by Amira Rain
Whether this was true or not, the Dairy Freeze’s soft-serve couldn’t compare to the creamery’s chocolate-covered strawberry flavor, which was made with fresh-picked strawberries from our own field, and milk chocolate that was made by our Amish dairy suppliers.
Carla, Mel, and I were so busy that the day flew by, which I was glad about, because I’d started to develop a preoccupation with the time remaining before Hayden would be returning to the farm. I’d also developed a preoccupation with recalling how his hand had felt on mine a few days earlier. I’d even dreamed about him taking my hand again, and in the dream, this had led to him pulling me close and bringing his mouth to mine.
After finishing work at the creamery that evening, I shared a late dinner of pizza bagels and fruit with Jen, who’d chosen not to work at the creamery that day, even though she’d been asked, by me, if she wanted to. She’d declined, though, saying that she thought it would be best if I got the hang of working there without her at first, because I’d learn the ropes quicker that way. I knew that wasn’t the real reason why she’d chosen not to work, though, and while we finished the last few bites of our dinner, I asked her what the real reason had been.
“Was it because you just wanted to avoid working with Carla and Mel?”
Playing with her food by stacking banana slices and strawberry slices in alternating layers to form a fruit tower of sorts, Jen shrugged. “Maybe. I mean, I guess I don’t mind working with Mel, just because I’m just used to all her complaining at me, and all her other different junk, but….” Abandoning her work on the fruit tower momentarily, Jen looked up at me. “I just don’t like Carla. And every single time I spend time with her, I don’t like her more and more. I just don’t trust her for some reason. I just think she’s sneaky and weird.”
Thinking back to the day when Jen, Carla, Mel, and I had been in the creamery all together, I realized that maybe I’d given Jen credit for being surprisingly mature a little too soon. Because now, it seemed clear to me that she was probably feeling jealous of Carla, thinking that she might “steal” me away from Jen as a friend. So, I figured, Jen probably felt like she had to plant some seeds of doubt in my mind about Carla, to try to make me start thinking that she was “sneaky” and “weird.”
I wasn’t upset about this; in fact, I was flattered, thinking that my friendship obviously meant so much to Jen that she felt the need to try to steer me away from Carla in an effort to “keep” me. This definitely wasn’t necessary, though, and I decided to let Jen know this, saying that I understood that she was maybe a bit jealous of Carla, but she didn’t need to be.
“See, she and I may be friends, but you were my first real, good friend at the farm, and that will never change.”
Freezing her hand with a strawberry slice just an inch or two away from her fruit stack, Jen looked up at me, frowning hard. “Who said I was jealous of Carla? I’m not. I know I’m more fun than her, and more awesome, too, so I’m not really worried about her stealing you away from me as a friend. Even if you hang out with her sometimes, I know you’ll still come back to me for more fun times, because I feel like you’re really my friend and you really like me.
Same with you hanging out with Mel sometimes, too. I don’t care. I’m way more awesome than she is. Way more. The thing with Carla is that I just don’t like the little evil-looking side-eye she gives me sometimes, and she even gives it to you, too.”
I rolled my eyes, although smiling a little. “She does not. Carla’s nice.”
“Well, maybe she is sometimes, but maybe it’s all just an act, too. You ever think of that?”
“And I suppose that’s why she had me over to her house and made me lunch…just because she enjoys being phony. And I suppose she’s throwing me a welcome-to-the-community party Friday just because she enjoys pretending to be warm and friendly, just for no other reason than to completely waste her time. How much sense does that make, Jen?”
“Well, I don’t know, but I do know that I wasn’t imagining things when I saw her giving you the evil side-eye a couple of times that day we were all in the creamery together.”
“Well, I didn’t notice her doing that.”
“No, you wouldn’t have, because she always did it when you weren’t looking. And maybe it wasn’t always an evil side-eye look exactly, like the kind I catch her giving me sometimes, but they were definitely weird and sneaky type of looks…like she was trying to figure something out about you or something.”
