The Valley

by Annie Graefnitz

Uh oh. It was a fine line between my version of flirting and insulting. I thought I’d grown out of the -I don’t know how to talk to boys… I mean men…phase. I am so stupid.

  “I mean you all are innately pyromaniacs right?” I questioned trying to recover from offending him.

  “Oh so, you didn’t invite me because you like me or anything like that right?”

  “I didn’t invite you anyway...” I reminded him. “But yeah, you’re okay I guess,” I lied.

  “Good.” He murmured, leaning close to me. I could feel his breath on my face. I swallowed loud enough for him to hear. “You’re pretty okay, too.” He moved back to his original position… too far away.

  Fabulous. He thinks I’m pretty okay. Just what I have waited my whole life to hear. Shakespeare couldn’t have written it better. We are out here under this blanket of stars. The boat rocking harmoniously with the waves. A gentle breeze sweeping over us. Here I am in all my beautiful manliness. And there you are…pretty ok. Isn’t it wonderful, Cami? What was I expecting? I shook the thought out of my head.

  “We should probably get back,” I declared. I couldn’t stand this anymore. I couldn’t be that close to him and be so distant at the same time.

  Without a word he grabbed the oars and we rode silently over the lake toward the dock. I was glad that I came. As apprehensive as I was about testing the rickety boat, any alone time with him was worth it. We both climbed out of the boat and began the short walk back to the bonfire, back to where Irelynn would no doubt be waiting anxiously for every juicy detail.

  I was right. The second we were in sight, the entire crowd hushed. Irelynn ran up to us, stopping in her tracks when she saw Will’s wet body.

  “What happened to you?” she laughed.

  He nudged my side. “I made her mad.”

  “Jeez Cami, you better knock that off. You’re starting to get a rep as a bully around here.”

  Will stood beside me, teeth chattering from the cool breeze that decided to blow in off the lake.

  “I’m gonna dry off,” he shivered and then jogged toward the fire.

  Irelynn waited for him to be safely out of earshot before turning to me. Her smile stretched across her entire face.

  “So?”

  “What?”

  She groaned. “Please don’t make me beg. I hate that.”

  “We talked...it was nice.”

  “And how did he get wet?”

  “He told you. He made me mad so I pushed him into the lake.” I laughed.

  She would not take that for an answer. “Seriously?”

  “No,” I sighed. “He jumped in after I asked him a question.”

  Her eyebrows pinched together in confusion. “Really? What did you ask him?”

  “Where he lived before he moved here.”

  She snorted. “That’s it?”

  I nodded my head.

  She looked away from me to where Will was standing in front of the fire attempting to dry off. He was chatting with some of the other boys and looking our way. Apparently he’d told them the same story. They were laughing as he reenacted the false incident. Great.

  “What’s his deal? Why so cryptic?” she asked, studying him.

  “I have no idea.”

  “Well,” she conceded. “At least he’s hot.”

  “Irelynn!”

  “What? I’m just saying...you wouldn’t be as interested if he was uggo.”

  I turned to her shocked. “Am I that shallow?”

  She smiled and walked toward the log where she was originally situated.

  “Yes.”

  The rest of the night was spent laughing and reminiscing about various events in our lives. Mostly to fill Will in on what he’d missed out on in the last seventeen years. My blunders, of course, had become the subject of choice. Obviously there were more than I could recall. I didn't realize that many people had paid attention to me.

  I was appreciative when Anna decided to change the subject from myself to him.

  “Where did you live before here?” she asked.

  I half expected him to make a run for the lake again.

  “I was in California and decided to do some traveling after graduating. My uncle called one day, said he was working on some restoration project and wanted my help. So here I am.” He smiled.

  Anna quickly had a follow up question, but I didn’t hear it. I wondered why he didn’t just tell me that, instead of jumping ship into the lake. It wasn’t that big of a deal. So he was from California, there are worse things.

  He walked over and sat down beside me, sufficiently dried when the conversation turned to Shawn and his aspirations of becoming a top selling musician.

