by S. J. West
“Oh please,” I said feeling my cheeks grow hot. “We haven’t known each other long enough for it to be love.”
“Ain’t you heard of love at first sight?”
“Tara,” I was becoming completely embarrassed. “Stop. It can’t be love.”
“And why not?”
“Because we barely know each other! Yes, I’m extremely attracted to him and he seems to like me, but you can’t say you love someone based on that.”
“Well, I think it’s time you fell in love with someone else, girl. Somebody who really deserves it this time.”
I couldn’t argue with her. I knew Will didn’t deserve my affections anymore but how do you stop loving someone you’ve loved almost your whole life?
Brand arrived at the apartment within a few minutes. He brought over the latest action movie to come out on DVD for us to watch. We sat together on the futon with his arm around my shoulders and me leaning against his side marveling at how well we fit together. Tara made us all some popcorn and sat in the rocking chair across from us.
If someone had asked me, I couldn’t have told them what was going on in the movie. All I could think about was Brand. How he smelled, how he felt, how his little laughs during the movie made me feel happy inside. He was like every girl’s dream man all rolled up into one person. Why shouldn’t I fall in love with someone like Brand? What could be more natural?
Sometime during the movie, Tara got up. I thought she went to the bathroom but before I knew it, there was a loud banging noise like a hammer on concrete coming from the kitchen table. Both Brand and I looked over and saw Tara banging her bag of dirt against the table top.
“What are you doing?” I asked her, completely mortified Brand had to witness Tara’s craziness up close.
“Breakin’ up the clumps,” she answered, continuing to swing the zip-lock bag on the table like a mad woman. Once she finally broke the larger pieces up into the sizes she wanted she went back to the rocking chair and sat down like her behavior had been completely normal.
She noticed Brand and I still looking at her as she ate a piece of her dirt.
“Ya’ll want some?” she asked us, holding the bag out.
“What is it?” Brand looked more intrigued than astonished by Tara’s odd behavior.
“It’s dirt. You want to try it?”
“I don’t think you want any of that,” I warned Brand.
He leaned forward and held out his hand toward Tara. She picked out a small piece of her dirt and placed it on his outstretched palm. I’m not sure if she picked a smaller piece because she didn’t want Brand to gag too badly or because she was a miser with her new found addiction.
Brand popped it in his mouth and chewed.
“Not bad,” he said swallowing what she had given him. “But I’ve had better.”
“You have?” Tara and I asked in unison.
I’m not sure which one of us was more surprised.
“I’ll buy you some. You can get it online. There’s this place in Georgia that sells it by the pound.”
“So you actually like it?” I asked, completely confused why anyone would want to eat the stuff.
“It’s not something I buy personally,” Brand explained. “But I’ve known people who eat it on a daily basis. Geophagia isn’t as uncommon as you might think, especially here in the South.”
“Geophagia,” Tara rolled the word around on her tongue. “Well, that sounds better than dirt eattin’.”
Tara smiled at me with a mischievous glint in her eyes.
“Girl, if you don’t fall in love with him, I just might,” she stated, while popping another piece of dirt in her mouth.
I thought I was going to die from embarrassment on the spot. I looked at Brand and saw he was actually blushing too. He sat back on the futon and we resumed our previous position.
By the time the movie ended, it was almost 9pm. Brand said he should be going and I walked him out to his car.
“Thanks for coming by and bringing the movie,” I told him standing in front of him as he leaned back against the driver side door of his Porsche.
“I was wondering,” he said with his head tilted to the side looking at me with that uncertain expression he sometimes got when talking to me. “Is it too soon to invite you over to my house?”
“When?”
“How about tomorrow after you get out of school? I’ll pick you up.”
“No, just tell me the address and I’ll Google Map it.”
“Are you sure? I don’t mind coming to get you.”
“No, I’m not sure when I’ll be through doing what Dr. Barry wants tomorrow, and I’d rather just leave straight from there.”
“My house is at 1921 Walking Horse Lane. You’ll see the mail box by the turn off on the highway. It’s pretty easy to find. It’s about a two mile drive down the driveway just so you don’t think you took a wrong turn or something.”
He leaned into me and kissed my cheek. “Call me before you leave Dr. Barry’s so I’ll know when to expect you.”
Brand pulled out a piece of paper from his back pocket which already had his house and cell phone numbers written on it.
“Do you have a cell phone number?” he asked.
“No, too expensive for me right now.”
He hesitated for a moment like he wanted to say something else but thought better of it.
“Ok, well, I’ll see you tomorrow,” he said getting into his car.
I watched him drive away. I didn’t want him to go. It took everything in me not to call him to come back.
Chapter 5
The next day felt like it would never end. Biology and physics just weren’t the same without Brand’s presence. English composition was almost intolerable with Nora asking all sorts of questions about him, making me think about him even more than I already was.
“Why you want to know so much about her boyfriend?” Tara asked Nora. “It’s not like he’s ever gonna ask you out.”
