Chapter Fourteen
I tapped my fingers against the dashboard, wondering about what on earth he could have planned in such a short time. We’d only been at the mall an hour ago, and now we were at his house, while he scrambled around working up some devilish scheme that would freak me out.
Of course that was what he was doing. It was Jonah. The boy that got a kick out of constantly making me wonder what was going to come next, the boy that always pushed the limits just a little without going too far over the edge.
The first homecoming that I had spent in Burg, I had been with James and a group of his friends avoiding the game as much as possible. James had gone downstairs with the rest of his friends to see what was happening with a group of people that had gone out to a bridge intending to do drugs. The rest of the group had wanted to get caught up in the drama while Jonah and I stayed upstairs, mumbling about how stupid everyone was being.
Jonah and I sat on the futon, our bodies as far away as they could be though sparks still managed to jump between us. I gripped the arm of the futon, my nails digging into the wood while Jonah bent his body away from me, his shoulders tense.
“This is uncomfortable.” Jonah tried to laugh. “Maybe we can try to relax a little?”
“Not likely.” I said mutely. Eventually I jumped up, balling my hands into fists and then flexing my fingers, hissing through my teeth. I hopped up and down, trying to relax my muscles, to work out the tension.
“What are we doing anyway?” he asked, his voice husky and low. He stood, coming towards me.
“We’re yelling about how stupid everyone is being downstairs!” I tried to yell, but Jonah’s hand brushed my shoulder. My yell turned into a soft rush of air. He smiled. I melted.
“This isn’t okay.” I managed. “James.” I tried to explain. “James.” I said, defeated.
Jonah’s eyes intensified, staring into my soul. “Is he really what you want?” he asked.
I nodded automatically, trying to defend James as best as I could. After a few moments of silence I looked up completely broken. “He’s all I know.” I shrugged helplessly.
Jonah looked down defeated and worked his way over to the drum set where he pounded out his frustration in a four count drum roll. Footsteps fell on the stairs and James came into the room, automatically feeling the tension in the room but misinterpreting it by thinking that I missed him. He walked across the room, kissed me possessively. I held back my tears, and tore my heart out of my chest, giving it fully to James.
The car door closed. “You ready to go?” Jonah asked, putting on his seat belt.
I nodded, wiping the tears away that I hadn’t even known had fallen.
“Hey.” Jonah said softly, his brow creasing. “What’s wrong? We don’t have to go if you don’t want to.” He said, about to open his car door again.
“No. It’s fine. I was just… Do you remember that first homecoming?”
Jonah nodded, sadness playing on his features, showing in his eyes.
“Well. I was just thinking about that.” I sniffled and forced a small smile. “Number six. If I could change my answer that day, I’d say that there was something that I thought that I wanted, and something that I thought was best for me. And you were what I wanted, but at the time I didn’t think I’d get hurt the way I did.” I choked out. I stopped, batting my eyes and clearing my throat before I continued. “I thought that,” I cleared my throat again. “I was the bad guy for not being one hundred percent dedicated to James, so I forced myself to stay with him then.”
Jonah squeezed my hand, his voice soft with the slightest hint of frustration underlying it all. “You can’t keep sacrificing what you want in order to make the people around you happy. He gave you up for the lowest pieces of scum on the planet.” Jonah said, his voice hoarse, frustration coating every syllable now.
I squeezed his shoulder, working out the tension with gentle caresses. “Can we not talk about this now?” I asked. “Let’s talk about something else. It’s your turn.”
Jonah changed modes quickly, racking his brain for his next answer.
“Number six. When I was about seven or eight, I stole my grandpa’s dentures and hid them in the peanut butter. My brother had gone to make a sandwich and found them and he threw up. When they found out that I had started it all, my mom made me clean up my brother’s vomit, and clean off grandpa’s teeth. Which only made it worse because then I threw up and had to clean that up too.”
I gagged. “That’s gross.” I covered my mouth.
Jonah laughed. “Believe me, I will never steal another person’s dentures as long as I remain sane.”
We turned down a gravel road that I’d never been on before. “Jonah, I swear, where are we going?” I laughed.
“Can’t tell you or I’ll have to kiss you.” Jonah teased.
I blushed, followed by a scowl.
“Are you saying that you don’t want to kiss me? Like at all?” he asked, his hand reaching up to touch my face and then rest on the back of the seat next to my shoulders.
I blushed an even deeper shade of crimson. “I’m not answering that.”
“Aw, come on. That can be your seventh secret, and mine too. So that’ll take us up to eight.”
“It’s no secret for you.” I stuck my tongue out. “But I guess you can have that one, just because.”
