Chapter 6
As our lips touched I gave Austin's shoulders a hard shove. I had just met him! He gave me a confused and hurt look. I felt like slapping him, and if he tried that again it would happen! I stood up, as did he. I marched off into the woods, ignoring the fact that that damn stalker was following me. I let out a huge puff of air as we left ear shot distance of the others. "Look. I don’t know what the heck made you think we were like that, but we aren’t!" I yelled. I could barely see the brightly lit fire, so I was hoping the others couldn't hear us.
He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. He replied, "I'm sorry... I just thought you liked me too, and it’s not like we're little kids or anything!"
"Little kids? No. No Austin we aren't. And I don't know about you, but I'm only thirteen!" I flared, the control of my temper hanging on by a thread.
Austin looked at me like I was crazy. "Thirteen! You guys are only thirteen? Holy shit!" he exclaimed.
"If that surprises you so much then how about you tell me how old you guys are?" I yelled. Thirteen is a young age, but he was acting like we were three!
"Fifteen. Yeah. I'm fifteen and I just kissed a thirteen year old. Dammit!" he hissed.
"He is a fifteen year old? He looked our age!" I thought to myself.
"I have friends back there that would gladly break your back. So I wouldn't push it if I were you." I stated. I started to walk past him but he reached out and grabbed my shoulder. I tried to get loose, but when I did it felt like I was just making his grip firmer, which, at this point felt impossible. Dylan, the son of a Strength was one thing, but an actual Strength -a young one at that- was about ten times worse. "Will you just let me go? God you’re a stalker!" I yelled, letting loose of my temper. No water or suds came surprisingly.
"Break my back?" Austin chuckled. He let go of my shoulder, but blocked my path so that I couldn't go back to my friends. "I'd LOVE to see them try!" he grinned. Now he had done it. Water started foaming out of my palm. He saw this and stepped aside. Shockingly he didn't follow me, just turned off in another direction.
I pulled my jacket tightly around me. I was slightly disturbed. A boy that I had met just this morning had tried to kiss me, a fifteen-year-old boy at that. As I was walking back to where my friends were enjoying a deep slumber I began to cry. I bit my lip, trying to control the noise and tears. I had it almost completely managed when I made it back to them, but there sat Emily trying to control a miserable looking Brooke Gaddis. I looked at Brooke and my tears just erupted. I couldn't stand it anymore. I had been fighting my emotions since we left home over twenty-four hours ago. I was a girl who cried easily. When my tears exploded I tried to control the noise, not wanting the guys to see me. Emily rushed over and pulled me into a fierce hug. She shed a few tears, but not as many as I did.
When my tears began to subside Emily held me out at shoulder's length. "Where were you?" she asked. I knew she must be curious with two people missing.
I sat down next to the fire and patted a spot on the ground next to me. She sat down too, and stared patiently into the fire as I found my words. "You can't tell anyone. Not even Jessie." I told her. I watched Brooke fall back to sleep as I let out the words.
"OK. Please just tell me." Emily replied, her last word almost swallowed by a yawn. When she stopped yawning I started to explain,
"I couldn't fall asleep and I thought everyone else was asleep so I sat up. But when I did so did Austin. He scooted over to me and. and. and he-" I stopped mid-sentence not knowing how to put this into words. Emily looked over at me, her expression urging me on.
I took a deep breath, "He tried to kiss me Emily. I shoved him off and headed into the woods, but he followed me. We fought a little and he’s fifteen. Both of them are." I finished. There was no point in telling her the details, mostly because she probably didn't want to hear them any way. I wiped off my soaked face with my jacket sleeve. Emily looked over at me, shocked. I nodded my head and sighed. Emily is the only person in the world I would have told that to. I loved my other friends too, but Emily was different.
Emily hugged my shoulders and I reached up my arms and hugged back. When she went to the other side of the fire and lay down again I relaxed back against my "pillow". The last thing I saw before I drifted to sleep was Austin walking back to our little camp and laying down.
