California Dreaming

Chapter Twenty Three

   “Well, there needs to be at least one sane person in this family,” my dad professed. 

   “We’ve got to go, dude,” Gabriel said, after glancing at his watch and finishing the dregs of his drink. He stood from the counter and picked me up in his arms, causing me to let out a yelp of surprise and grip tightly to his shirt. 

   “Have a good day!” My dad called after us, as we made our way to the front door. 

   “We’ll try!” I shouted back, before Gabes maneuvered me through the doorframe and down the front steps. “Be careful, I don’t want your stitches to burst open,” I warned him anxiously, as he continued to hold me in his steadying arms. He stood me back on the sidewalk and took hold of my hand, squeezing it in his. 

   “You know what? It’s days like these when I can’t help but think about how beautiful this place is,” he confessed to me, looking around us, at the quiet, suburban street, the white picket fences and leafy, palm trees. 

   “Like what?” I frowned, trying to understand what he meant. 

   “Well, like,” he paused, taking a deep breath, “like the sun,” he pointed up to the sky and I followed his gaze. “The sun is shining down on us and the sky is so blue, and we’re living in this wonderful city where we can go around in our swimsuits and stay up until three in the morning. And you!” He exclaimed, looking down at me and continuing to swing our arms between us. “You’re so beautiful, Jia, and it is moments like this, in the summer sun, and the Californian heat, that I admire just how wonderful the structure of your face is,” he smiled chivalrously and I looked down at my feet bashfully. 

   “The structure of my face is wonderful, is it?” I asked, looking up at him with slight mockery. 

   “You know what I mean,” he shrugged sheepishly, pulling a pair of dark glasses from his jacket pocket, to save him from squinting against the morning sunshine. 

   “You have beautiful facial structure too, Gabes,” I assured him, hugging my arms around his bicep and brushing my face against his shoulder. I went up onto my tip toes and kissed the nape of his neck, the only place I could reach from the position I was in. 

   “Race you,” Gabriel looked down at me with a cheeky, lopsided, smile, before taking off down the street, towards the tall stone building, which could be seen, towering over the rows of houses. 

   “I’ll win!” I shouted after him, starting to sprint and quickly overtaking him, although I could feel him biting at my heels. I giggled gleefully and our laughter echoed throughout the street, and despite the glances other students were giving us as we approached the school, I was too ridiculously happy to care. 

   We reached the front gates of the school and both stopped running, clutching to each other as we tried to get our breath back. I took large gulps of the fresh air as we ascended the stone steps leading to the front hallway. Gabes reached his locker and I lent against the cool, green metal, tipping my head back against the door. Gabriel pulled open his locker and removed a few books, putting others away from his satchel, stacking them onto the shelves. 

   “Is it English Lit first?” I asked, sucking on my bottom lip and brushing my fringe from my eyes impatiently. 

   “You got it,” he nodded, glancing at me admiringly when he thought I wasn’t paying any attention. 

   “I’ll meet you in Biology then,” I smiled, leaning over Gabriel and kissing him on the cheek, since he had been moved from Mr Greene’s class after a clash with his timetable.