After a brief moment of flittering and glowing that quickly drew the attention of the senior to the scene of the crime, he briskly got out of his chair and marched over to put an end to the kid’s harassment.
I gaped first at the glowing senior, then at the retreating bullies with their frightened shadows, and then finally at Mr. Delaney who had already begun to saunter off with his hands clasped comfortably behind his back. I was so bewildered, I didn’t know where to begin asking questions that could never be answered anyway.
Still, one question in particular kept screaming at me: Why did Mr. Delaney look at the senior and smile before the kid even stood up?
The night before the highly anticipated field trip to Bluespring Caverns, I had carefully packed another shirt and pair of pants to change into after our presumed muddy adventure. Also in my backpack were a brush, extra makeup, and an extra pair of socks just in case.
The next morning as I stepped onto the bus, I was relaxed and content, knowing I was as organized and prepared as I possibly could be, based on Mr. Keller’s instructions.
The two-and-a-half-hour drive to the caverns was also spent in heavenly serenity as I sat beside the still shy yet flirtatious Josh. Just his nearness made it easy to ignore practically anything, such as the frequent jolts and bumps from our old bus (or possibly from our old bus driver). Even the shadows looming over Mike and Claire and a few other students in eyesight seemed to fade into the background, leaving me the ability to focus on him alone.
Once we arrived and began to scout around for the cave in which we were supposed to spelunk, however, I started to get anxious…mostly because Mr. Keller looked as if he had no idea what he was doing.
“Is this hole here it?” a lanky-looking sophomore asked as we passed by a large mound covered in grass with a hole on the side the size of car door.
“Well, I don’t know. Let’s find out,” Mr. Keller responded casually, acting as though this were part of his exciting plan of exploration and discovery. “Go ahead and step in there and see.” Was he joking?
The boy obeyed, having to step in one leg at a time, but crawled out shortly after, shaking his head. “Nope. It’s just a small cave that doesn’t go anywhere.”
“All right. Let’s keep walking!” With Mr. Keller’s optimism and upbeat reply, you would have thought this was the most enjoyable thing ever.
About ten or fifteen minutes more and we found the correct cave. It had a much larger entrance that we didn’t have to step into and an obvious path running down the middle. We all rushed to strap on our helmets and click on our lights, and as we cautiously entered the dark cave, our excited murmurs grew louder, echoing off the cave walls. Josh, Nicole and I were the first three people in after Mr. Keller. So, with Josh beside me and Nicole behind me, my fears of the few shadows that would be lurking around behind us in the dark mostly vanished, and I bravely surged forward.
While we trekked on in the mud, a small crack of muddy water in the middle of the path gradually started to become wider and wider and look more like a creek. I began to get worried as I had to continue spreading my feet farther and farther apart to keep from submerging them. I knew I was going to get muddy, but I didn’t want to completely soak my tennis shoes.
Twenty minutes later, as I was submerged in muddy water up to my waist and staring at our next opening—an archway about one and a half feet above water, I laughed cynically to myself at how minor of an issue my soaked tennis shoes were.
At some point, Josh, Nicole and I had passed Mr. Keller who was now just behind, encouraging us to go ahead through the tiny archway of air, sounding just as upbeat and confident as when we nearly entered the wrong cave.
Josh gave us a reassuring nod as Nicole and I rolled our eyes, both realizing that going through meant soaking our bras—one thing, along with our already soaked underwear, we didn’t think we’d need to replace due to “mud.” Thanks a lot, Mr. Keller!
“Well,” I said grudgingly, “There’s no turning back now. Everyone’s behind us, waiting.”
Josh went in first, ducking forward just enough to graze the top of the archway with his helmet and submerge his chest in an upside down limbo dance, followed promptly by me and then Nicole. But before Mr. Keller had the opportunity to follow us, we had already become aware of the bitter fact that we had indeed just sacrificed our last dry bit of clothing for a dead end. Josh hollered the disappointing news to our still-somewhat-dry, ignorant teacher on the other side, and he cheerfully shouted to the rest of the crew behind him, “All right, folks. Turn around. We’re headed back.”