My heart beat quickened as I prepared my answer. I nodded.
“No, no. You have to say it.” Jonah teased.
I groaned.
“You have to say it in a complete sentence, too.” He added.
I growled, hissing nasty things about how much of an evil person he was at the moment. “Fine!” I sighed, defeated.
I prepared my words feeling like an idiot.
“As much as it paints me to say it, sometimes, I feel as if I might want to kiss you. Sometimes. But then my better judgment tells me that you’re a mean old man that only takes advantage of dimwitted girls.” I said snidely.
Jonah’s laughter boomed throughout the car. “You’re ridiculous!” he howled. He gripped his sides with one hand, evidently busting a gut.
I scowled at the dashboard. “It wasn’t that funny.” I grumbled.
He wheezed, tears pouring from his eyes. “It’s a good thing. We’re here.” He managed, as he pulled over onto the side of the road into an overgrown driveway of sorts.
He turned the car off as he continued to roll in on himself laughing.
“Stop.” I whined.
“Everything that you said in that sentence was insane. Did you know that?” he asked, trying to suffocate the last of his laughter.
I shook my head, intent on looking out the window with my arms crossed.
Jonah leaned over, releasing his seat belt and wrapping his arms around me. He pressed gentle kisses against my ear. “I’m a nasty old man that takes advantage of dimwitted girls, eh? Except I’m only eighteen and you’re not dimwitted, nor am I trying to take advantage of you in any way.”
I smiled, burying my face against his neck. “You are too a nasty old man.” I grinned.
“Maybe so. But only on Tuesdays.” He said, getting out of the car and walking around to open my door. “Now, if you’re done calling me mean things now, climb up.” Jonah said, opening the door and turning around, his back to me.
“What are you talking about? You can’t carry me!” I yelped.
“Shut up and get on!” Jonah growled.
I shut up, as directed, and hesitantly wrapped my arms around his neck. I jumped up, wrapped my legs around his waist, and he walked.
“Why exactly do you have to carry me?” I asked.
“Because I saw those cute little shoes you were wearing and I didn’t want to get them all gross in case it’s a bit muddy on the way there.”
I looked down at the silver flats that Laynie had bought me. Along with the outfit I had worn yesterday, Laynie had failed to mention to me that she had also bought a cream colored slim fit t-shirt and a pair of green Bermuda shorts.
Jonah opened up the trunk, with me in tow, and pulled out a duffel bag. I frowned, deep in thought, unsure of what exactly was happening.
“Where is there exactly?”
“There, is a place that I’ve never shown anyone else. It’s on my grandparent’s property.”
Jonah slammed the trunk and handed me the bag. I slipped it over one arm carefully, followed by the other arm. We made our way into the timber.
“See? Aren’t you glad I’m carrying you?” Jonah said, motioning to the moss with the toss of his head.
“No.” I snarled.
“Okay. So maybe it’s not that bad to walk. But I felt like carrying you.” He said smugly.
I gaped. “Are you openly flirting right now?” I yelped.
“Yep.” He chortled.
I blushed. “You’re awful.”
“Am I? I thought it was pretty smooth.”
I rolled my eyes, scoffed.
“So there is around here somewhere right?”
We’d been walking for a good five minutes now, and it didn’t look like anything of importance was anywhere in sight.
“It’s just up ahead. Look closer.”
The trees were lush, the forest floor covered in thick green moss, the afternoon light filtering in through the tree tops. I scanned the trees, looking for a clearing of sorts, but all I saw was a thick mass of plants. As we grew nearer, the mass became thicker and taller.
My jaw dropped and I slipped off of Jonah’s back to explore the massive wall that stood in front of me.
I buried my fingers in the thick ivy, felt the moss against cool stone. The white flower blossoms were as soft as velvet against my wrists. Words fought to escape my lips, but no words came, because there wasn’t a single word that could describe my astonishment at this peculiar wall in the middle of the timber.
“Now.” Jonah said softly, his hands on my shoulder. “Run your hands against the wall until you hit something different.”
I nodded and obeyed. My hands grazed cool stone, worn smooth by time and the weather. I walked along the wall, my hand still brushing stone, my hands shaking now. And then I felt the worn, rough feel of wood, and when I moved my hand deeper, I felt the metallic chill of a door handle.
I gasped and turned around quickly to smile shyly. Jonah rummaged in his pocket and pulled out a small, old looking key with a red ribbon tied to the end. He handed me the key and I brushed the ivy aside to find the keyhole. The key slid into the door with a metallic sound, and I twisted. I turned the doorknob and stood there, tears threatening to spill over as I looked at what lay inside.
