Pure Blood

  Chapter 27

  Tom and Rebekah were in the front yard. Rebekah was showing Tom how she could grow plants with her hands. Rebekah had placed her hands over Tom’s and together a sea flower sprouted between their fingers. Tom smiled at Rebekah.

  “Bek.” He placed his hand on her cheek. It was warm. Rebekah loved it when he said her name. He leaned closer to her. She closed her eyes as their lips met. They only parted once when Tom whispered her name again. She ran her hands through his black hair, feeling the bandana. The kiss intensified, both of them lost. Then Tom pulled away from her. She opened her eyes and looked at him. He leaned toward her again, but this time he placed his cheek next to hers, their skin touching. “Bek.” She closed her eyes as a chill ran down her spine. “Keep me.” She slowly nodded her head as he kissed her neck. “Hold me.” He kissed her ear and moved to her lips. “Love me.” He kissed her lips again. They sat there kissing on the ground, unaware that the flower had grown. It continued growing and only stopped when their lips parted.

  All of the boys had their shirts off, their bare chests wet with sweat. The girls were sweating also, but not as much. They were all helping as they started to build the school. It took a long time for them to dig out enough dirt to lay the bricks and stone for the basement. It took even longer as they lay the block down, the sun beating down on their backs. By the end of the day, they had gotten on layer down.

  “Not bad for one day.” They were all tired and hot. They headed down to the beach and took a swim, cooling off. They were all full of laughter as they swam in the cool water. The summer was ending and they made the most of the last few days they had together. Holidee noticed Rip staring out over the ocean while the others were splashing water at each other. She walked over to him.

  “Hey.” She placed a hand on his cheek, bringing him back down to earth. He turned and looked at her.

  “Hey.”

  “What’re you doing over here all by yourself? Come join the fun.”

  “Maybe later.” He looked at the ocean again.

  “Are you okay, Rip?” He smiled slowly as he looked at her.

  “Yeah. I’m perfect.” He turned back to the ocean. “Holidee?” She looked up at him. “I’m gonna be a teacher at this school, right?”

  “Of course.”

  “And I’ll help build it. But once it’s built, I need to do something before you open the school.”

  “Okay. What do you need to do?”

  “Just something between the ancestors and I. Don’t worry about it.” Then he faced Holidee again. “C’mon, let’s go join the fun.” She smiled and they walked over to where the others were still have a water fight. They joined in. They all swam until the sun set over the horizon and left them in the darkness. Then they walked back up to the house and fell asleep in their warm beds.