“Well, maybe she was. Since I’m new here, maybe she was trying to figure out if she wanted to be friends with me, or if she could trust me as a friend. People are allowed to do that, you know.”
Stacking her fruit again, stony-faced, Jen didn’t respond right away, and when she did, it was in a voice so quiet that it sounded like maybe she was talking only to herself. “No one ever takes me seriously around here. No one ever believes me about anything.”
After a deep sigh, I started to tell her that wasn’t true, but she cut me off, abruptly standing up from the table.
“Look, Syd. It doesn’t even matter. I don’t want to be friends with Carla, and she probably doesn’t want to be friends with me, and that’s fine. It’s a big-ass farm. We don’t have to see each other a lot. You want to see her a lot and be friends with her, and that’s fine, too. I’m not jealous about that. I’m way too secure in my own awesomeness, and the fact that you seem to like my awesomeness, to be. I just want you to maybe be a little cautious around Carla is all. Just keep an eye on her.”
Unable to help myself, I smiled. “You giving me advice on being ‘cautious?’ Are you the same girl who was using dish soap on the kitchen floor basically as a slip-and-slide not even a half-hour ago?”
She really had been. After I’d dropped and had accidentally stepped on a bottle of dish soap, squirting a puddle of it all over the floor, Jen had suggested that we “make the best of it.” She proceeded to dump a glass of water all over the floor, then backed up, took off at a run, and dove to the floor, landing on her stomach, which made her go sliding across the soapy mess at least ten feet. She’d done this repeatedly, despite me telling her to stop because each time, she was coming precariously close to banging her head on a cupboard. Only when she actually did bang her head on the cupboard did she finally stop.
In response to what I’d said, Jen cracked a smile, glancing down at her shirt and pants, which were damp with suds and stained light blue in spots from the soap. “Oh. Yeah. Maybe I’m not the perfect person to be talking about being cautious. It was fun, though, wasn’t it? At least fun to watch, right?”
I couldn’t deny that it had been a little fun to watch.
Jen soon went out to the kitchen to get the dessert she’d made for us, which was homemade vanilla pudding topped with chocolate chips and rainbow sprinkles, and we didn’t discuss Carla for the rest of the evening.
The following day, the day of the party and the day that Hayden was supposed to be returning home, I woke up early with butterflies already dancing in my stomach. And when Hayden walked through the front door that evening around six, my butterflies went from dancing to rioting. It was as if I was seeing Hayden for the first time all over again, noticing with fresh eyes just unbelievably handsome he was. In fact, he seemed to have gotten a little sun on his hunting trip, deepening the golden tone of his skin, and this served to make him look even more handsome than he did usually, which was saying a lot.
Feeling suddenly shy for some reason, I said hello, and Hayden returned the greeting while quickly surveying me from head to toe. The reason for this was maybe because I was more dressed up than usual, although not by a whole lot. Dressing for the party, which was supposed to be a very casual affair, I’d selected dark wash jeans, black ballet flats, and a white sleeveless top with a print of small black daisies with white centers bordering the scoop neckline. “It’s just the right level of ‘still casual, but not ratty jeans and a t-shirt casual,’” Mel had said.
I’d also put o
n some jewelry, several thin silver bangle bracelets and a pair of hammered silver drop earrings, and I’d applied a little makeup as well, including a berry-colored lipstick that Mel said was “gorgeous,” and a bit of dark purplish eyeshadow that she said made my green eyes “pop.” As far as my hair, Jen had been responsible for doing it, using a big barrel curling iron in sections to give my long hair bouncy loose waves that spilled over my shoulders.
Judging by the way Hayden was looking at me, I guessed that my effort to dress up just a little had been worth it. And when he spoke, my guessing was confirmed.
“You look absolutely beautiful, Sydney. Stunning, actually.”
I hadn’t been expecting him to call me beautiful. And I certainly hadn’t been expecting “stunning.” While my stomach dropped as if I were on a roller coaster, I murmured a thank you, realizing that my face was heating up.
