The Way He Was

Chapter One:: Splinters and other wood things.

Chapter 1:: Splinters and other wood things.

~Past Memory.~

                    “Colton, Wait up!” I laugh, panting as I try to keep up to him. He turns around just long enough for me to see his familiar smirk. With the sun shining down through the heavy tree tops, it’s like a perfect photograph. If only I had my camera. Colton continues to run on, dodging the larger than life trees, much more gracefully than I; who is stumbling every other step.

                     “Hurry up, Slow poke!” He yells out towards me. I can’t help but smile. Hair swings in my eyes, just enough to blind me momentarily. Leading me to come barrelling into the closest tree. A loud trail of curses leaves my mouth, more out of impulsive anger, than pain.

                 Colton runs back, not nearly as graceful this time. The worry was obvious on his face when he reached me.

                    “Are you okay, Love?” I nod, completely sure. The worst was probably the splinter that was surely just implanted in my small nose. He extends his arm, helping me to my feet.

                       “Trees have a way of fighting back, now don’t they?” I laugh rubbing my face to ease the minor pain that still lingered.

                       “They like to catch the pretty girls” He laughs, nudging me. Rolling my eyes, trying to hide the immediate sense of warmth on my cheeks. Colton doesn’t even notice, he’s too busy looking up at the tree tops. I can’t help but wonder what he sees up there. All I see is the streaks of sunlight outlining the leaves.

                         “Hey, Colton, What-cha looking at?” I ask, lightly putting my hard on his strong arm. You could see the muscles tense, as if I’d grabbed him, demanding his wallet. Quickly I retract.

                          “Oh. Nothing. Let’s get back, everyone must be worried.” He slinks away, not saying another word to me the whole way back to the park where our friends wait. I try to shake the anxious, worried feeling, while following a few paces back. I can’t help but feeling shut out. We share everything, but lately he’s been pulling away from me. Not sharing our lives together. He keeps me at arms reach. Quite literally.

                       Leaving the woods, we can both see the park, with our friends all together. I could hear the incessant chatter, and laughing. The highs and lows of their voices were all obvious to me, since I’ve known them since seemingly the beginning of time.

                “Jacey, Colton! There you both are,” Tyler rings out. “We thought you both were gone forever!” I could help the sarcastic comment that left my mouth.

                “At least we weren’t having sex, like you and Marley last week.” ‘Ooohs’ came from everyone’s mouths. We all knew it was all in fun.

                  “Well...At least I get sex!” He retorts, all though rather pathetic. I’m only 16, against common belief, I don’t need sex from every living, breathing creature. Sitting down in-between Amanda and Jason, I settle into the grass, letting the sun warm my pale skin. I mostly block out the pointless words they’re speaking, letting my mind wander to unspeakable places.

                         My mind snaps back to the present when Maya pulls on the edge of my dress.

                 “Mommy, can I have a cookie?” She asks with her big doe eyes, that are nearly irresistible. Before answering, I bite my lip, looking for a motherly answer. It wasn’t first nature, considering Maya wasn’t actually my daughter. She was Colton’s daughter. Since Colton’s passing a year ago, I’ve had full custody. His family had passed, and I was the only person he trusted enough to leave Maya to. She’s grown highly accustomed to calling me Mommy, since she barely knew her real Mom.

                “Go ahead, but only one!” Maya laughs are runs away. Surely she’ll take more than one, maybe three or four. She was the most perfect toddler I’d ever known, and loved. Looking at her face, she was the spitting image of her Daddy.

                    “I miss you Colton, Why’d you leave?”