I didn’t know whether to yell at our teacher for not knowing where the heck he was going or laugh at the absurdity and irony of our predicament. Nicole just groaned and turned around to head back through the way we came. I could hear the water slosh around her as she ducked back under the archway, and the sounds of the students retreating on the other side were becoming muffled as they turned the immediate corner.
I started to follow her, still undecided about my mood, when Josh grabbed my arm and swiftly pulled me toward him. His warm breath tickled my ear as both of his hands grasped my hips firmly.
“I didn’t want to waste this moment,” he whispered softly and brushed his lips lightly over my cheek until they met my expectant lips in a gentle kiss.
Just as quickly, it was over, and I was left in a frenzy of exhilaration and emotion as Josh ushered me forward to the archway with his hand on the small of my back.
Once I was out, Nicole, who had been impatiently waiting on me, peered into what she could see of my flustered face. Her mouth dropped and the whites of her eyes suddenly grew larger. She looked back over her shoulder at Josh who was easily maneuvering through the opening. When she whirled back around to me with a questioning gasp, I grinned sheepishly and moved my hand to cover my mouth.
“He kissed you?” Nicole was almost as elated as I was, living vicariously through me since Tyler had yet to make a move.
“Shhh!” I scanned the girls’ bathroom. We were all attempting to undo the damage Mr. Keller had failed to thoroughly warn us about. Blow-dryers filled the room with a loud hum that drowned out most of the talking, and no one seemed to be paying any attention.
“Yes,” I whispered, unable to keep the blissful smile from reappearing on my face.
“So? How was it?” Nicole’s suggestive grin made me blush.
“Well, despite the helmets somewhat getting in the way—” I paused for a moment to allow for the awkward visual and subsequent laughter “—it was the most euphoric, electric moment ever!” I sighed heavily into a smile and began to brush my tangled hair as that thought lingered in our minds.
When I finished brushing my wet and now extra wavy mop, I sat down in a dream-like state, waiting for Nicole to finish re-applying her makeup.
“Oh, go out there and find him already!” she insisted, waving her hand at me as if I were a fly she was trying to shoo.
Josh was sitting alone on an old, wooden bench just outside the small stone building that passed as restroom facilities. I could only guess he was waiting on me. I grinned at the thought and shuffled over with the intention of sitting down beside him, but he got up when he saw me and smiled nervously.
“Let’s go for a walk,” he said. “You want to?”
I nodded in consent as he took my hand and directed me to a more secluded spot. We were far enough away that the only detectable sounds were birds chirping and the faint drone of the bus. After looking around to make sure we were alone and then shyly inspecting the ground for a few seconds, he took both my hands in his, inhaled deeply, and slowly tilted his head to meet my eyes with a breathtaking smile.
“Iris?” he asked hesitantly.
“Yes?” I was all giddy and anxious like a woman whose boyfriend was about to propose to her.
“I don’t really know how to do this.” He glanced at the ground again and shifted his weight. “So, I’m just going to ask.” Peering at me with timid ye
t endearing eyes, he continued to stammer uncomfortably until finally getting his point across. “Are we…you know…I…I mean, do you…What I mean to say is…do you consider us boyfriend and girlfriend?”
He rolled his eyes at himself. “Gosh, I probably sound like a total dork right now, huh?” He gazed at me with a sweet smile.
“Yes,” I said, smiling back earnestly, but my smile vanished immediately and my eyes grew wide, realizing my mistake. I hurried to correct it. “I mean, yes, I do consider us boyfriend and girlfriend…as long as you do…and no, I don’t think you sound like a dork.”
We grinned at each other, and he laughed in relief before kissing both of my hands, still clasped in his.
