A Butterfly in Maple Grove

by Bella Emy

  I had heard everything he said, of course. But oh my God! Did he say “every girl that he’s interested in?” Did that mean he was interested in me? I was freaking out at the very thought.

  “Oh. Yeah, I like salad, but it’s not my go-to meal. I prefer a sandwich or some pizza… something filling. Thankfully, my ass isn’t that wide yet where I have to watch my figure.”

  “Yes, butterfly, I’ve seen your ass,” he said winking at me.

  Was he flirting with me? Damn, I really hoped he was. God, there were those dimples again. That sexy smile formed on his face and he stared into my eyes. Again, I found myself getting lost in a meadow of green.

  Suddenly, I heard him ask, “Would you?”

  “Huh? Would I what?”

  He laughed at me.

  “You know, it would typically annoy me that someone would get so lost in thought while she were conversing with me that I would have to keep repeating myself, but with you, I don’t know, it’s cute. You’re innocent and sweet. I like that.”

  Oh God, he was doing it again. He was being completely sexy and I wanted to jump into his lap and make out with him in front of the whole football team. I definitely wasn’t as innocent as he thought, though.

  “Ha ha, thanks, I guess.”

  “So butterfly, I was asking if you’d like to go out some time and get dinner with me? If you’re free one night. Maybe Friday?”

  He was asking me out? He was asking me out! Hyperventilating in 3 - 2 - 1…

  “Butterfly, are you okay?”

  I must’ve been blue in the face from holding my breath. I let it out slowly so he wouldn't notice, and then replied, “I’d love to.”

  And as if on cue, his blonde bimbo of an ex-girlfriend walked out of the school with one hand on her hip, and the other shielding her eyes from the sun. Sarah and her gang of Silicone Barbies all donned their typical outfits for practice: skimpy cutoff shorts and crop tops. All of Sarah’s friends resembled each other. She purposely picked the pretty, popular girls to join her bitch army. They all had that perfect, fake-everything thing going on.

  As she spotted Ryan, her whole face lit up, exhibiting a million perfectly white teeth. She quickly turned to face the four plastic dolls behind her, nodded her head as she mumbled something, and started jogging toward us.

  Fuck!

  “Ry-ry!” she called out. My stomach did a somersault in disgust. Ry-ry? What the hell?

  “Wonderful… fuck,” Ryan grumbled under his breath, as he shook his head with his gaze now on the ground.

  My thoughts exactly, babe, I wanted to say. He hadn’t seen her till she called out his name or whatever type of nickname she had for him. He had seemed to be elsewhere in his mind. I, on the other hand, noticed everything.

  It was like she was stepping on clouds, each pit pat of her step as gentle as an angel. She didn’t break a sweat as she jogged over to us, interrupting our afternoon, underneath the autumn colored leaves of the maple tree. Her long, blonde ponytail bobbed back and forth with each step.

  As she approached us, she looked directly at Ryan and didn’t even acknowledge me. Bending down to meet him, she wrapped her arms around his neck and said, “Oh, Ry-ry, how I’ve missed you!”

  A revolting look was painted on his face. He rolled his eyes and said, “Hey, Sarah,” casually moving her arms off of him.

  She quickly kneeled down to be at eye level with him and asked, “Well, how come you’re not at practice, sugar? You know the big game is Saturday. Why are you sitting here among the bugs, wasting your time?”

  Finally, her gaze met mine. “Oh, my apologies. Linda, right?”

  I was about to tell her my name was Lacey, not Linda, but before I could even answer her, she had dismissed me.

  “Sugar, why don’t you walk me to the bleachers, I have something I wanna give you.” She winked at Ryan as she licked her plump cherry-colored lips slowly.

  “Sarah, this is Lacey, and we were having a conversation. You and I have been broken up for two weeks now. I am not walking with you to the bleachers. Sorry,” Ryan responded, shutting her down. I wanted to burst out in laughter, but I didn’t.

  “Well, I must say. Ugh. Fine.” She pushed herself from the ground, and looking at me, she said, “Pleasure meeting you, Lazy,” purposely mispronouncing my name, and storming off.