I seriously thought Nora’s head was going to explode her face got so red with indignation. “I don’t see what business it is of yours Tara Jenkins.”
“Girl, you better watch it! Don’t make me take my earrings off!”
“What is that even supposed to mean?” Nora asked completely at a loss.
Little did Nora know Tara was getting riled enough to threaten her with the ‘earrings off’ warning. I learned early on you never want to hear those words come from a black woman because it literally meant she was going to take her earrings off and not hold anything back in the brawl to come.
Luckily for Nora, Mrs. Connor came into the room before Tara could show her what her statement truly meant.
The end of the day finally came. It was about 4:30pm when I called Brand to tell him I was on my way.
“Drive safely and watch out for people,” he told me.
The drive to Brand’s house took about 30 minutes, which was about 20 minutes longer than it should have. Traffic was extra heavy since it was a Friday afternoon. A lot of students were heading home for the weekend and others were starting they weekend revelry early. On the way there, I passed the spot where the plane had crashed onto the highway. Seeing the scorch marks on the pavement, brought tears to my eyes. Had I in some way caused the death of two more people?
I had avoided the news as much as possible the last two days but the topic of the plane crash was all anyone wanted to talk about at school. And why not? How often did planes crash in populated areas? I learned through the chatter of my school mates the couple who died in the plane crash were just leaving for their honeymoon. The FAA said there was a mechanical failure soon after take off which caused the plane to lose altitude. I guess I should have felt relieved there was a physical reason, but I still couldn’t help feeling like the universe was out to get me.
I followed the map I downloaded off the internet giving me exact directions to Brand’s home. The road wasn’t hard to find even though it was in a thickly forested area
. I remembered looking at the satellite image of Brand’s house online and noticing there was only one house close to him on the lake. I wondered how much land Brand had bought. It had to have been at least 100 acres.
A mile and a half down the road I saw what I assumed to be Brand’s cousin’s house. It had obviously been a barn at one time, but the transformation was impressive. It was made of cedar with a grey-green shingled roof and two dormer windows overlooking a front porch. It really did look a lot more like a house than a regular barn.
Brand’s house was another half mile down the road. It was a large grey cypress house with a dark green tin roof and matching shutters on the windows. There was a wrap around porch with rocking chairs and hanging potted plant hangers filled with a variety of greenery and fall flowers of all colors. The yard was immaculately maintained with tall crepe myrtles and hawthorn bushes and a blacktop circle driveway in front. I saw Brand’s car and a yellow-gold McLaren Mercedes Benz parked in front of the house.
As soon as I turned off the engine, the front door opened and Brand stepped out to welcome me.
“I thought you’d never get here,” he said flashing me a smile and kissing me chastely on the cheek. “Was traffic bad?”
“There were a lot of people on the road leaving school for the weekend.”
“I hope you’re hungry.” He took my hand and escorted me into his home.
The inside of the house was cozy. The first floor had an open floor plan with lightly stained cypress walls and exposed beam ceiling. As you entered from the front door, there was a staircase to the right leading to a second floor and loft area visible from the first floor. To the left was the living room with a wall of glass looking out onto the lake with a beautiful river rock fireplace in the center. Three light brown leather couches were situated across from each other in front of the fireplace. There was a large chandelier made of deer antlers hanging from the cathedral ceiling. From what I could see, there were several stuffed deer heads mounted around the living room walls. There was an unmistakable hunting lodge feel to the place that I hadn’t expected from Brand.
“I bought the place fully furnished,” he told me, seeing my eyes wander around the first floor. “Apparently they were big into hunting.”
“It’s cozy. I actually kind of like it,” I admitted.
“Come on. I want to introduce you to Abby.”
We walked past the dining room area and large kitchen to the French doors which led out onto a deck with two white, comfy looking outdoor sofas on either side of a lit fire pit.
Abby was sitting Indian style on one of the sofas quietly strumming the strings of a guitar. She was petite and immediately reminded me of an elf with her slightly pointed ears and short black hair. She looked up at us with vibrant green eyes and smiled. Laying the guitar down on the sofa she hopped up and gave me an unexpected hug in welcome.
“I’m so glad to finally meet you!” Her voice even sounded like what I imagined an elf to sound like, all perky and musical with a British accent like Brand’s.
“All Brand’s been talking about this week is you,” she said.
“I’m sorry,” I replied. “I hope he didn’t bore you to death.”
She laughed. How was it possible to laugh and have it sound like wind chimes? I liked Abby immediately.
Brand escorted us back into the house and insisted Abby and I sit down at the table while he served us dinner. If there was one thing I could appreciate, it was a man who could cook. I was terrible at it. That’s why Tara had been put in charge of all the cooking around the apartment.
For dinner, he prepared beef tenderloin tips sautéed with mushrooms, onion, sweet peppers & topped with a champagne sauce. There was a side salad and freshly baked bread too. Since I was under age, I drank sweet tea but Abby and Brand had a glass of white wine with their meal.