  I found myself yawning for the first time that evening. Not because I’d become bored with the topic, however. I was exhausted. The anticipation of the night had weighed me down all week. I was afraid of how I would react to Will entering my world more deeply and worried about how my friends would react. In reality it was me that overreacted. And now my body was telling me to relax, all my worry was for nothing. I closed my eyes and found the nearest shoulder. It was still a little damp, but I didn’t mind. The heat from the body that burned underneath it was a comfort.

  4

  I opened my eyes to the sun breaking through the trees. I had fallen into a deep sleep and wasn’t sure where I was at first. Something underneath my head was moving causing me to shoot up quickly and looked back. Will was snoring lightly beside me. During the night, someone had covered us with a blanket.

  I looked around to see one other person wrapped in a sleeping bag, still asleep. The blonde hair flowing from the top of it let me know my best friend was buried deep inside it. Everyone else must have gone inside the tents. I lay down on my arm closed my eyes. I wasn’t ready to get up. Everything was calm, peaceful. Even the birds chirping in the distance to announce the dawn weren’t as annoying as usual.

  "Breakfast!" a loud voice jolted me awake.

  I had fallen back to sleep.

  I opened my eyes to see Will strolling toward me, tossing a paper bag my direction. My eyes, still blurry from sleep, focused in on the bag. The sweet smell of the sausage English muffin floated my way, causing my stomach to growl. I remembered that in all my anticipation for the evening, I'd forgotten to eat.

  Will moved on to Irelynn's sleeping bag, pelting her with a bag as well. Shawn was doing the same to the people in their tents.

  I sat up and stretched, not at all ready to wake up.

  "What time is it?" Irelynn asked.

  Will checked his watch. "Six forty."

  She jumped up wide-eyed. "Oh no!"

  Shawn sauntered down from the tents. "Relax. We drove by the house. No signs of life."

  She plopped back down on the sleeping bag and began munching on her breakfast sandwich.

  I un-wrapped my food and began eating. Will walked back over and sat down beside me.

  "I wasn't sure what everyone would want."

  I held up the wrapper, mouth full and nodding.

  He laughed.

  I swallowed the large bite and looked at him. "Thanks. Aren't you going to eat?"

  "Already did. You think I could drive all the way up here with that aroma wafting around in my truck?"

  "Yeah, I couldn't either." I quickly stuffed another bite into my mouth.

  He sat back against the log, looking out across the lake. "Thanks for letting me come up here with you guys. I had fun. It was good to just hang out with normal people for a change."

  I snorted. "Normal?” If he only knew.

  "Yeah. You know. My age-ish. Hanging out with my uncle on Saturday nights is not exactly the pinnacle of entertainment."

  "That bad huh? Guess it’s a good thing you met me. I've got to be at least a little more fun than that."

  "Way more."

  He tossed something that I thought was more food into my lap. I looked down to see a copy of Dracula resting on my thigh. I looked up at him, confused.
/>   "What's this?"

  He smiled, shrugging. "For school. You need a decent, classic story right?"

  How did he know that? I didn't remember whining about this assignment to him.

  "How-"

  "I have ears...the library, remember?" He read my mind. "There were a ton of your little friends scurrying around trying to find a novel to re-write."

  Shocked at the gesture, I could only stare down at the book.

  "Oh. Yeah," I managed. "Um, Thanks."

  "Have you read it?"

  "No.”

  "I figured with your being such a gore nut, this would be perfect for your project.

  “Gore nut?” I repeated. “I'm not really a blood and guts fan."

  His shoulders depressed. “Oh. Well, I guess I overestimated your love of morbid art, I’ll take it back.” He reached down to grab the book back.

  "No, it is...perfect." I said quickly, pulling the book out of his reach. I didn't want him to think I didn't appreciate it. I was just in shock that he would go out of his way to do this.

  My reassurance put the wind back in his sails. I finished my sandwich while he told me how Dracula was one of his favorite books, despite the extreme violence in this particular version.