We soon left the house together and began the walk across the vast property to the barn where the party was being held. Along the way, while making our way up the narrow-forested trail, I tripped on a rock or a stick or something in the fading light. I might have fallen had Hayden not caught me almost instantaneously, putting his left arm around my shoulders, and kind of bracing my front with his right. Startled more by his lightning-fast vampire reflexes than the actual near-trip itself, I reflexively grabbed for one of his hands, making a quiet little exclamation that sounded something like “oh!”
With concern clearly visible on his face, even in the fading light, he asked me if I was okay, and I said yes.
“I’m fine. I think I just stepped on a rock funny or something.”
“Well, is your ankle okay? You didn’t twist it or anything?”
I said no. “I’m really fine. Thanks for stopping me from wiping out.”
“Of course.”
He’d released me from his arms by now; however, curiously, he hadn’t withdrawn his hand from mine. So, with both of us now having fallen silent, we stood in the darkening woods, facing each other, holding hands. With a fluttering sensation in my stomach intensifying, I noticed that the evening’s first stars were reflected in Hayden’s eyes, and I became so distracted by this that a few moments went by before I could speak.
“I didn’t do that on purpose, you know. I wasn’t intentionally trying to trip just so that you’d catch me.”
“I know.” Looking into my eyes, Hayden paused for a moment or two before speaking again. “You have the most beautiful green eyes, Sydney…and right now, they’re reflecting the stars. It’s one of the most beautiful sights I think I’ve ever seen in my life.”
A little weak-kneed by a combination of his deep voice, his words, and the feel of my smaller hand within his much larger one, I didn’t know how to respond; and after a brief pause, Hayden spoke again.
“You know, I think if we’d met under different circumstances, without all the complication of…of everything….”
Looking as if he was struggling to maintain eye contact with me, he sighed quietly, and I got the impression that he wasn’t going to continue, which was fine. I was sure I got his meaning anyway. This gave me an idea, and I suddenly took his free hand as well.
“Then, let’s pretend that. Just for tonight. Let’s pretend that we just met, and that none of the other stuff between us is going on. Let’s just forget all that other stuff, just for tonight.”
With his full lips curving just slightly, Hayden looked into my eyes for a moment before saying that he liked that idea. Encouraged by his response, I made an impulsive decision, hardly able to believe that I was going to ask Hayden what I was going to ask him.
“Will you kiss me, then? Just to help us forget about all the ‘other stuff’ right away?”
His face registered mild surprise, but just for a second. Then, with his eyes still twinkling with stars, he slowly lowered his mouth to mine.
CHAPTER 17
Hayden’s lips were firm and warm, and he soon proved to be an amazing kisser, to the point that I began curling my toes in my shoes almost involuntarily.
I would have been content to skip the party and stand there in the woodland, kissing Hayden, all night. I would have been content to at least be very late to the party. However, we’d only been kissing for maybe half a minute when the sound of familiar voices coming up the trail made me break our kiss with a mildly irritated little sigh.
“I think that’s Mel and Jen, and by the sound of their raised voices, I think they’re fighting. So, maybe we should continue on to the party, unless we want to get dragged into the middle of it.”
Hayden said that he definitely didn’t, and we continued on up the trail at a fairly rapid pace, still holding hands.
When we got to the barn, it was already packed and noisy, with people talking and laughing, and music playing. However, when Hayden and I entered, the volume of all the chatter instantly decreased, and I saw many people go wide-eyed, taking in the sight of our clasped hands.
Feeling just slightly uncomfortable, I managed a smile at everyone, and just then, Carla turned down the music and cupped her hands around her mouth to address everyone present.
“Our guest of honor is here! Please, everyone, say hello and welcome Sydney to our community!”
This was met with a chorus of hellos, and shouts of “Welcome, Sydney!” And soon, there was a little line of people waiting to formally introduce themselves to me. Feeling something like a queen at court, I started shaking hands and trying to remember names, feeling increasingly relaxed with every friendly, smiling person I met.
