Demon (Book 1: Old Version)

Chapter seven He's Definitely Different

Chapter seven

He's Definitely Different

"I'd rather clean toilets." I slumped down in the passenger seat.

"Come on, Aden, it won't be that bad." My dad turned onto a road with a large sign saying Dry Wood posted to the side and pulled up next to the campground manager's trailer. "Is spending the day with me really that horrible?" He turned off the truck and face me.

Great now I felt guilty. "No." I shifted in my seat. "I just don't want to listen to people fight about stupid things."

He drummed his fingers on the steering wheel. "I probably could have left you home. But your mother wanted me to take you."

"I guess spending all of Friday sitting in my room didn't help either," I stated with a sigh. 

"Don't worry, it won't be that bad. How about you look around? There's a creek just on the other side of these trees." He pointed out his window. "I'll try to make this quick."

He got out of the vehicle and I watched as he knocked on the manager's door. An old man appeared and started waving his hands in the air. Deciding going for a walk would be better than roasting in the truck, I climbed out and started walking toward where my father had indicated.

"They won't leave," yelled the man as I walked passed. "The sign says fourteen day limit. They been sitting there for over three weeks."

"Calm down, I'll go talk to them," reinsured my father. 

I increased my pace until I was out of hearing range. The last thing I want to do was listen to that old man yelling about absolutely nothing. It didn't take long before I found the creek my dad had mentioned. It wasn't the most exciting thing, but it was at least peaceful. I sat down next to a boulder and started tossing rocks into the water.

"Hey," said a familiar voice.

I look over to see Titus who was just wearing shorts and wading across the stream. He was waving like a lunatic, I might add. 

"Hey," I replied as he sat down. "I see you still haven't found your shoes."

He shrugged his shoulders. "Not a big deal. I have really hard feet. I don't feel a thing."

"Don't take this the wrong way, but what in the hell are you doing here." I eyed him, still trying to figure out how he ended up in a place a good twenty minutes from Beaver Lake.  

"Just coincidence,  I guess."

"I'm not buying it," I said flatly, tossing a stone into the water. "You appear sort of stalker-ish from my point of view."

Shaking his head, he laughed at me. I couldn't help but smile myself.

"Well in hopes of not appearing stalker-ish, my family owns a fair amount of property out in these woods. And rather than sit at home with them, I drive around and just enjoy nature." He put his hand behind his head and stretched out.

"And you just happened to end up in exactly the same place as me." I raised an eyebrow.

"I was driving by and saw a green truck similar to your dad's. Stop and saw you get out, so I decided why wait until Monday when I can see you again right now." He smiled that same cheesy grin as before. 

"So you live out in the woods all alone with your family." I tried to hide a smirk. "You're starting to make sense, actually."

"Now that you know where I leave, where do you leave?"

"Dude, we just got done talking about the stalker issue, and now you're adding to it."

He looked away and appeared to be pouting. "I was just asking. I didn't think it would hurt to find out a little about you."