  I flipped through the book, intrigued. I assumed by its ragged appearance it was from his personal stash. The books edges were tattered and the gold lettering on the front was nearly worn off. Jeez, how many times has he read this?

  "What are you doing later?" he asked

  I remembered brunch with the ladies and groaned.

  "Lunch at the Inn,” I said dryly.

  He laughed. "Oh as much fun as last time I hope?"

  The embarrassing memory of the first time I saw him flashed in my head.

  "Yeah. Fun. Are you going to be there?"

  "Think so. I don't have anything else to do, might as well work, right?” He grinned. "What about after that?"

  Once again, I found myself trying not to sound like the most unexciting person in the country, but I couldn't. I didn't have any plans that I could fall back on.

  "Nothing, I think. I'll probably just go home...and read.” I held up the book he had been so thoughtful to bring.

  He smiled. "You could do that. Or you could save that for another day and hang out with me."

  I wanted to crumble inside. I'd just spent the entire night with him; an event I never would have believed if I wasn't actually there. And now he wanted to spend more time with me. Irelynn was dead on about my feelings, but was she right about his?

  "I could do that."

  "Cool," he lit up. "I have something to show you."

  "What is it?"

  "Something I think you might like. But it's at my house."

  The idea of stepping foot in John Townsends's house made me shrink against the log. I knew it was completely ridiculous to be afraid of his house, but I could not help it. As far back as I could remember I’d avoided it. It was perched on the bank of the river. The only road to it contained a one-lane bridge that split off in two directions at the end. One lane led toward his house, and the other toward Rhoda Martin's. That creepy old craftsman was my one biggest phobias...other than acne, of course.

  "You want me to go to your house?" I croaked.

  He grinned at my expression, and then saved me. "It's probably better if I come to you." I sighed, relieved and not trying to hide it.

  "Unless of course, you want to see inside the cave," he mocked.

  "Uh no. Thanks."

  "Okay then. How about you just come get me when you're done with your lunch? I'll be loitering somewhere.” He grabbed the paper bag and jumped up to throw it away.

  "Oh. Lunch." I remembered Dorothy and her less than stellar enthusiasm about Will and me. What would she think about this encounter?

  "Wait, Will..." I hesitated. Did I really want to give up an opportunity to spend time with him because I was afraid of what my grandmother would say?

  "Change your mind already?"

  His blue eyes and perfect smile were hard, so hard to resist. No, I would not give up the opportunity.

  I shook my head and grabbed the wrapper I'd been clinging to. "Here."

  He snatched it out of my hand and jogged off to the trash bin.

  Irelynn seized the moment to scurry over and fall on her knees at my feet.

  "Look at you!" she squealed. Her toothy smile stretched across her face, revealing the dimples that were only seen when she was extremely excited. I knew exactly where this was going; the slight burn in my cheeks was a great indicator for that. I stood up quickly and tugged on the blanket she was kneeling on.

  "Yeah, look at me. I look like a vampire at dawn," I joked, hoping that my appearance was what she was referring to.

  "No...I meant, look at you, staking your claim!" She stood up and grabbed the other end of the blanket, helping me fold it.

  "Nice, Ire."

  She laughed. "Don't deny it. You like him and judging by how he was fussing all over you last night, I'd say he likes you too."

  "Fussing?” There was a term I was sure no one for the last century had used.

  "Yeah. You fell asleep on his shoulder last night. He would only move when you did. And that was only when I tossed him that blanket. He was so careful not to wake you. You should have seen Kelsey. I thought she was going to throw herself into the fire to get his attention!"

  I had forgotten about Kelsey and her desperation for attention the night before. And I had to admit that as juvenile as it was, it felt good.

  "Too bad I missed that." I smiled just thinking about it.

  "No worries though." She folded the last section of the blanket into my arms. "I think he's a really nice guy, Cami. Kind of a strange duck, but so are you.”