An hour or so later, after sampling food from a buffet that probably could have fed a hundred non-vampires instead of the dozen or so it was intended to feed, I was feeling pretty at home in my new community, finding most people to be warm and welcoming. Even the people who weren’t particularly warm, like a few stern-faced male vampires that Hayden introduced me to, at least seemed sincere, with all of them telling me that they were glad I’d come to live on the farm and appearing to really mean it.
Once I’d met pretty much everyone and had enjoyed extended conversations with a few girls around my age, two of whom weren’t vampires yet, Jen grabbed my hand and started trying to pull me out onto a makeshift dance floor in the middle of the barn. With white twinkle lights suspended above the dance floor, anchored to tall wooden dowels that had been driven into the ground, and with stacked bales of hay marking the four corners of the dance floor, the space did look inviting in a charming, rustic sort of way.
However, I’d never been one for “club-style” dancing, not even at school dances, and I wasn’t sure that I wanted to start getting into it now, in front of everyone.
So, digging my heels in and refusing to be further pulled, I told Jen that maybe I’d just have a seat. “I’m just not really that into dancing.”
Clearly disappointed, she frowned hard. “Well, ‘not really that into dancing’ like, at all? Or just ‘not that really into’ the kind of ‘booty-shaking’ dancing that people are supposed to do with this particular song?”
“The latter, I guess.”
“What does a ladder have to do with anything?”
“No, not ‘ladder.’ I meant…well, never mind. The point is that I don’t dislike all kinds of dancing. As far as dancing at parties, I like slow dancing, and sometimes I like country line dancing. I learned how to do it a couple of years ago when my gymnastics team did a demo at ‘Ford Country Fest Day’ in my hometown.”
“Well, then, you can teach me! Let’s go!” Jen pulled me over to a DJ booth of sorts where Mel was serving as DJ, asked her to put some country music on, and then pulled me over to the dance floor. “Let’s show everyone how it’s done!”
Soon, when an up-tempo country song started playing, we did. Jen proved to be an extremely fast learner when it came to dancing, and once she’d gotten the basics down, she started teaching other people who came out onto the dance floor. Before long, we had two lines of about a dozen people each, and most people seemed t
o be getting the hang of line dancing.
And even the people who weren’t quite getting the hang of it were still having a good time, laughing while they tripped over their feet. I’m line dancing with vampires, I thought, laughing myself. Absolutely nothing out of the ordinary about that.
Hayden hadn’t come out onto the floor for line dancing lessons, instead choosing to stay seated at a table with a few other guys a short distance away. Periodically sipping some amber-colored liquid that I guessed was whiskey, he frequently turned his gaze to me and just watched me for a few moments with his full lips just slightly curving.
When Mel put on a slow country song after four or five fast ones, everyone on the dance floor began coupling up. Feeling slightly awkward, and wondering if Hayden was now going to join me, I turned to look in his direction just in time to see him drain the last of his whiskey at a gulp, then get up from his seat and start striding over to me. When he reached me, eyes twinkling, he asked if he could have a dance. Trying not to grin like an idiot, I said yes with butterflies rioting in my stomach.
Looking like he was trying not to grin like an idiot himself, Hayden pulled me close and began leading with strong sure steps. With my chest pressed against his ribs, I just hoped that he couldn’t feel how hard my heart was hammering. In fact, being so close to him, inhaling his heavenly woodsy scent, was making me just slightly lightheaded, and I was glad that his strong arms were partially holding me up.
During the first slow song, we made a little small talk, mostly discussing things like how nice the party was, and how nicely Carla and her friends had decorated the barn, with at least a hundred tiny white tealight candles in clear glass holders on the tables, and numerous strands of white twinkle lights running along the barn walls. However, we soon moved from small talk to being more comfortable with each other when Hayden made me laugh by cracking a joke about Jen and her “dangerous flailing arms,” as Hayden described them.
Dancing with a guy named Jason, Jen was having him “twirl” her repeatedly, and each time he did, she whipped around with one arm flung straight out, nearly clipping other dancers a few times. When she and Jason twirled over near Hayden and me, Hayden began dancing us away from them, speaking in a low voice near my ear.