New Lands | (Fantasy)

Chapter 12: Kyle's POV

"That sounded like Emma," I say. I walk towards where it came from and I think it came from a closed-off trail.

"Kyle you can't go down there. It's blocked off for a reason," Jessie-May says. I ignore her and proceed to go down that trail. "Kyle!" I continue walking but I hear a crunch and a thud. I turn and see Jessie-May on the ground, clutching her ankle.

"Jessie-May!" I exclaim as I rush over to her. "Are you okay?"

"It's my ankle," she says. "I told you to wait."

"I need to get you back to the house," I say. I stand up but she grabs my arm.

"No," Jessie-May says. "I want to go with you."

"But you can't walk," I say. She gives me a look. "You want me to carry you?"

"More like a piggyback ride," Jessie-May says. I kneel down and she gets on my back. She's pretty light so it's not that hard to carry her. She wraps her arms around my neck. "Am I choking you by doing this?"

"No you're fine," I say. She rests her head on mine.

"Let's go get our friends," Jessie-May says. I start walking through the path and Jessie-May and I stumble upon a ripped closed-off sign.

"Okay if anyone were to tear that down and go that way, it'd be Will," I say.

"And Emma is crazy enough to follow after him," Jessie-May says. I go down that trail and the trees gradually change color. It's really creepy. Anyway, we come upon a river. "How are we getting across this?"

"We? There's no way you're getting across that river," I say. "Not with your ankle." Jessie-May slugs me. "Ow!"

"I'm more capable that you think," Jessie-May says. She jumps down from me but lands on her bad ankle and starts to fall into the river. I grab her around the waist and catch her and pull her back. She looks at me for a couple seconds then hugs me. "Maybe you're right. You just saved my life."

"Well I can't let you die," I say. "I like you too much but you don't feel the same way."

"Right now I don't," Jessie-May says. "Maybe this will change my mind."

"What are you-" I start when Jessie-May grabs my shirt collar, pulls me close to her face, and kisses me. I immediately feel butterflies in my stomach. It feels like we're standing there forever but it's more like a few seconds. She breaks the kiss and smiles at me.

"Now I do," Jessie-May says. I probably have this ridiculous smile plastered on my face and my cheeks are red hot with embarrassment. Jessie-May kisses my cheek then turns and looks at the river. "Maybe I should get my ankle looked at. My whole leg is numb."

"Yeah that's probably best," I say as I kneel back down and she tries to jump on but she groans in pain. "Here I'll just-" I say as I pick her up bridal style. "Does this hurt?"

"As long as you don't hit my ankle on anything, it should be good," Jessie-May says. "Thank you." I shrug. "Don't be modest. I know you wanted me to kiss you."

"Well that makes us even then," I say.

"What do you mean?" Jessie-May asks.

"Well I saved your life and you saved mine," I say. "I honestly felt I was alone but you showed me that I'm not and no heroic action will repay you." She smiles and rests her head on my shoulder. I begin walking back to Emma's house. Hopefully these dark trees won't get us any more lost than we already are.