During dinner Abby asked me all types of questions. She acted like she wanted to know everything there was to know about me, which wasn’t that much or that interesting, but to her I was like undiscovered territory. By the end of the meal both she and Brand knew as much about me as I did. Though, she came to one question which made me squirm.
“Who was the first boy you ever kissed?”
I could feel Brand’s eyes on me awaiting my answer. I looked to Abby and said, “One of my best friends growing up, though I regret it happening now.”
Abby sat back in her chair with her glass of white wine hanging in her hands studying my face carefully. “Why would you regret your first kiss? Was he a complete git about it?”
“It ended our friendship.” It was painful to say the words out loud but oddly therapeutic. Telling a complete stranger one of my best and subsequently worst memories was almost like purging myself of a stain on my heart. If I could tell a stranger something which had affected me so much the last couple of years, surely I was ready to move on with my life. I looked up at Brand and wondered if he had come into my world at just the right moment. Maybe now was the time to put my past behind me and move forward.
“I think maybe you’ve interrogated Lilly enough for one night, Abby,” Brand said while starting to clear the table.
I picked up my plate to help but Brand shooed Abby and I outside while he handled the cleaning.
When we went outside, Abby picked her guitar back up and started to play me a song she said she wrote herself.
“You know,” she said after playing her song, strumming the strings of her guitar lightly. “I’ve never seen Brand this excited about anyone before.” She looked at me and smiled. “I like seeing him this way. I hope things work out between the two of you.”
“That’s nice of you to say. I guess we’ll just have to see where things lead,” I shrugged. “We haven’t known each other very long.”
“Well, I can assure you he’s pretty much putty in your hands already.”
Brand came out a little bit later with a bag full of jumbo marshmallows, Hershey chocolate bars and graham crackers. He stoked the fire in the pit and we made s’mores. It was one of the most perfect nights of my life.
At around seven, Abby made her goodbyes to us and gave me a wink and a smile as she left to go back to her own home down the road.
“Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do,” she teased over her shoulder before heading around the corner of the house to her car.
Brand and I were finally alone. He pulled me closer to him on the sofa and we watched the fire blaze before us in complete, contented silence.
“So, how many serious boyfriends have you had since Will?”
I could feel the blood rush to my cheeks and being the attentive person he was, Brand noticed.
“You have got to be kidding me,” he said with such astonishment it surprised me. “Will’s the only one?”
I shrugged my shoulders helplessly. “The guys in my high school never showed much interest in me.”
“Well they must have all been blind fools not to notice you.”
The earnest way Brand made his statement made me feel good, if slightly embarrassed. No one had ever lavished me with the attention and total adoration he did so readily. Where exactly had he been two years ago when I desperately needed someone like him in my life?
I leaned my head against his broad shoulder and felt the warmth of his skin underneath his crisp white shirt.
“Lilly…”
I looked up at Brand waiting for him to continue.
“Do you still care for Will?”
His question caught me off guard. I leaned back from him and tried to quickly sort through my feelings for Will before answering.
“I’ll always care about him,” I said. “We grew up together. There’s a connection there that can never be broken.”
“That’s not really what I was asking,” Brand said slightly frustrated but still patient. “Do you still care for him romantically is what I meant?”
Did I? I’d dreamt so often in the past few years of Will being the one I would eventually marry, have k
ids with and share my life with. Even when he was being a complete jerk, I hoped the Will I had fallen in love with would come back to me one day. But do you tell your new boyfriend that type of thing?
“I honestly don’t know, Brand,” I could see his controlled disappointment. “I don’t want to sit here and lie to you by saying I don’t still have some feelings for him. But, you have to realize I’ve known Will all my life and you for only a week. A great week,” I smiled at him with unabashed happiness. “I can’t even tell you the last time I’ve felt this happy.”
“Then I have a chance?”
“More than a chance,” I said leaning against his shoulder once more.
My eyes drifted across the fire pit to the forest surrounding Brand’s home. I could see small specks of light flying this way and that in the thick foliage.
“Are those fireflies?” I asked sitting up a bit straighter, trying to focus on the small lightning bugs.
“Would you like to go see them?” he asked me.
I nodded and he took my hand leading out to the woodland forest. I’d never seen fireflies up close before.
When we got closer, I cupped one in my hands and watched its little tail illuminate my palms. The fly hovered around me and soon landed on my hand. Before I knew it, there must have been a hundred fireflies all over my body. I imagined I resembled something like a Christmas tree.
I looked at Brand. “What are they doing?”
He shook his head in amazement. “I’ve seen a lot of things, but I’ve never seen that happen before. They’re attracted to you for some reason.”
I tried to think of what I might have on which would attract fireflies. I wasn’t wearing any perfume so that was out of the question. Maybe it was my bath soap or detergent. Whatever the reason, I was having fun watching my own legion of insects following my every move.
“Sorry to interrupt…”
I jumped at the sound of the strange female voice and the fireflies scattered back into the forest. Brand turned his head to look at the interloper of our fun but didn’t seem surprised by the intrusion.