  She always had a way with words that made me laugh. No one else could comfort, or tell me like it is, like she did.

  "I guess we’re a good match like that," I laughed.

  She got the confirmation she needed and she launched into twenty questions mode.

  "Did you find out anything else? Are you going to hang out with him again?"

  "Yes." The only answer I had for her came out in a whisper behind my teeth as Will walked back towards us.

  "Probably time to go."

  I looked around the site. Everyone was starting to pack up.

  "I guess so. You ready?”

  I gave Irelynn the blanket, uncertain of where she had gotten it, and decoded the expression on her face. She was not sure if I wanted her to ride back into town with us. Her eyes flickered to Will, who wasn't paying attention, and then back to me.

  It's okay. I mouthed.

  She smiled. "Yeah, let me give this back to Adam. I'll be right there."

  We helped everyone else pack up their gear before leaving.

  "Thanks again, Will," Irelynn said as we drove down the mountain. "It would have been really awkward riding back with Adam." I turned to her in confusion, awkward? I thought she liked Adam. It then dawned on me that I missed a lot of the night because I fell asleep.

  "Why?"

  Will snorted behind the steering wheel. I looked back and forth between them, feeling somewhat left out. Irelynn's chin sank into her chest. Neither of them said anything. Irritating.

  "What?” My pleas were no use on Irelynn. She was not giving; I turned again to Will pursing my lips. This worked when my grandmother did it to me.

  He looked at me and chuckled. "Hey...It's not mine to tell."

  "Ire—."

  "FINE!" she threw her hands up in defeat. "Tyson-punched-him-out-last-night," she raced.

  That explained why he didn't come out of the tent this morning to say goodbye.

  "Um-Oh kay. Why?"

  She sighed again. Pulling the strings tight on the hood of her sweatshirt, she mumbled, "Adam was wiping s’mores off my face. Apparently he got a little too close for Ty's comfort."

  Her face was no longer visible. Only a nose poked out through the small opening in
her hood. I turned to Will for confirmation, and the miniscule smile assured me she was telling the truth.

  "No! Why would he care?"

  She sunk down completely in her seat, still tugging on the strings.

  "I don't know," she whined. “I guess because he thought Adam was going to kiss me."

  I laughed at the image of the two of them brawling over Irelynn. Clearly, Tyson was much bigger and more athletic. He was the ultimate athlete, quarterback of the football team as well as a baseball star. Adam, on the other hand, was not. He did have height on his side, but he was about half the size. Not scrappy enough to take Ty down. I pictured him being easily squished into his shoes.

  "Oh Irelynn," I heckled as the truck pulled up to the curb. "See. I told you. He missed your chocolate covered face."

  After stepping out of the truck, she spun around. "Well, at least some of us had a blissful night!” She slammed the door shut, barely missing my foot.

  The thought of where I'd fallen asleep and whom I had fallen asleep on burned my face.

  I turned to Will. "Yeah, um. Thanks for that."

  He rested his hand on mine. "No problem."

  Before he could feel my pulse throbbing through the top of my hand, I jumped out of the truck. "See ya!" I shouted over my shoulder.

  I moved too quickly catch up with Irelynn to hear his response. She meandered down the sidewalk, mindlessly twirling the strings on her sweatshirt. I hoped she would pick up the pace a little. If anyone saw us out this early, they might question.

  "You know, I just don't understand him. What did it matter to him if Adam did kiss me? He broke up with me.”

  Easy. That's because he's an idiot, I reminded her. Not out loud of course; that would not help the situation at all. I knew from a long life of friendship that she was only venting. She did not want any real advice now, especially from me. I always told her I knew absolutely nothing about why guys behaved the way they did. She finally began to listen.

  "I dunno," I said. "I'm the last person you should consult about that."

  She stopped walking and snickered. "Looked like you were doing just fine from where I was sitting! He's hooked now, Cami."

  I continued to walk, embarrassed. "Whatever."

  My unease was enough to shake her out of her boy mess. "Whatever," she echoed.