The Woods (Original)

I Used To Think That I Was Strong, Until The Day It All Went Wrong

   I spent the rest of that night trying to comfort Petra and convince her everything was going to be okay. She told me how the doctor said I got really lucky, the knife wound missing any important arteries. He used a kind of glue to mend it, and it was waterproof seeing as it would be near impossible to shower without a waterproof mend. She said they called it the "Luckiest Stab Wound". Yeah, I feel real lucky.
Eventually she fell asleep in my arms, and I found myself petting her hair as I fell asleep. She's so darn cute when she sleeps. You know I've heard that falling asleep with the person you love makes you sleep better and relieves stress.
   I woke up when I felt Petra fidgeting to get out of bed. It was 6:30 in the morning, and I felt exhausted. Me and Petra were up a long time just talking... I'm glad she fell asleep before me so I knew she got more sleep than me.
   I lifted my arms off her so she could get up. "You getting ready for school?" I asked.
   "Yeah, I'll be back soon," she replied.
   "You're coming back?"
   "Yeah, I'll bring your work back again and we can work together on the rest of the stuff," she said.
   "Alright I guess..." I said reluctantly. I didn't want her to miss school, but I guess she is getting all her work done and not falling behind. "Be careful," words I have said many times to her. It would be the death of me if she wrecked her motorcycle and got hurt.
"I will," she chuckled.
Not long after Petra left, my mom and doctor walked into the room.
"Ready to go home, Mr. Jones?" The man asked me.
"Oh, I have to wait for my friend to get back," I answered.
"Alright, we'll go ahead and sign the release form," he said as he and my mom made their way to what I'm assuming was the front desk.
When Petra returned we were all packed and ready to go. The doctor gave my mom the form for prescription pain meds and where to pick them up. As Petra and I walked out side-by-side I noticed a rather large pile of chipped wood in the parking lot near the entrance, but brushed it off.
"Where do you think you're going?" I heard my moms voice behind me, causing me to freeze in my tracks.
"Uh, home?" I responded.
"Not on that death machine," she said pointing at the motorcycle.
"Death machine? You're the death machine! At least Petra doesn't text and drive!" I challenged.
"Jesse... You just got out of the hospital. Maybe you should ride with her," Petra said as she rested her arm on my shoulder.
I looked back at her with an "Are you crazy, I don't want to ride in the same car as her," look in my eyes.
"I know..." She said. "But a car is better for someone in your state."
Reluctantly I sighed and got in the car with my mom.
"I'll be right behind you," Petra promised.
I gave her one last look of concern before shutting my door. I did not want to talk to my mom. Not after all that happened those few nights ago, resulting in me storming out of the house.
"Look, Jesse," she said we we started down the road, "I know you miss your dad but-"
"But nothing. I don't want to talk about it," I interrupted.
"Can't you just be happy for me?" She pleaded.
"Don't I get a say in this?!" I said, raising my voice.
She sighed and dropped the subject. We rode home in complete silence, thankfully we didn't crash. Oh, how I hated the way she drove. As promised though, Petra pulled into the driveway right behind us.
   We sat in the living room and got comfortable, waiting for my mom to either leave or go into a different room.
   "Jesse I'm going to go to-"
   "Either Mike's house or the bar. Yeah I know. Bye," I interrupted coldly.
   She sighed. "You know... He's not so bad if you just give him a chance," she said as she closed the door behind her.
   I let out a sigh of frustration as she left. "I'm sorry... I don't mean to be rude to her... I just can't stand the things she does sometimes. I feel like she doesn't even care about me," I said. I did feel guilty, here I am being rude to my mom when Petra doesn't have a mom in her life. She must think I'm a jerk.
"I'm sure she's trying her best..." She tried to comfort me.
That really made me think. I mean, my mom did miss my birthday but she still saved up a ton of money just so I could get new clothes. She's just never home, always out getting drunken boyfriends.
   "Let's just work..." I said not knowing what else to say. I figured anything would offend her so I just dropped it.
   She nodded in agreement.
   We had little school work from having missed three whole days, and it was all really easy. Everything we had was basically recap so we actually finished quickly.
"What do you wanna do?" She asked when we put everything away.
"You're gonna think I'm so crazy... But I've been dying to swim in that lake," I said smiling.
"Are you sure it wouldn't be too hard on you?" She asked, I could tell she was concerned.
"The doctor said this was waterproof, right?" I replied.
"Alright, let's do it," she agreed with a warm smile.
"Okay, be right back," I said as I ran into my room to get my swim trunks. We of course stopped by Petra's house so she could change into her swim suit too.
At the lake I waited awkwardly until Petra wasn't looking to take my shirt off. I don't know why but I just felt awkward if she watched.
She wore a navy blue two-piece with white stars. She looked absolutely stunning in it, I blushed just looking at her. She looked over at me and when I followed her gaze I was met with the forming scar on my stomach. I ran over to Petra and scooped her up bridal-style, swinging her around in circles.
"What are you doing?!" She screamed in surprise as I tossed her in the lake, laughing hysterically.
Before I could open my eyes from the bout of laughter, I felt something pull me into the water. Our bodies collided under the cool liquid and my whole world spun in slow motion. When we surfaced it was her turn to laugh, and I soon joined too.
"Got ya," she said with a wink.
"Well I got you first," I retorted child-like.
She waded over closer to me with a huge smirk on her face and placed her hands on my shoulders. Sploosh. She dunked me under the water. I opened my eyes and spotted her foot, yanking her down underneath the water with me. When she joined me I swam over to her, the murky water obstructing my vision, and she playfully shoved me away then she swam to the surface.
When I broke the surface and gasped for air I was cut off by a soft but forceful kiss. "Got ya," she whispered. "First," she added with a smirk.
I grabbed her shoulders and kissed her passionately, putting all my emotions I felt for her in it. We sunk underwater and spun like a torpedo, our legs intertwining with each other. We parted when we both swam up for air.
"Got ya good," I said as I wiped water out of my eyes. She rolled her eyes playfully at me.
After a while of swimming and splashing around we got out and sat on the shore.
"Petra," I started.
"Yeah?"
"Are you still- ya know- planning on going to prom?" I asked.
"Jesse, I bought a dress. A dress." She emphasized as if it was the worst thing to ever happen to her. "Where else am I going to wear that?"
"Right, well... I was wondering if you would go with me..." I said sheepishly.
"I thought I already was," she answered.
"I mean... As my date," I said as I craned my neck, feeling the instant heat of a blush form on my face. "I know you said you would go with me, but I feel like it was because you felt you had to. I want to officially ask you... to be my date."
She looked over at me and just smiled, shaking her head in disbelief. "You are something else, you know that Jones? Of course I'll go with you... As your date," she said as I felt my heart leap in joy.
I put my arm around her shoulders as we watched the sun get buried behind the trees. She rested her head on my shoulder as we stared out at the woods, a place so beautiful but tainted with bad memories. There were good memories too, however, and in this case I feel the good supersedes the bad.