“Well, I think that she’d like to have an active social life — with you.”
“Why? Did she say something to you?”
“No, but I just have a feeling. Besides I’m a girl. I know girl stuff.”
“Oh. Well, I also have a feeling that she’s too busy.”
“Come on. Or, how about we all go out together, the four of us.” That did sound better.
“I don’t know…”
“Come on, Tristen, I know you want to go out with her. Don’t you get tired of being the third wheel all the time?”
“Oh, I’m sorry. Do I need to find other things to do with my time so you can be alone with Brooks?”
“Whatever, Tristen. I didn’t say that. I said you were probably tired of it. Just ask her; we’ll do something fun. There’s a strawberry festival at the Newberry Farm next weekend, we can do that. It’ll just be fun, no ‘date’ pressure.”
“Why don’t you ask her? Then she’ll think it’s just a group getting together.”
“I don’t think so! We’re not in elementary school, Tristen.”
I thought about it.
“Ugh! Just do it. I promise she’ll say yes. If not, I’ll buy you a whole box of ice cream and we can sit around and watch Pride and Prejudice.”
“Be quiet. I’m not that girly.”
“Yes you are.” She grinned, teasing me.
“Shut up.” I looked at her; she was still expecting an answer.
“Okay, fine!” Exasperated, I gave in.
I opened the door for her and she crawled in. As I was shutting the door, I turned to look at the car passing by me. I could see Piper, her eyes turned toward Ailey then back toward me and away.
Panic rose in me. I had completely forgotten about Piper!
“Hold on a sec,” I said to Ailey.
I began a frantic dash trying to catch up to Piper. She drove down the lot toward the exit, and I chased her, waving my hand like an idiot, trying to get her attention.
Either she did not see me, or she was ignoring me. As she drove away I was left trailing behind her exhaust.
I can’t believe this. I really, truly suck.
CHAPTER FOUR
Finally, I got up the nerve to ask Isolda out. Amazingly, she happily agreed. Brooks drove us all again, and this time I didn’t mind squeezing in the back. It only meant I would be closer to Isolda. We arranged to bring a picnic lunch again and this time I thought ahead to ask what to bring instead of relying on Ailey to do everything. I was a fast learner.
Isolda happily chatted as we drove through the mountains on the way up to the farm. I thought I could hear birds chirping in the background, but surely that was my imagination. When we got to the farm there were rows of greenery with red bits underneath. We laughed as we spread out, picking the berries and goofing off.
After a while I noticed that Ailey and Brooks weren’t anywhere to be seen. Suddenly I was nervous; a knot twisted in my stomach. I looked at Isolda. Show time.
“So, what do you think? Have you ever been to a strawberry farm?”
“Of course, I lived in California, remember?”
“Oh, yeah.”
She just looked at me curiously, then she grinned.
“Then again, I’ve never been to one with such fantastic company.”
I blushed, although I wasn’t sure if she meant me or not.
Out of the corner of my eye I could see a tractor pulling a large wagon filled with hay. Saved by the tractor.
“Hey, want to go on a ride? It takes you around the farm. And they have talking strawberries and everything.”
“Talking strawberries? Well, I can’t miss that.”
“All right. I think they sell tickets at the little white house,” I said, pointing across the field.
The trailer pulled us around the property, through the strawberry fields and through a small wood. She laughed when she saw the two plastic strawberries, talking to each other in a ridiculously heavy southern accent, touting their strawberry jams, pies and even Christmas ornaments. We sat next to each other, not talking, but just taking in the greenery. I could smell the faint scent of strawberries; it must be another flavor of lip gloss. Or possibly the strawberries growing in the field. I leaned a little toward her and tried to smell her lips. She looked at me strangely.
No, definitely lip gloss.
She placed her hand on the hay right next to my leg. I felt nervous; I wanted to reach out to hold it. I put my hand next to hers. My eyes took in everything around me but all I could think about was her hand next to mine. My heart thudded in my chest. If I took her hand, what if she pulled it away? That would be super embarrassing. What would I do then?