While he led me back to the bus where everyone else had gathered, he held tightly to my hand and didn’t let go even as several gawked at our blatant sign of affection. I could tell he was proud of his new girlfriend. I felt the same way about him. After filing onto the bus, I situated my head on his shoulder and completely intertwined my arm in his, resting in pure ecstasy the entire way home.
Chapter 6
“HEY, GIRLY GIRl!” Hanna peeked her head in my bedroom, noting my makeup lying in disarray on my dresser and the three different outfits I had spread out on my bed. “What’s all the fuss about?” She smiled at me, already guessing the answer. Then, with her hands resting on her hips, she surveyed the various tops and bottoms covering the only sitting area in my room.
“Oh, sorry.” I moved to the bed to clear an empty spot, but she held up her hand to stop me as she assessed my choices. “So, which one do you think?” I asked her, becoming all business. This was only our second date, and even though we were now official, the awkward, self-conscious part of me still obsessed over how I looked around him.
“What’s the occasion?”
I beamed as my excitement began to spill over. “Josh is picking me up! We’re going to the movies with Nicole and Lexi and his two friends.”
“Hmm, date clothes! I’m thinking…this black, long-sleeved thing with the silver flower on it and…these gray flare jeans.” She handed them to me with a proud nod that said, “No need to thank me for my awesomeness.”
I took the clothes and then gave her a subtle grin. “Would it make a difference to know that we are not just going on a date, but that he is now officially my boyfriend?”
“Oh! Well, in that case—” she swiftly turned to my bed again in search of a different outfit “—we’d better find you a wedding dress.” I scoffed and she twirled back around with a devious grin. “Just kidding. That’s awesome, Sis!”
After giving me a tight, heartfelt squeeze, she pulled back with her hands remaining on my shoulders to look me in the eyes. “I’m so happy for you! And no, it doesn’t make a difference. You’ll look great in that outfit. He’s a lucky guy.”
She flashed me a sincere smile, but it slowly faded and changed into an expression of concern as her hands went to her hips. Her face bent to the floor for a brief moment. “Just…remember what I said before…okay?”
I peered at the ground uncomfortably but then met her eyes. “I know.”
Smiling reassuringly, I hugged her once more, but she left me with an intense tug-of-war raging in the pit of my stomach. Foreboding and apprehension tugged heavily on one end while excitement and happiness pulled zealously on the other. Both were determined not to forfeit the victory.
“So, what did we decide to see again?” Lexi studied the marquee suspiciously. The air was thick with the smell of greasy popcorn, and the crowds of anxious moviegoers clustered together in order to hear themselves talk over the loud chatter. “Please tell me it’s not a horror movie, because I don’t do well with blood and guts.”
She looked queasy at just the thought, and Sam moved to stand by her in a show of chivalry. “Don’t worry. I’ll make sure they don’t pick a horror movie.” Lexi casually tried to move away from him and closer to me without speaking, but he followed her like a stray dog who had stubbornly chosen an unwilling owner.
“We could see a romantic comedy,” Josh suggested, peering at me out of the corner of his eye, obviously trying to earn some brownie points.
Tyler raised an eyebrow and smirked at him, implying he had just lost his man card, so Josh hastily added, “I mean, if it’s funny enough, you know. Sometimes they can be really funny…like Hot Date. I heard that was really good.”
“Hasn’t that actress been in rehab recently?” Nicole asked.
“Haven’t they all?” Tyler replied with a chuckle. We rolled our eyes. “Anyway, she’s hot, so what does it matter?”
Nicole smacked his stomach with the back of her hand, her mouth gaping in mock outrage.
Tyler didn’t seem fazed and held up his pointer finger in an exuberant number one sign. “One vote for Hot Date!”
“That sounds fine to me,” I said, not wanting to appear picky or troublesome.
The rest of them all nodded in agreement except for Nicole, but once she saw she was outnumbered, all of us staring at her expectantly, she consented. “Whatever. I’m easy. Hot Date sounds good.”
