The Understorey, Book One of The Leaving Series (13 page)

She thought about it for a moment.

“No son, I can’t say that I have,” she looked
at me strangely, “but everyone feels attraction differently, I
think, honey. Your daddy and I had our own little way of knowing
who we were to one another that only we could distinguish.”

My dad, whom we thought wasn’t listening,
poured himself a cup of coffee in the corner of the kitchen and
chimed in.

    “Don’t listen to her son,
we fell in love just like everyone else. Sounds to me like it was
just the hormones,” he playfully answered.

“He’s lyin’ through his teeth Elliott. That
man was a fool for me then, just as he is now.”

He walked out of the room smiling without a
peep of disagreement. He knew she was right.   

“Well, it sounds to me like it was quite a
day for you. You hungry? Oh! What am I sayin’? You just ate. Well,
you go to bed sweetheart and we’ll talk more tomorrow.”

She stood and kissed the top of my head, but
before she left, declared, “I love you Elliott, very much. Remember
the rules darlin’.” She pointed at me. “You treat her as a lady,
always. You handle her with kid gloves young man, she’s
precious.”

“Yes, ma’am.” I nodded.

Then she strolled down the hallway through
the living room on her light feet to the master bedroom. She turned
right before opening her door.
    “Is she the
student
you were having
trouble with baby?”
    “She was.”
She turned with a smile and opened the door to her bedroom.

I woke an hour earlier than usual and rang
Julia to let her know to anticipate me at seven-thirty, an hour
before school. I knew it wouldn’t wake her mom or her dad as they
would have been at work at six a.m., along with my dad. She
answered and her voice impressed on me like freshly baked bread,
warm and soft.

 “Hello?” she said, half asleep.
 “Miss Jacobs? It’s Elliott.”
 “I know who it is,” she laughed.
 “You may expect me at seven-thirty this morning.” I detached
all formality and almost whispered the rest, “I’m calling this
early because I don’t know how much time girls need to get ready
and wanted to cover all my bases.”
She laughed, whether it was with me or at me I’m not sure, and
agreed to be ready by
seven
o’clock, and told me not to be
late. She had gumption and I loved that.
I showed up at her house at six fifty-five on the dot. The sun
hadn’t even shown, which was my plan. My headlights shone brightly
onto her home and I watched as she locked her door. I left the
truck running and ran up her porch. I took her backpack from her
and guided her to the other side of the truck, opened the passenger
door for her and threw her bag, with mine, in the bed. When I
stepped in, she was buckling her seat belt.

“Hi,” she said flirtatiously.

“Hi,” I said, trying to hide my smile.

“We have an hour and half before school
starts. Whatcha’ got planned?”

“I thought we’d watch the sun rise, but I’m
keeping the location a
secret
,” I told her.

    “That’s a perfectly
respectable thing to do Elliott Gray.”
    “I know.”

The corners of her mouth gradually turned up
as my truck chased the road. I took a backward way to throw her off
but once we got close, she knew.

“Our creek,” she said. “Very clever Elliott.
Since you like surprises so much, consider yourself ambushed.”

She removed a CD from a plastic case and
twisted it in her fingers before popping it in.

“A gift, a small one, really. It’s a mixed CD
of all my favorite songs. I made it for you after you dropped me
off last night.”

When she’d said that, my throat became dry
and I swallowed hard. The words sang through my head and settled
softly in my heart. I really liked the idea of her thinking of me
when I wasn’t around.

The only thing new in my truck was the stereo
my Uncle Danny and Aunt Becky had bought me for Christmas the year
before. I reminded myself that I needed to call them up later and
earnestly thank them for the gift again.

Jules had drawn on the CD case an intricate
illustration of an antique typewriter with a piece of parchment in
its platen. On the parchment, written in tiny letters were the
songs and their artists in the order that they played. Did I
mention Jules is an amazing artist and painter?

The first song began to play and I slammed
the truck to an abrupt stop. She grabbed the dashboard and looked
over at me.

“What?” She asked.

“That’s my favorite song,” I said.

It was an obscure English band that the
British had barely heard of, let alone more than one person in some
random little town in West Virginia.

“It’s mine as well.”