I reached over and threaded her pigtail though my fingers. I could see the different colors of blonde folded over and over through the braid. I looked up to see her freckled face peering cheerily at me. I smiled and dropped her hair. Suddenly I saw a motion in the woods out of the corner of my eye. I turned to see a deer gracefully munching on a bush.
“Look.” I pointed to the deer. It looked up at us wearily but continued eating unconcerned. Isolda smiled. “She’s so beautiful.”
When the ride was over Brooks and Ailey were waiting for us. They had the picnic prepared on a grassy hill that overlooked a lake; we could see strawberry rows for miles. It was starting to get dark and the air was cooler than when we arrived because clouds were gathering above us.
“We’d better hurry,” Ailey said. “I don’t want to get caught in the rain but I’m starving. I’ve got to eat some of these strawberries.”
“Uh, yeah,” Brooks said. “So, why did you bring strawberries to a strawberry farm?” He laughed. “Ya dork.”
She threw one at him, hitting him square on the nose. He grabbed the berry and inspected it. Then he put it up to her mouth for her to take a bite. She smiled and bit in.
“Was that good?” he asked.
“It was, actually,” she replied.
“I thought so,” he said.
“Why?” she asked.
“Because it had some of my boogers on it.”
“Ah!” she exclaimed. “Gross!”
“Yuck,” Isolda and I exclaimed at the same time. Ailey grabbed a sandwich and threw it at him. Bits of lettuce and tomato got stuck in his hair. The sky flashed bright for in an instant, and the corresponding thunder and rain soon followed. We scrambled to gather all the food, plastic plates and cups, and other assorted items to throw them in the large picnic baskets. Brooks ran to get the car, juggling as many things as he could in his hands, while the rain began to pour down on us, completely soaking our clothes. Isolda was wearing a white summer blouse, and I looked away quickly when she saw me staring at the fabric clinging to her curves beneath her shirt. I grabbed the blanket to wrap around her but she had the same idea and I found myself tangled face to face with her underneath the large cover.
Time passed in slow motion as my eyes connected with hers. The electricity surged between us; compelling me, inches apart from her mesmeric face, to breathe her into me, a banquet of strawberry lip gloss and freshly cleaned linen. My head felt dizzy, and I noticed I wasn’t breathing, staring into her eyes.
Breathe. Breathe.
Suddenly, there was a loud blaring honk.
Isolda took a step back. Her eyes were closed off. “Tristen, I…”
Honk. Honk.
Suddenly, she pulled the blanket off her and stepped out from under it, breaking the hold she’d had on me. I stumbled forward, trying to unravel myself, and fell to my knees. I wrenched the blanket off my head and saw that Ailey was getting soaked as she tried to grab the rest of the stuff. Isolda glanced apologetically at Ailey, while I got up, my jeans soaked through.
“There’s Brooks,” Ailey said.
Mere seconds had passed, yet it was eternity to me. I hopelessly tried to put the blanket over all of us, even though we were all pretty much soaked through anyway as we all ran toward the car.
❦
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We went to Ailey’s house next. Since we hadn’t really eaten yet, Ailey had called ahead. It took us about an hour to get home and so dinner was already prepared when we arrived, complete with the table set. Her dad was doing better, his slur wasn’t as pronounced, and we talked for quite a while about his company, how he started out; about how hard it was to start a company and raise a daughter by himself at the same time. He sat proudly looking at Ailey, and I could see why he would be so proud. She was an amazing person. She was always kind and helpful, and a good daughter.
I saw Isolda watching as we talked, and couldn’t help but feel a small thrill that she was here with us. When dinner was over we went into the living room. I sat next to Isolda and after a bit Ailey’s dad excused himself and went into his office. I looked at Isolda. She had taken her braids out and it fell down around her shoulders in zig zag patterns.
“Hey Tristen, want to show Isolda the back garden?” Ailey asked.
I grinned at Ailey then looked at Isolda, “Want to go?”
