“Why
are you still freaking out?”
I
bit my lip worriedly. We were in his car – a Jaguar, what else could I expect?
– and we were heading to the bloody park. When we got out of the bathroom, we
didn’t encounter any prefects or any obstructions on the way and he practically
dragged me across the parking lot and into his expensive car. He got it for his
18th birthday.
I
wonder what my parents would give me.
“I’ve
never done this in my whole life. I don’t
cut classes, why am I even here?” he just chuckled, replying, “I knew this would
be good for you.”
I
turned my body around to face him, “You call this insanity ‘good?’ We’ll be in
the principal’s office in less than twenty-four hours and this isn’t even my idea.”
“Avery,”
he said in a patient tone, “Breaking some rules is sometimes good for a
person.”
“This
isn’t one of those times.”
“Yes,
it is.” He argued, “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I think you’ve never disobeyed
your parents, teachers, anyone since
you learned how to breathe.” That last part was just harsh! Technically, he’s
right, but I never really saw anything appealing in being a rule breaker. I
just don’t like it.
“What
does my obedience have to do with anything?” I grumbled.
“If
you don’t explore beyond what you know, how can you learn?” I paused.
That’s…absurd. I do explore beyond my own means. My brows drew together in
thought. I definitely explore. I
said, “You sound like a monk.”
His
lips turned up in a radiant smile, “I’m right, aren’t I?” I can’t help rolling
my eyes, “But I do explore. Maybe
you’re just terribly unobservant.”
“I
meant a different explore. Beyond the rules and the restrictions.” He shrugged
and finally said, “Nevermind. We’re here.” His grin turned wider as he took a
right. My eyes surveyed the wooden welcome sign that read simply, ‘The Royal
Ridge.’ I groaned.
“Tell
me why you hate this place again.” He inquired as he drove carefully through
the tall trees and the other beautiful obstructions.
“It’s
ancient history.” I supplied lifelessly.
“I’m
sure it’s fun to hear.” He prodded. He has no
idea what he’s talking about. There’s nothing fun about a guy using a girl at
all. “You’ll be bored to tears.” I said to him.
“Come
on, Avery. I’m sure it’s not that bad.” He stopped the car beside a thick oak
tree and turned the engine off. “Let’s get out first; I want to show you
something.” Before I could even respond, he got out and started waking to my
side of the car. When I came out, I found myself face to face with him and
closed the car door without breaking off the staring contest. I said to him,
“I’ve been here before. I memorize this bloody park.”
He
laughed in confusion, “Why do you say that as if it’s a bad thing?”
“Because
it is.” I scowled at the ground. Without warning, he put his arm around me and
pulled me close to his side, probably using my right side in the process. My
scowl deepened as he started walking without relinquishing his hold on me. He
said, “While we’re walking, you could tell me what it’s all about.”
For the whole duration of the afternoon, we did
nothing but walk around the park and talk about nonsense things. To tell you
the truth, it’s not that bad. But, no.
Just no. But my mind seemed to disregard the ‘no’ I was shouting in my head as
we played tag on the spot and skipping rope with a bunch of kids we say while
we were walking by.
I was having fun like I never had in days. I hadn’t
noticed that it was almost afternoon but whenever I’d point out that we
shouldn’t be where we were, he’d cut me off and invite me to another silly –
and tempting – activity, like hide and seek.
I must be crazy.
Now we were eating ice cream, sitting on the green
grass. I didn’t want him to buy this since it was incredulously expensive but
damn, I never knew ice creams could be so delicious.
“Avery, two hundred fifty-six times one hundred
sixty-three?”
“Forty-one thousand, seven hundred twenty-eight.” I
giggled, “Seriously, you can do better than that.” I taunted as he looked at me
with his mouth hanging open.
Okay, so I confessed to him a little secret of mine;
ever since I learned how to count like the many infants around the world, my
parents and math teacher found something unusual in my counting skills. They
called it a gift.
I always called it a disorder.
I can do large sums in my head, and it’s just that.
I don’t know how I do that but it’s really easy. I laughed as I watched Travis’
face, “Eat your ice cream before I get it from you.”
“I think you’re a mutant.” He said, licking his ice
cream. “No one can do that, it’s impossible. Maybe you’re lying.”
“I’m not.” I said without a qualm as I finished eating
and I hugged my legs to myself looking at the sky.
“Right, maybe you’re just an experiment gone wrong.”
Then, “But you’re a nice experiment.”
“Gee, thanks. That was a heart-warming compliment.”
I shrieked as he lunged at me and tickled me mercilessly.
Time passed by in a blur as we did all the things we
could think of. We even tried out being a temporary mascot – yes, I know – for
the promotion program of the park for an hour – Travis was wearing pirate
attire and I was a nymph. Kids were going gaga over us and I probably never
laughed like I did right then. They actually believed that we were pirates and mythical creatures and we made up
stories about ship wars and trolls that eat fairies. It was outrageous. Lies
are bad, right?
When I was changing to my usual jeans and t-shirt, I
thought about what I’m doing. Like, what I’m really doing. I was having fun with Travis, the son of the president
of Gedi Institute, the most promising company and all the glitz and glitter and
– and the bane of my existence?
He isn’t, right?
I’ll think about that later. Too confusing.
A smile unconsciously formed on my face as I heard
him saying even though he wasn’t even in the room, “Avery! I have a wonderful
idea – it’s something to curb your cautious nature.” He opened the door and
flashed me a perfect smile.
I don’t like the sound of that. And I don’t have a
cautious nature! “Enlighten me?”
He walked me over to the outside first, and didn’t say
anything until we were surrounded my tall trees and Mother Nature. He looked
around the area, the tall trees, and the deserted gravel path and craned his
neck to check that no one was staying by the bench. I’m actually giving a go
for whatever he’s thinking, as long as it doesn’t violate the park rules – I mean,
we just helped them for their promotion and doing something bad for them felt
akin to backstabbing.
When he was contented with his search, his hand on
mine tightened. He asked, “Tell me, will those people back there give me
penalty for climbing one of these trees?”
No comments:
Post a Comment