There was no use on dwelling on it any more
than that. We’d gotten used to the unusual by then. I pressed the
accelerator gently so as not to startle her more than I had and
when we arrived at the creek bed, we worked the quarter mile
through the brush and sat on the large rock bridge we used to play
a lot on as kids. I hadn’t been there in years and I didn’t
remember it being so magnificent.

Smooth and soft from thousands of years worth
of water carving out its intricate form, it sat as a natural bridge
between both sides of the creek bank. Water trickled down the
cascading hill of rocky matter underneath it and joined the main
body of water several feet below. The greenest, wet moss surrounded
the stone, as if someone had laid a soft blanket on the flat of it
but the wind grabbed hold and blew it to the sides. The quilted
moss hugged the rock tightly, foolishly trying to avoid getting
wet.

Above, hovered the thickest canopy of green
trees and foliage that camouflaged the sky leaving a gap just wide
enough for the sun to appear. It smelled sweet and clean and
earthy. Its trilling stream wept down the rock bed, tears splashing
into each other, finally whirling together and funneling its way
back to its tamer companion. The only other thing audible to me was
the obnoxious static of my own heart beating from my chest. I
painfully hoped that the beating of the water against the rocks was
loud enough that my heart wouldn’t betray how vulnerable and
intimidated I truly felt.

She sat close to me and stared into the water
below. I ordered myself to wrap my arm around her but it laid
feebly by my side.

“Elliott?” she asked.

 “Yeah Jules?”
 “Tell me something interesting.”
I cleared my throat, “Okay,” I laughed a little, nervous, “I have
dreams of becoming a physician, of donating my time to countries
where medical attention is needed most.”
 “Wow Elliott. I have to say, I’m a little shocked.”
 “I know, I’m a little shocked myself actually,” I smiled, but
became more serious, “I’m smarter than I look Jules.”
 “I didn’t mean it that way Elliott. It’s just, well, I never
once saw you participate in class last year.”
 “That’s because I’m bored half the time.”
 “I can see that now. You were always turning in your tests in
half the time of the rest of the class. I just assumed you were
turning in blanks.” She couldn’t help but laugh.
 “Is that so? Had you been
watching
me Julia
Jacobs?”
 “No,” she blushed, “I, that is, I mean, I’m not gonna’
lie
. You are sort of
attractive
,” she dug folded
hands between her outstretched knees. “You were sort of hard to
miss.”
 “I knew it! You think I’m hot!”
Emphatically, she protested, “Trust me Elliott Gray. I never gave
you a second thought until that first day so you can get over
yourself!”
I laughed.
    “Yeah, not
jus
t a second thought. A
third, then a fourth, etc., etc.”
    “You’re starting to get a little too confident
for my taste.”
 “Whatever Jules, I know the truth. I see it in your eyes. If
you could, you’d rush me this second and plant a kiss on my face
and you know it.”
If you don’t, I will
, I thought.

She began to protest but I jabbed my shoulder
into hers and she accepted my non-verbal apology with a smirk. I
grabbed her hand and we watched the sun rise in silence. Well,
accept for the static bits of electricity entangling themselves
around the face of the rock beneath us but we were getting awfully
used to the sight of that.

We took in the bits of lilac, pink, and
crimson glittering above the treetops. Jules pressed her shoulder
into mine and an intense stirring current thrummed through my
torso. She sighed deeply from content and my chest rose and fell in
harmony with hers. The only thought spinning through my head was
how I was going to find a way to spend every waking minute with her
and then, how we were going to rationalize it.
    “It’s so beautiful don’t you think Elliott?” She
asked, staring at the nature around her.
    “Not as beautiful as you are Jules.”
I was only half-joking.
    “I can’t believe you just said that,” she
laughed, “What? Read a book of bad romantic one liners before you
came out this morning?”
    “It was bad. I admit, but as cheesy as it was
Jules, it doesn’t make it any less true,” I said.
The flush started to seep up my neck and into my face.
    “Well, as cheesy as it was,” she concurred, “you
should know that I love cheese. In fact, it goes really well with
the blush you’re wearing right now.”
She threw her shoulder deeper into mine.
    “Really? You think so? I’m really bad at this,
if you haven’t noticed.”
We both laughed.
    “I’ve noticed,” she laughed. “What was that
about my teeth being mistaken for a horse’s?”
I buried my cherry red face in my hands and groaned. I lay back on
the stone and laughed. I moved my hands and looked up at a smiling
Jules.
    “I, uh, resort to accidental insults when I’m
nervous, I guess.”
    “I don’t want to admit it, but I almost died
laughing when I got to my car after school. I held it in as long as
I could.”
    “Oh my gosh. That is so embarrassing.”
    “Nah, not as embarrassing as your genetically
altered vegetable comment.”
She laughed until she fell onto the stone next to me. I covered my
face in humiliation.
    “Please Jules! Don’t remind me!”
    “It’s okay. I’m loathe to confess it but I was
incredibly charmed by you that day.”