Tyler couldn’t help himself. “So, what you’re saying is…you’re easy and you want a hot date?” He laughed, pointing out her unintentional innuendo as she blushed and smacked him again.
Tyler puffed out his chest and gazed down at Nicole, pretending to be sexy with a suave look and gruff voice. “I think I can comply with that, miss.”
I wanted to join in on their laughter and lighthearted banter, but I just couldn’t shake the disconcerting feeling that I was being watched. I can’t exactly explain how I knew, except that my skin all of a sudden felt cold and tingly as though someone’s stare was afflicting it with venomous frostbite.
I did my best to stifle my panic and spread heat throughout my body by taking Josh’s hand in mine and slowly lacing my fingers through his. He seemed to appreciate this gesture and rewarded me by putting his arm around my shoulders in a soft squeeze and letting it linger there for a while. As he did so, he glanced at me briefly and then gazed forward with a satisfied smile.
The pride he had for me and our relationship obviously made me feel special, but his blanket of warmth only did so much for my rapidly spreading frostbite. I found myself scanning the diminishing ticket line and movie theater’s surroundings for the culprit.
What I ultimately found standing, or slightly hovering, immediately to the left of the ticket booth, sent an intense chill running down my spine. I was left anxious and confused. A cluster of three suspicious-looking dark figures huddled together, somewhat hunched over like they were talking. Their eyes were unmistakably locked on me.
As we approached the end of the line, I decided I was way too close to the shadows and too unprotected, so I switched positions from Josh’s left side to his right. Forcing a smile, I gave Josh the only explanation I could think of. “I wanted to even out the warmth.”
Evidently it worked because his confused look transformed into a smile as he wrapped his other arm around me and squeezed tighter than the first time. I tried to stare at the ground, the doors on the right, or Lexi to my side, anything other than left at the now blatantly staring shadows, still strangely hovering together instead of around humans.
That’s what bothered me the most. Why was I so important that they felt their time would be better spent spying on me, rather than harassing some poor, unsuspecting victims?
Then, I remembered the two black forms I had seen independently looming around Marcus’s car two weeks ago, and I shuddered almost convulsively. Josh began to rub my arm in an effort to create friction, although the temperature outside hardly even warranted a jacket. “You okay? We’re almost inside.”
“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I smiled up at him painfully, and apparently unconvincingly, because a concerned frown appeared on his face and stayed there as he paid for us and ushered me inside.
I couldn’t say what the movie was about or whether it was as funny as promised, because once
I sat down beside Josh and he casually held my hand in his lap, my stomach twisted into knots with a mixture of excitement from his touch and anxiety from my earlier observation of the trio of shadows.
I went back and forth the entire movie. One minute I’d be so panicked about what I had seen, thinking up a million things that could have caused the shadowy figures to stare at me. None of which were very comforting. The next minute, I’d be completely caught up in my emotions toward Josh and how alive he made me feel.
By the end of the movie, my feelings for Josh had won over. Our arms were interlocked with my hand resting on his leg and his hand gently grazing my thigh as he drew designs on my jeans with his finger. Something about Josh and the way he was so into me made me feel halfway normal. Even if he didn’t know the real me, at least I could pretend we were in a normal relationship and try to enjoy it.
After the movie, when Josh took me home and we sat parked in my driveway, that was exactly what I intended to do.
We gazed at each other with a hesitant grin playing on both our faces as a swarm of butterflies fluttered around in my stomach. Neither of us wanted to say goodbye yet, but I didn’t think either of us really knew what to do or how to make the first move.
I started with a simple gesture. I placed my hand on his and said something exceedingly corny. “I had a really good time tonight.”
Apparently, a little encouragement was all he needed, a light tap on the boulder to send it flying down the hill. He immediately turned to me and lifted his other hand to brush my bangs away from my eyes and behind my ear. Letting his hand rest behind my neck in a firm grasp, he drew our faces closer together.
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