  Now, I couldn’t help but giggle as I glanced over at Ryan. He just shrugged his shoulders and said, “Where were we?”

  Chapter Four

  Two seconds after Sarah’s temper tantrum–which let me add, will forever be etched in my brain… that was classic, and I would definitely be calling Jen once I got home to tell her all about it–Ryan and I picked the conversation up right where we had left off.

  “Pickles sounds like the name of a turtle or some other small creature,” I stated. He was telling me about his pet and wanted to see if I could figure out what kind of animal “Pickles” was.

  He laughed a bit as he went into his book bag and pulled out his cell phone. As he fumbled through the camera roll, I could see pictures of him and what I assumed to be his family and friends, and as he continued scrolling, I noticed one of Sarah in what could only have been her Halloween costume most likely from the previous year; there were still two weeks to go till Halloween.

  Speaking of Halloween, our school was known for throwing an annual dance, and every year, I wouldn’t get to go. I didn’t want to be a loser and show up alone. I’d always wanted to go to one, though.

  Continuing to look at the picture, with one pigtail with light blue tips and one with light red ones, her red lipstick smeared way past the outlining of her lips, and ghostly white powder on her face, there was no mistaking that she was Harley Quinn from the movie Suicide Squad. This image had now scarred my favorite character in it.

  When Ryan noticed I had seen the picture, he quickly flipped over it with his index finger to get to the next shot, and I said, “Ms. Harleen Quinzel.”

  “Yeah! You like Suicide Squad?”

  I nodded. “Yes, it was a good movie, I thought, and I have always loved Harley Quinn from Batman.”

  “Batman is my favorite superhero.”

  I smirked as I raised one eyebrow. “I always took you for more of a Spider-man fan.”

  He shook his head in disagreement. “Spider-man is cool and all, but Batman is pretty amazing. No super powers. All brain. I have a thing for smart people,” he stated, winking at me.

  God, he was so incredibly sexy. Was he flirting with me again?

  “Ah, here’s Pickles,” he said, scooting over closer to me so I could get a better look. His cologne was intoxicating in the best way. I wanted to get even closer to him, more than ever now.

  As I peered at the picture on his phone, I asked, “Pickles… is a Great Dane?”

  He chuckled. “Yep. Just like Scooby-Doo.”

  We laughed. The massively large hound was laid out on a pillow in the middle of his living room floor with its tongue hanging out to the side.

  “Wow! Pretty impressive!” I exclaimed.

  “Yeah, we got Pickles when she was just a pup. We picked her up from a shelter a few years back, and the first day we took her home, Bethany had left some pickles in a cup on the living room floor. My little sister always eats something in front of the television… pickles are her favorite snack. Anyways, Pickles managed to get to them before we could remove them, but thankfully, they didn’t hurt her. But yeah, since then that has been her name.”

  I laughed. “It suits her.”

  “Doesn’t it?”

  He smiled up at me then. He had scooted so close to me that you probably couldn’t even fit a sheet of paper in between us. His scent of cool morning aftershave and musky cologne were driving me wild. If our faces were to turn toward each other at the same time, I would definitely press my lips against his.

  “Do you have any pets?” he asked me, as he stashed the phone back into his bag. Pushing himself back a bit, he turned to face me. I did
n’t know what I loved more: him sitting just mere inches away from touching me, or having his eyes scanning over me.

  I then turned to face him as well, and I almost forgot what he had asked me again.

  “Um, no. No pets. Unless you count my little brother as one.”

  He laughed. “What! Come on, he can’t be that bad.”

  “No, ha ha. I’m only kidding, but he could probably give Wilbur from Charlotte’s Web a run for his money. He is pretty messy. He’s twelve.”

  “Ah. I see. Twelve-year-old boys are pretty slobbish, but hey, we grow out of it. Some of us, anyway.”