“Thanks Jules. You know? I’ve never dated
anyone like you. Truth is, I’ve never dated anyone really. I’m
trying really hard......Perhaps, a little too hard?”

I rubbed the back of my neck trying to
distribute the blood but she wasn’t fooled. She grabbed my hand and
laid it in her lap. She traced the outlines of my palm and fingers.
It tickled, but not on my hand, this time in my stomach. I could
feel it rising into my throat and messing with my head. I could
barely concentrate.

“It’s not possible to try too hard Elliott.
Truth is, every girl deserves someone who tries hard. Personally, I
couldn’t spend time with anyone unless they did. When I start to
date someone,” she cleared her throat, “they need to be as
fervently interested in me as I am in them. I wouldn’t take
anything less, because that’s what I deserve and so do you.”

    “I will never stop trying
hard Jules. Never.”
    “Neither will I.”

“Here comes the sun, Jules.”

The next day, I picked Jules up for school. It was Friday and just
happened to be my first game of the season. I was nervous about
asking Jules to come to my game. I couldn’t have imagined her not
being there now that we were together and I was quickly becoming
aware of whom she really was to me.

“Good morning sweetheart,” she said, locking
her front door.

“Good morning dear.”

I grabbed her bag for her and threw it into
the bed of the truck along with mine, then helped her into the cab.
On our way to school, I decided to just come out with it.
    “So, uh, today’s my first game.” Well come out
with half of it, at least.
She had her right elbow rested on the car door and was running her
fingers through a large curl. She turned her head toward me and
smiled.
    “I know.”
She kept her smile wide and her green eyes on mine.
    “Well, are you gonna’ make me beg Jules?”
    “No, there’s no need baby.”
    “So you’ll be there?” I asked, hopeful yet
skeptical.
    She laughed out loud. “I didn’t quite say
that
Elliott.”
    “Jules! Come on! Please?” I begged anyway,
knowing full well that Jules didn’t do
anything
she didn’t
want to.
She was a firecracker, literally and figuratively.
    “I would love nothing more than to watch you
play, but I have a feeling that showing people at school who we are
to each other today will cause enough of a brouhaha. Let’s take
this one step at a time, shall we?”
    “By people, do you mean Taylor Williams? And
Marisa Hartford?”
    “And Jesse Thomas doesn’t seem to be that fond
of me either. I just don’t want to ruffle any feathers. If you lost
this game, they’d all be screaming ‘Yoko’ my direction until we
graduated. Football is like a religion here baby and I’m not too
keen on being the only one labeled sacrilegious.”
    “Jules, that’s the most ridiculous thing I’ve
ever heard but listen, although I’d
love
it if  you
came, I can’t nor do I want to make you.”
That was a lie. If I could have made her, I would have.
    “Thank you sweetheart. Don’t worry. I’ll be
cheering, no pun intended, for you from our kitchen table at home.
Old reliable local channel nineteen.”
    “The kitchen table?” I asked, puzzled.
    “Yeah,” she laughed, “it’s the only room in the
house with a television.”
    “Oh my gosh, your mom is hilarious!”
    “I know. Honestly, she seems really harsh around
the edges but deep down she is extremely kind and by far is one of
the most intelligent women I know.”
That took me utterly by surprise.

“I didn’t know that Jules. I really look
forward to getting to know her better then. I assumed that you were
nothing like her. I guess I assumed wrong. The way you describe her
makes me think you’re a lot like her.”