Tell Me A Lie

Chapter 24

"Jai, I'll love it. I know that," I said honestly. "No need to be so tense."

My eyes softened as Jai's grip on the steering wheel loosened up. As his body relaxed, I wondered why he was so tense. Did he think I would judge him based on a location?

Looking straight ahead, my eyes widened as a forest was now ahead of us. The street reached a dead end and suddenly, I remembered what this place was. It was the forest I had run of to and met Jai. Nostalgia hit me at the sight.

Jai slowed to a stop and then looked at me. He smiled as he noticed I was staring at the forest, reminiscing about the day we met.

"I forgot this forest now has another memory I will treasure forever," Jai said, eyes softening.

I smiled and the both of us unbuckled out seat belts and got out of the car. My heart was beating faster than usual and I wondered why. I was nervous and excited and everything in between as I stared at the forest that loomed over us.

"Follow me, okay?" Jai said, stepping forward.

I nodded and followed Jai into the forest, my eyes flying everywhere. The trees were still filled with leaves and life I could hear scrambling everywhere as we walked by. The sun was still harsh and the smell was still pure. It was everything I remembered it being when I met Jai, yet everything in my own life was so different. Maybe, a good different.

"I love this forest," Jai said, his voice soft with his own nostalgia. "It brings back so many memories and..."

He paused and staring at his back that tensed up, I wondered about the end of the sentence. I wanted to hear the end of it, but I knew better than to push. The one thing I knew confidently about Jai was that he opened up when he was ready to. I just had to be patient.

After a few more minutes of walking in silence, Jai said, "My mom and I used to come here often. We used to explore and play games and..."

His voice cracked suddenly and I reached out and took his hand, not bothering to think twice. Jai intertwined our fingers together and pulled me forward, so that I was at his side. Smiling down at me with a grateful expression, he squeezed my hand.

He led me along a path that suddenly appeared. It was clear and I knew someone had created it. Someone I realized as I glanced up at Jai, was him.

Once down the path, we were at a patch of bare ground. There was nothing but grass around us, but there were trees surrounding the circular perimeter of the place. They were larger than the other trees of the forest and seemed to stretch high in into the sky, which fascinated me.

"My mom and I loved this forest a lot," Jai said as his grip on my hand tightened. "Call us cruel, but we made this bare patch of land here. It was where we just talked and relaxed."

I looked at him and my heart sunk, seeing his eyes glossed over with a sad kind of nostalgia. Anyone with eyes could see that his mom meant a lot to him, and it made me sad to know his mom was no longer with us. I understood why he hated losing people completely.

"So, I didn't bring you here just to reminisce about the past." Jai suddenly grinned, but it didn't reach his eyes. "I wanted to show you something my mom and I built, which I think is pretty cool."

"What is it?" I asked, happy to see him smiling genuinely.

"Look."

Jai pointed to a tree, his arm angled up. My eyes followed the direction and they then widened, seeing something I had somehow missed. Something that was any kids dream come true.