I woke to the sunlight pouring through the tree branches overhead. The birds in the trees had already begun their song, and the stream was making a beautiful sound (to my ears) as the water splashed up against the dirt bank. I propped up on my elbows and looked around. Jessie was already awake, and so were Mallory, Dylan, Ethan, and that boy Skye. Jessie noticed I was awake and walked over. I stood up and gave her a small "Good morning." She nodded and walked over to the stream, looking curiously into the crystal clear water. I walked over, seeing that the fire was already out. I patted her back.
"What’s it like to love such a thing as water?" she murmured. I almost laughed, but I knew it was a real question.
"I've asked the exact same thing about fire, electricity, and all the others." I answered, a smile creeping across my face, "But if you really want to know..."
"No. It's fine," she answered. I stared down at her. Jessie was a good four inches shorter than me, and had been for as long as I've known her. Jessie was a good friend, someone that you go to when you need laughs, or to go to when you need to be reminded of the rules. Jessica Garrett was my conscience. The one I came to for many things. I loved Jessie, as I did with all of my other friends. All of my friends are different, and Jessie just happened to be one of them.
Jessie had rules about hugs. She didn't liked to be touched, as I didn't like to be touched by people I didn't know. Jessie was different though. Hugs had to be one arm around the shoulder, and it had to be a short little squeeze. Jessie had done a lot for me over the years. As Emily was my friend for her own reasons, so was Jessie.
Mallory walked by and I grabbed her arm. "Hey Mal you not gonna speak?" I asked, smiling
"Hey. Haven't talked to you ever since yesterday." She replied. I let go of her arm. Mallory, Mallory, Mallory, my crazy friend, the prankster, and the one who didn't care how much trouble she got in or how crazy she looked. After all, weird was a good thing. I knew all her secrets, and she knew most of mine. I loved the girl to death; I loved her dearly, not queerly, as we always said to each other to ward off comments of ‘Lesbian!’
I gave another smile and walked back to my bag. I got out a blue ring and put it on. I didn't trust anyone anymore, not after last night. I leaned against a tree, my thoughts swirling around in my head. I took my MP3 player out of my bag and turned it on. I put the headphones in and just listened to music, the way I escaped the craziness of this world. When I was eleven, twelve, and most of being thirteen I would have a laptop on my lap, and my IMs would be full, and sometimes ignored.
I looked around our little camp. My eyes rested on Austin, wondering if he would stalk me again. He hadn't exactly stalked me, but he was close enough for me to beat the crap out of him with no regret at all. Except maybe just a little part of me liked him, just a little part. He saw me looking and I quickly glanced away. My hands were in my pockets, my bag sloppily thrown over my shoulder. My black hair was a tousled mess. I was wearing my collage Converse with my friends' signatures on the toes. I had on black jeans and a gray shirt that had the definition of Love. Over my shirt was a white Aeropostle jacket that I wore almost 24/7. It was hot weather out, yet here I was with a jacket, Converse, and a pair of pants. I didn't care though.
I was too into my music to notice Austin had walked over. I didn't realize he was there until I felt a tap on my shoulder. A glance over proved he was there, his blond hair covering his brown eyes. I turned my MP3 player off and put it in my bag. "Yes?" I asked a flash of an escaping temper in my voice. I could probably control it now, however. Maybe.
He brushed his hair aside, so I could see his eyes. "Look I'm sorry about last night. I did
n't realize I was jumping ahead, but I was. And I’m really truly sorry." he apologized. I wanted to scream at him, wanted to slap him again, or beat the living crap out of him. I didn't care, but I preferred the third.
"Sorry?" I asked, fighting to keep my voice to a whisper, "You don't get it. Like I said before, I'm thirteen, and you're fifteen. There’s a bit of an age difference. And it wouldn't have been too bad if you had waited more than one day." I said, letting go of the thoughts I hadn't told him last night.
He seemed to get the hint that this would go a whole lot easier if we stopped talking about it. He nodded and walked away. I walked over to Dylan. "So when do you guys think we'll leave again?" I asked. He shrugged, his black shirt rippling a bit. Dylan was my emo friend. Always wore black, cut himself, and had been my friend ever since the first grade. I used to be so mean to him in fifth grade. I think I was a bully, but near the end and afterward our friendship returned to normal. There was only one problem with that though, and it was that people looked at me weird when I told them to stop being so mean to him.
