The Girl in the Field

Chapter 2

I stood next to my brother as the car door slammed, waiting to wave them off. The engine of our old minivan stuttered to life and the car began its descent down the driveway. I looked over at Oliver, who flashed me a huge grin. I knew what he was thinking, and I couldn’t believe it either. Mom was letting us stay for the rest of the summer.

I pulled at the collar of my shirt, thankful for the slight breeze that was drifting through the air. I wasn’t in the most comfortable attire, but we’d come straight from the funeral so I hadn’t had time to change.

I had a light black skirt that fell just above my ankles, which was way too long in my opinion. I wasn’t opposed to wearing dresses or skirts, but most of the time it just didn’t feel like me.  

Black was never really my color, either, and as I stood out on the asphalt in all-black clothes, getting hotter and hotter by the second, I began to wonder how anyone wore black all the time. I heard loose pebbles crackling and turned my attention back to the car backing down the long driveway. 

My younger brother Kyle stuck his face out the open window, grinning and waving like an idiot. I smiled and waved back, and only let my hand down when they had driven up the hill and out of sight.

I stared at the hill for a long time, my eyes following colorful cars and loud motorcycles as they zoomed back and forth, each one brighter or louder than the last, as if competing for my attention. 

I turned to my brother, who was doing the same thing. The look on his face was unreadable, but I saw his jaw was clenched. I silently took hold of his hand, letting him know I was there for him. He offered me a sad smile, and I rested my head on his shoulder. His black button-down was soft and light and felt warm on my shoulder. I diverted my attention back to the hill, and my breath caught when I noticed the sunset. 

The sun flaunted its upper half, peeking out from behind the hill. Shades of blues, purples, oranges, pinks, and yellows were painted across the sky, blending together to form a picture-perfect sunset. I tilted my head upwards and smiled at the stars that were twinkling a bright white in the deepest blue of the sky. That was always one of my favorite things, how many stars you could see here if you just took the time to look up.  My thoughts were interrupted by Oliver's smooth voice, which was shaky and higher than normal. 

“He would’ve loved this.” I looked up at him, and I saw his bottom lip quivering.  I quickly wrapped him in a hug, throwing my arms around his neck, and resting my chin on his shoulder as he hugged me back, sobbing. I nodded slowly, looking back up at the stars. 

“Yeah,” I whispered. “He would’ve.” 

I smelt the pancakes before I even opened my eyes. It was practically a tradition. Aunt Marie made pancakes the first morning after we arrived, no matter what. I finally forced my eyes open, squinting when I was met with the early morning sunlight that was flooding through the windows. I pushed the silky grey sheets off me and sat up, rubbing my eyes. I reached over the side of the bed and grabbed my phone, which was protected by a matte purple phone case with one small, shiny purple heart in the middle. 

I had several notifications, multiple of which were likely spam from Gmail, two snaps from my friend Trayton, and one text from my dad asking me how I’ve been. I opened my phone with my thumbprint, clicking on the bright green messages icon with the little red dot in the corner, and it opened directly into my dad’s contact. I typed out “good.” But hesitated before sending it. I bit my lip, then pulled my silky blue pillow onto my chest and hugged it, burying my face in the smell of my favorite place in the world. 

I’m not okay though, am I? 

I didn’t reply, and instead, I opened up Snapchat to check what Trayton said. Trayton had been a really good friend of mine for several years, and he never failed to send me a morning Snap. I let go of my pillow and sat up against the wall, opening his Snap. The first picture was just his face. He was crazy handsome, dark, fluffy brown hair fell over his grey-blue eyes, and little patches of freckles rested on his cheeks and nose. In the picture, he was biting his bottom lip and looking to the side and he’d written “Morning hottie” as the caption in the middle of his screen.