Isolda jumped up. “Yes.”
“Here,” Ailey got up and went to a closet. “Here are some jackets in case it gets cold.” She handed us one of hers and another one that looked like it might belong to her dad.
“Thanks,” I smiled at her brightly. She was so thoughtful.
“Sure,” she said.
We walked out the back door; immediately we could feel the salty sea breeze as it whirled our hair. It had stopped raining and we put the jackets on.
“Wow,” Isolda said, “I couldn’t imagine living in a place like this; with a view like this.”
“Yeah,” I said, “you should see it in the daylight. It’s pretty amazing.”
“Oh. Do you come over a lot?”
“Sometimes.”
“Really? Like, how often?”
“Umm. I don’t know. Every once in a while.” I suddenly felt self-conscious about Ailey and me. I didn’t want Isolda to get the wrong idea. “You know, to do homework and stuff.”
“Oh,” was all she said. We walked through the garden, over to the wall where Ailey and I sat before. I sat down and looked at her. She was leaning over the wall, peering out as far as she could reach, trying to see the edge of the cliff. I held my hand out protectively. She looked at my hand and laughed.
“We used to go cliff jumping in Utah. It was fun. Of course, the cliffs we jumped off were never this big, but it was awesome.”
“Really? I couldn’t imagine it being awesome. More like scary.” I tried to imagine myself jumping off a cliff; just letting go of all restraint and falling, falling… I shivered in response. “Nope. I can’t imagine it.”
“You should try it sometime. I’m sure there’s somewhere in this area we could try it. It’s fun.”
“Umm…okay. Sure. Sometime we’ll do that.”
When pigs fly. Maybe they can be the ones to fly over that cliff.
She was looking at me, a smile of half amusement on her face.
“So,” I said, trying to change the subject.
Ask questions, just ask questions.
“So, tell me something, if you don’t mind me asking,” I said.
She looked at me with caution in her eyes. “Yes…?”
“I was just curious. Why have you lived in so many states?”
“Oh, that.” Her voice fell flat. “Well, it’s cuz of my dad.”
“Oh, is he in the military?”
“Nope, not the military. He’s…well, my parents are divorced.”
“Oh.” Leave it to me to ask the stupid questions.
“That’s okay. It’s been a few years now. I grew up in Colorado. Then when they divorced my mom packed us up and moved to Texas. She had a brother there, and his wife helped take care of us while my mom found a job. Then my dad found out where we were and one evening he came over. He just showed up. He was drunk and stood on our lawn, yelling at my mom until she came out to see him. I was supposed to be sleeping in the room with my sisters, and when I heard him, I went to the window to see what was going on. It was hard for my mom. She still loved him back then, and she was worried that he would wake us up, so she went out to him instead of calling the police. They talked for a while, and then when she came back in she was upset, shaking, and she just went straight to the phone and called a taxi to pick up my dad. Then she went to her room and didn’t say a word. A little bit later, I could hear her crying.” She stopped and I could see her hands shaking. I couldn’t believe that I had asked her such a dumb question. I touched her hand shyly.
“Wow, Tristen. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to bore you with all that. I mean, I usually don’t tell people the whole story… I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay, I want to hear.”
She looked in my eyes and she could tell that I was sincere. “Okay. So, after that we moved again. I guess she didn’t want him to be able to show up again like that. So, we left. We went to Utah next. Then some stuff happened and we left for California. Then unexpectedly, she came in one day and said we were moving to Georgia. We packed only a few things and then we left. I couldn’t even tell my friends goodbye or anything. We just left. We lived there for a couple of years, and then my mom got a better job offer here, so she took it. She said one more move wouldn’t make much of a difference, so here we are.”
She looked up at me and smiled.
“Man, I can’t imagine,” I said. I felt sad for her.
“Well, it’s been okay. I have a brother and two sisters, so that helps. We’re all in it together. And besides, my mom said this should be our last move. She hopes so anyway. And I want to be a marine biologist one day, so living near the beach will be helpful.”