He came up with an answer I suppose, because he answered; "Now I guess. What state are we in again?"
"Colorado." I answered and nodded at his very shocked expression.
"Damn." He said, "That could explain why everything looks SO different." I nodded and shoved my hands in my pockets. I walked over to the still sleeping Emily and shook her shoulder.
"Wake up Emmy. It’s time to go." I said. She opened her eyes and sat up. She felt around for her glasses and her hand landed on my arm. "I got it." I handed her her glasses and helped her pack up the things she had spilled from rolling around in her sleep. We stood up again and I walked over to the little stream. I dropped down to my knees and the water rose from its spot, following the commands in my head.
It swirled around me. I could feel everyone's eyes on me. I had no purpose; I was just playing with what I loved. I threw my bag to the ground as the water soaked me. I let most of it sink back into the stream and grabbed my bag. I stood and walked over to the others. I felt so glad to just be wet. Mikey was looking down at the water as it froze. Jessie and Dylan were using their elements to stop it from freezing, and before we knew it we were all playing with our elements. All but Austin who was standing next to me, watching us play. I shot water from the creek straight at Jessie and felt quite satisfied when she screamed in disgust. Or was that pain?
I ran over, Austin right behind me. She must have been playing, because flames erupted just beside my feet. I screamed and ran back over to Mikey. He too, looked terrified. Jessie stopped and exploded with laughter. We all started along our walk then, and I was surprised when Austin left me alone for the better part of the morning.
When he did walk over though, I let him because I knew he realized the ground rules. He just walked with me for a bit, not saying anything. We walked in that uncomfortable silence for a while. I looked over at his dirty blonde hair. Maybe we would be good friends, or maybe his wish of falling in love with me would happen, but I really, really doubted that. "So, umm why don't you...." I began but my voice trailed off as I realized I didn’t hate him as badly as I thought.
"Why don't I what Haley?" Austin asked, putting his hands in his pockets.
"Why don't you tell me a bit about yourself?" I answered. I glanced up at the tall buildings of the large city.
"One thing OK?" he asked, but continued without waiting for an answer, "I haven't seen my mom since I was seven. She left me with my dad, and when she came back for me he wouldn't let her take me."
"I'm sorry." I said softly. I patted his shoulder, as I did when I was trying to reassure boys. "Can I ask why?" I asked.
"Let's just say she hated my dad's career choice, and thought he was very mean and rude." He answered. I guessed that this was painful for him, so I didn't ask for more. I nodded and said no more, just looked around at the city. I looked at my friends and noticed Mallory, Mikey, and Skye having a small argument. I started listening to them intently. They were quite interesting.
"No Mallory, all I was saying is that you have a bit of a temper!" Mikey said indignantly.
"He was about to break her dang arm Poulé! I would have fried him instead if Emmy hadn't stepped in!" Mallory hissed at him. I glanced down at my bruised arm and realized it had been hurting. I rubbed the bruise with my thumb. It went completely around my wrist.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Can you guys dumb it down a bit? I'm still at the part where Mikey said you had a bit of a temper!" Skye objected. I smiled; at least Mallory was bothering to not scream at him now. I really wouldn't care, but Mallory is very mean to all boys that breathe.
"So then I..." Mallory continued telling the tale and I listened, wondering what had caused Mallory to fry Mikey crispy enough to eat. I walked along listening to them for a while, but then Mikey walked away, the story was told and Skye was still deciding a side.
I stepped up beside Skye and Mallory and glanced over at them. "It was nice of you to try to stand up for your friend like that." Skye told Mallory. I looked at Mallory, noting that that was the first compliment he had ever given her. Her cheeks flushed a deep rose and she punched his arm, muttering a half-hearted ‘Shut up,’ while Skye responded with a roll of his blue eyes.
I winked at Mallory playfully, and she flapped a hand in the air nonchalantly, trying to calm her racing emotions back into her even, pale skin. On the inside though, I knew I felt the exact same way about Austin. I slowed my pace until I was walking in the back alone. I looked at the back of Austin's head. He was really cute, and if he tried to kiss me again tonight, I just might let him.