Jangles

Chapter 8: If You're a Bird, I'm a Bird

Chapter 8: If You’re a Bird, I’m a Bird

I shoveled a spoonful of frosted flakes into my mouth. “You want to do something today?” Dakota asked, biting into a slice of toast.

“Like what?”

“I don’t know. We could eat, ride bikes in Walmart, you know, like old times. Unless you have plans with Elijah today?”

It was a week after Eli and I had the date and the kiss. We haven’t really spoken to each other since then, maybe a few exchanged texts, but that was it. The fact that I realized that I had a crush on him was practically killing me. “No, I don’t,” I said quickly. “And I don’t think the Walmart management would appreciate a grown man and his not-so-little sister running around and causing havoc in their store.”

“Oh! I know! You’ve always wanted to go to the park when you were younger, right? So let’s go!”

I silently chuckled. A little late there, bro. Like ten years too late. Although, I was touched that he remembered. I didn’t want to rain on his cheerful parade. “If you want…”

“Go get dressed. We’re going to the park.”

I finished off my cereal and put on a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. “Can I drive?” I asked hopefully.

He laughed like it was some joke. Who knows, maybe it was to him. Anyways, I bet you can predict the outcome. He said ‘no, in your dreams.’ If I was going to spend the rest of my summer here, I needed a car. Too bad they just couldn’t ship my car here from New York. It was a shame, really. It was a beautiful cherry red convertible.

I got into the passenger seat and Dakota started driving. He was a better driver than Eli, but still went just as fast; boys. I started to think coming was a bad idea; a very bad one. We would be getting strange looks from people, and knowing Dakota, the cops would probably be there soon. But on the bright side, it’s not like anyone I knew was going to be there.

The car came to a stop and Dakota jumped out and sprinted to the tire swings, chanting for me to push him. He was such a kid. I pushed him for twenty minutes, until I became exhausted. He tried to convince me to keep going, but I insisted that it was my turn. And that itself was a mistake. Dakota is a muscular person, therefore can lift me higher than I lifted him. I almost fell five times. The entire time my hands were clenched around the metal ropes and demanding him to stop. Although, I have to admit, it was a thrill. We spent the rest of the time acting, well, like us. We were screaming like wild banshees and running around the place, earning us terrified looks from children and disgusted ones from their parents.

We were now sitting on the park bench, tired out from all the running we were doing. “I now see why you wanted to go to the park before,” Dakota said thoughtfully.

“Oh, Day.”

“Ashlyn?” a voice said.

It wasn’t Dakota’s voice. No, his voice made my heart beat a little bit faster. It was soft, velvety. It was none other than Elijah. “Hey Elf, what are you doing at the park?” I tried to maintain my cool exterior, even though in the inside, I was a little shocked to see him.

“Going for my run…what were you doing at the park?”

“Oh you know, just hanging out with my big brother.”

“Dakota,” Eli acknowledged. “You forgot to mention that you were screaming like an idiot.”

I blushed. “Oh, you heard that?” Well, that was embarrassing. My crush just saw me running around like a hyperactive toddler. That’s real attractive, Ash.