Free My Blue River by Leslie Trammell Page B

ch-ch-ch-ch-ch. I found myself extremely relaxed. I remembered that if I were in my California home, dirty old Mr. King would be gawking out his window at me as I lounged in our swimming pool. In California, our homes were barely ten feet apart, if that. Privacy was desired but never obtained. A point for Montana, but who was keeping a tally? Nah, why keep score?
     
    I drifted back to Jack again, envisioning him sauntering over to the swing, bending over me—kissing me passionately.
     
    I let out “mmmmm,” when I heard—
     
    “And just where are you?” asked Jack. How embarrassing . The blood rushed to my cheeks and my tongue was tied.
     
    I stammered. “I-I-I”
     
    “You seem to be a million miles away,” he stated.
     
    If he only knew; I was right here and daydreaming of him.
     
    “More like around thirteen hundred. I was daydreaming about being on a beach in California,” I lied.
     
    His eyes danced with excitement—he had been struck with an idea.
     
    “Oh. Well, hey, tomorrow—you and me—I have somewhere special I want to show you,” said Jack.
     
    I was still drunk from the daydream so without thinking, I accepted. I didn’t wonder where we were going or what we were doing, I simply answered yes.
     
    He turned to leave then hollered over his back, “Oh, and Addy…”
     
    “Yeah, Jack?” I asked.
     
    “Enjoy the pictures!”
     
    I groaned. Why had I been such a daydreamer?
     
     
     

7. The Beach
     
    Announcing the arrival of morning, the bright summer sun whispered through the sheers of my bedroom window. As I woke, I immediately regretted accepting Jack’s invitation to go “somewhere special.” Why did I do this to myself? Now my stomach has butterflies! I knew I was asking for trouble—most likely really good trouble—but trouble nonetheless. Jack had been on my mind constantly these days. I was finding him to be so much more of a desirable person than I could have even imagined and after my rather vivid daydream about him kissing me, I now felt uncomfortable seeing him today. I was torn between, “get out of my head” and “please, let there be a kiss today.”
     
    As I readied myself for the day, I pondered my thoughts about Jack. Why do I think about him so much? Why am I so curious? But I knew why. Besides his drop-dead gorgeous looks, he was a person who exuded a special type of personality that was a combination of gentle compassion, sexiness, and perhaps a bit of mystery. With the exception of both of us being smartasses, Jack and I were in no way compatible. However, I knew that fact wasn’t keeping me from feeling more than I should for him. I cursed myself for being so careless. I should have known that spending so much time with him would be dangerous for my heart. He seemed to have a genuine interest in getting to know me and somehow he was drawing me into his world. I should have declined his invitation. I should have never gone to The Barn with him. I should have never looked into his eyes. But in the end, I answered my original question. I knew my reason for accepting his invitation wasn’t just to get out of chores. It was because I was beginning to love being around him, his laugh, his smile, and especially his sense of humor, which was quick enough to keep up with mine. He didn’t seem to be bothered by my excessive sarcasm and nothing got past him.
     
    Unfortunately, I knew Jack and I could be nothing more than friends. I held my position. I would leave for college, going back to my beloved California. I didn’t want to leave anything behind when I left for college, especially my heart. No way, that won’t be me . I would stick to my plan, enjoy Jack’s friendship and besides, he hadn’t made any advances that told me he was interested in anything other than friendship. I didn’t know why I was concerning myself so much with this nonsense.
     
    He took pity on me and promised he wouldn’t arrive too terribly early. He stuck to his word.