my place beside him. The waterfall fell down a few feet from our dangling legs. The mist tickled my nose.
“What’s the matter Lil? I thought you’d like this.”
“I do.” I said with a frown.
“You’re going to have to try harder at faking it then. I know when you’re lying.” He grabbed my hand and gave it a squeeze. It didn’t matter how hard Nicholas tried, he wasn’t the one for me.
I looked at my captive hand, then at Nicholas. “What’s with this desire to be boyfriend/girlfriend all of a sudden?”
He lightly kicked his feet in the water. “It’s not all of a sudden Lil. You just haven’t been picking up on all of my subtle hints. I figured it was time to be a bit more assertive. Especially since some other guy is trying to steal you away from me.”
Elliott isn’t some other guy. And he doesn’t have to try.
Instead of argue with Nicholas, I tried to pay more attention to where we were. I looked up at the little trickling waterfall and how it made the small, but deep, pool of water our feet were splashing in. “How deep is this?” I asked.
“Don’t try and change the subject.”
I rolled my eyes before looking back into his. “So are we just going to talk about things that aren’t going to happen or is there an activity that goes along with this torture?” I gestured around at the incredibly romantic setting and grimaced. The oil lamps flickered a soft glow on the scene. The subject was changed.
Nicholas laughed at my theatrics. “So you’re saying I’m good at wooing?”
I wasn’t about to answer. I rolled my eyes and again tried to see from how high the water was falling.
“What would you like to do Lilly?”
“I dunno. It’s too dark for hiking... what did you have planned?”
He smiled at my question.
“What?”
“Nothing.” He rolled his brown eyes.
“Nicholas.”
“You shot down my plans for the evening, unless you woul
d still like to make-out with me? I’m happy to let you test drive the merchandise before committing to anything big like being my girlfriend.” He gestured to his lips as he mock puckered up.
“Yep. Too bad that is out,” I teased.
We resumed the quiet contemplation as we both watched our feet splash in the water. It was too dark to be sure, but the water looked really deep. And for some unknown reason I really wanted, no needed, to know how deep the bottom was. I held the ledge with my hands as I plunged my toes deeper into the inky darkness.
“You want to swim Lil? I didn’t bring swimsuits... we could skinny dip,” he shrugged. “If you want?”
I looked at him and scowled. “I do not want. I was just trying to see how deep it goes.”
“Oh.” He looked at the black water with me. “Want to find out?”
I gave him a get real look.
“Come on Lil.” He took off his shirt as he spoke, muffling his words. “You’ve been extra uptight lately. A little adventure would do you some good.”
I tried not to look at his bare chest, but I couldn’t help myself. It must have been a long time since I really looked at Nicholas. He was no longer the scrawny little neighborhood boy I grew up with. Sometime since I last paid attention, he had actually turned into a good looking guy. He held his hands at his jean shorts top button, but paused to look at me from behind his shaggy blond hair. I swear my heart paused too. “Just kidding hoe.” Nicholas lowered himself, shorts and all, into the water.
He still hadn’t let go of the edge when he looked up at me sitting there. “You coming in or what?”
What the hell, I thought. I had already cleared up the issue of our relationship. A little swimming with my friend couldn’t hurt. Besides, I was dying to know how deep the water was. I turned around and supported my weight with my arms as I lowered my fully clothed self down into the water. My toes kept feeling for a ledge or the bottom, anything to stand on, but they never touched anything of substance. I ended up having to cling to the rocky edge.
Once in, I looked over at Nicholas who was also clinging to a rock. “Don’t tell me you can’t touch either. You’ve got at least a foot on me.”