“A marine biologist? Cool. Sounds like a lot of science,” I commented.
She laughed. “Yeah.”
“Your mom, though,” I continued, “I can’t imagine what she had to go through, being single and moving all of you guys all over the place. I’m sure it was rough on you guys.”
“Yeah, it can be…” Isolda sounded sad.
“Why did they divorce anyway? Especially since your mom still loved your dad.”
Isolda’s face closed off. I had crossed the line. “Oh, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have asked. That’s okay, you don’t have to answer.”
“No, it’s okay. It’s fine, they just had…irreconcilable differences is all. Just stuff they couldn’t work out.”
“Oh,” was all I could think of to say.
“So,” she said, “what about your family? Any crazy stories that make your family as broken as mine?” She almost looked hopeful.
“No, actually. I have great parents. We used to go on trips, to Paris and Cancun. We even went to this little island once; it was about four miles long, and one mile wide. It was amazing. The people there lived so simply and were so happy. Even though they’d barely gotten electricity on the island and had only the simple basics of life, they were just happy. We had fun there. I’d wanted to stay there forever.”
“Wow.”
I suddenly realized that I was being really rude. She had just opened up to me and I was acting that my life was completely hunky-dory. So I continued, “I used to be pretty close with both my parents, and then my mom got sick so it’s hard to talk to her now. So I mostly just hang around with her while she sleeps and… well, sometimes I hold her hair back when she has to…” I hesitated, “…throw up.” I paused to look at her. She didn’t react so I continued, “I don’t want to add to her stress, so I try to just be happy around her. She has to sleep a lot; she’s still trying to recover.”
“Does she have cancer?”
“Yeah, about a year ago she was diagnosed with leukemia.” I smiled grimly.
“Oh, I’m sorry.” She was quiet for a moment. “Did she have surgery, or…? I’m not even sure how they treat leukemia.”
“They have a few different options, depending on how advanced the leukemia is, and since she was in what they call the Accelerated Phase she tried a
couple of different things. She’s having some… complications, so she’s still pretty sick. But at least she’s alive, ya know. I’m very lucky.”
“Yeah. Thank goodness.”
My mind drifted off, thinking of the day we’d gotten the test results: Leukemia. At the time it was ominous: the doctors using big words and my dad sitting so still in his chair. Now it wasn’t ominous, it was real and in my face every day. It was doctor appointments and my mom throwing up. Being quiet so she could sleep and feeding her soup, with it dribbling down her chin. She had laughed at the time, saying it was good practice for when she got old.
Old. If she makes it to old.
Isolda was staring at me.
“I’m sorry,” I said. “I was just…remembering.”
She didn’t say anything, but put her hand on my arm; it was comforting. I felt something shift inside of me. I felt a stinging in my eyes as tears welled up in them. I tried to wipe them away quickly so Isolda wouldn’t notice. She didn’t look at me, but just sat there quietly, waiting for me to gain my composure.
“So, tell me something else. Something that you want more than anything else,” I said, trying to concentrate on something else.
“Stars,” she said immediately.
“Stars? Like the glow in the dark ones to put on your ceiling, or…”
“No, I mean, like, to see real stars. I mean, here you can see the stars pretty good, well, better than at my house anyway, but they’re still dimmed by the city lights. I want to go somewhere that is so deserted, where no one else is, where there are no lights, and see the stars. I mean, really see them.”
I tried to imagine how it would look.
“Yeah, that would be nice.”
She abruptly stood up and I looked at her, thinking maybe she was ready to go inside. Then she lay down on the grass at my feet, looking up at the stars. I hesitated. “Is it wet still?”
“Yes,” she said and smiled. I laughed.
“Well, okay.” I got up and laid down next to her. She turned her head to look at me and I admired her shiny lips.
“I’m coming over to your house tomorrow to work on our project, okay?” she said.
The Last Seeker: Book 1: a teen & YA magical, fantasy, paranormal, & adventure novel (TRISTEN) Page 6