  I guffawed then. I had never pictured Ryan to be so real. He wasn’t like Sarah at all. She had a fake personality, like most of the assets on her body. I wondered how he could have been drawn to her if he was nothing like her. Granted, I knew opposites attract and she was gorgeous, whether she had questionable traits about her or not. But now, I was thinking that maybe he found me at least a little interesting, and I knew I was nothing like her. Nothing in terms of looks or personality, so it seemed odd. As crazy as that would have seemed just hours ago–never in my life had I imagined Ryan Acosta would want to spend an afternoon talking to me… wait till Jen would hear this–it was happening. He could’ve easily sat somewhere else. He could’ve taken a stroll over to the bleachers with Sarah when she had come by, to see what she wanted to give him. I had a few guesses what that could’ve been. But he had chosen to stay. He had sent her away and continued talking with me. He was indulged in our conversation, and there was no denying that I was falling more and more in love with him by the second.

  Typically, I didn’t admit that, not even to myself, but I couldn’t even lie anymore. Ryan was the guy of my dreams, and now that I had seen he had a wonderful personality to go along with his handsome face, there would be no stopping me. I was head over heels in love with Ryan, and it had been a few years in the making.

  My heart began speeding up then as this new revelation started becoming more and more genuine.

  “You okay, butterfly? You seemed to have spaced out again,” he said.

  Snapping out of my reverie, I quickly stated, “Ugh, sorry. I was just thinking about Charlie being a pig. My mom is probably going to ask me to help him with his homework tonight.”

  A forlorn look seemed to be depicted on his face. “Oh, you wanna get going?”

  “No way!” I exclaimed a bit more enthusiastically than I had hoped for. Then I added, “I told my mom I would be home by seven. I can help him after dinner.”

  “Okay,” he responded smiling.

  I smiled back.

  “Okay,” I echoed.

  There was no place I would rather be than right by his side at that very moment.

  Chapter Five

  As another hour passed, and the conversation continued flowing freely, I noticed Bobby Jacobs making his way toward us. When Ryan saw me looking up at the school’s doors, his gaze also turned toward them.

  “Yo, Ryan! I’ve been searching everywhere for you, man. Is this where you’ve been the whole time?” Bobby questioned, as he reached us, slapping a heavy hand on Ryan’s shoulder.

  Bobby was the typical high school senior. He was never mean to me or anything of the sort, but he definitely felt like he owned the school. You could tell by the way he walked around the halls. He had been Ryan’s best friend since grammar school, and I knew he saw him as a brother. Ryan would do anything for Bobby.

  “Hey man, sorry. Yeah, I’ve been just hanging out with Lacey,” Ryan replied, nodding his chin up at me, and then added jokingly, “I’ve been here waiting for your dumb ass.”

  “Shut up, dickwad!” Bobby exclaimed, sending a backhanded slap at Ryan’s head.

  Then, for the first time since he reached us, Bobby noticed me.

  “Hi, excuse my friend for his language. His momma didn’t teach him to be polite around women. It’s nice to meet you. You new around here?” he asked me courteously, like he hadn’t just attacked his friend. Ryan just sat there shaking his head with the cutest grin on his face.

  I shook my head as well and answered, “Nope. I’ve lived in Maple Grove all my life. I’m actually in your physics class,” I said giggling. I was in yet another class full of seniors.

  Bobby’s face quickly turned red. His fair complexion made it easy to look like a tomato when he was embarrassed. “Shit, my bad.”

  “No worries,” I responded. Ryan couldn't help but laugh, too.

  Bobby then swung a punch to his arm. I was beginning to sense the playful banter was a norm for these two.

  “Shut up, man! You ready to go? Dinner should be practically on the table by now.”

  I knew that every Monday night, Ryan went over Bobby’s house for dinner. His mother would always make meatloaf, macaroni and cheese, and mashed potatoes, and from what I gathered, Ryan loved Mrs. Jacob’s cooking.

  Ryan looked at me, suddenly. It tore at my insides a bit to have our wonderful afternoon together come to an end, but I reluctantly urged him on.

  “It’s okay, go ahead. I have to start heading home soon myself, as well.”

  Bobby glanced at Ryan with a confused look on his face. I guessed he wondered why Ryan had looked at me, pretty much asking for my permission to leave or something.

  Ryan slowly got up, flinging the book bag’s strap onto his left shoulder.

  “Okay,” he replied, grudgingly.

  “Aight, man. Let’s get going. It was nice meeting you, Lacey.”

  “You too, Bobby,” I responded as he motioned for his long-time best friend to head out with him.

  Ryan gave me one last look and asked, “Friday?”

  That was right. Our date. A smile spread across my face.

  “Friday,” I agreed.

  He smiled back at me and waved, as he made his way toward his car with Bobby, leaving me sitting on the lawn with a marvelous feeling washing over me.

  “You’re not f’in serious!”

  Jen and I were sitting on my porch steps. It was eight thirty and she had come over for pizza. It was a school night, but Jen was welcome over any time she wanted. I had known her since kindergarten, and we basically did everything together.

  Charlie had surprisingly finished his homework before I arrived home, so I just skimmed over it, making sure he hadn’t made any silly mistakes. It was a math worksheet, and although I hated the subject, I was actually pretty good at it. Come to think of it, I was pretty good at any subject.

  Now, we were just hanging out in front of my house, and I was recounting the events of my awesome afternoon to her. She knew I had a major crush on Ryan, but like I had mentioned before, we had never really conversed. This was the first time.

  She pulled her self-dyed neon pink hair off her face and tied it back with a black elastic scunci. Jen was going through an experimental phase. I loved her to death, but that hair color did not suit her at all.

  “I am sooo serious,” I responded, as a wide opened grin spread across my face. I still had trouble believing it myself, but it had happened. Her mouth had now formed a perfectly shaped O.

  “How the hell did you maintain your cool? I would’ve flipped!”

  “Trust me. I was flipping on the inside.”

  Her hazel-gray eyes widened. She just shook her head in disbelief.

  “Wow, and now you’re going out with him Friday night. That’s awesome. Wait till Sarah finds out!” she exclaimed.

  Panic washed over me. I hadn’t thought that far ahead. Obviously, Sarah still liked Ryan, even though she tried spreading rumors that she had left him. She wasn’t fooling me, though…

  “Yeah, I’m not too thrilled about Sarah finding out. I don’t need to give her any more reason to hate me.”

  Jen went to get up. She’d most likely be on her way home now.

  “Fuck Lil’ Miss Bitch! You take care of Lacey and her needs. He doesn’t want her, he could’ve had her again this afternoon if he did, but he chose to stay with you. That mea
ns something, Lace.”

  I nodded in agreement.

  Then she said, “Alright, I’ll see you tomorrow morning. I’ll be here usual time. Later, girl.”

  Jen and I would walk to school together every morning. It had been like that since we were in the sixth grade.

  “Okay. Later, Jen.”

  I watched as she walked off till her image disappeared from view. A couple cars passed by, but my block wasn’t a busy street, so that only happened once in a while. I always wished that I would see Ryan pass by one day, but he never did. Of course, not. What would he be doing on Clifford Way?

  All of a sudden, I felt a vibrating sensation coming from my jeans pocket. My iPhone was ringing. Usually, Jen would wait till she got home to call me. She must’ve forgotten to tell me something while she was here.

  As I looked at the screen on my phone, my heartbeat sped up. How did Ryan get my phone number? Guess the same way I got his in the first place: by asking around till a friend of yours was a friend of a friend of his. I would have gladly given it to him if he had asked me, though.

  On the third ring, I picked up.

  “Hello?”

  “Lacey? Hey, butterfly. It’s Ryan.” His voice was deep, sexy, and smooth. I loved the nickname he had for me. I could sit here and listen to his sultry voice on the porch all night.

  “Hey, Ryan,” I responded in a bubbly mood, fixated on the ground before me.

  “What are you doing, butterfly?” he asked. I could sense his dimpled smile through the phone. I immediately felt like I wanted to drift away somewhere far with him. He sounded relaxed, and I pictured him lying down on his bed in nothing but boxer briefs as he spoke to me, running a hand over his muscular chest.

  “I was just sitting on my porch steps. My friend was here, and we were just hanging out. What about you?”

  “Oh, I just got home from Bobby’s. His mom’s food always puts me in a food coma, so now I’m just lying on top of my bed.”

  Bingo! I knew it!