Skipping Stones - COMPLETE

Chapter 10

"From what I've seen I hope your grades were better than your stone throwing."

"Humph." I pout. "Top of my class, I'll have you know."

"Of course you are." He smiles. "Plant your feet this time. Don't let me move your body like last time." He laughs. "You almost knocked me out."

I can't help but let out a small giggle. I nod. "Uh huh. See, last time I turned three hundred sixty degrees. This time, turn zero degrees?" I shake my head. "See if we make this into math...schoolwork...I'll ace it."

He is definitely amused. "We're about to find out."

"Yeah...how many kisses you have."

"Ha. The rest is in the flick of your wrist. Almost like throwing a frisbee. Can you do that?"

I roll my eyes and cock my head to the side. "You're serious?"

"Sure."

I push my behind back to nudge him. "Of course I can throw a freakin' frisbee."

He grunts. "Don't be doin' all that." Then he clears his throat. "I'll just have to reposition you."

"Right." Yeah right. Reposition me. "That would be a travesty."

"You ready?"

"When you are."

He makes sure my arm, wrist, and fingers are all in the right places. Then he whispers, "Trust me. I have a mutual interest in seeing you succeed the first try."

When he does, that he makes my legs wobbly. He makes me forget what I'm doing. He makes me forget everything. "You keep doing that and I'm never going to be able to do it."

"Doing what?"

"Whispering stuff like that to me."

"Well, then by all means." He puts his hands up and backs away. "Give it your best shot. Forget I'm here."

I nod, close my eyes, and say a silent prayer begging God to help me ace this test. I need the distraction. When I let this stone fly out of my fingers, I need to be able to release some of this aching. I need this: him and skipping stones, to be my therapy. When I open them, I study the water for a moment. It's calm, peaceful, and serene. I start to move my arm, feet planted firmly into the ground. I watch as my rock skims across the water, leaving three splashes in its wake.

I let the momentum of my arm twirl my body back around. My feet leave the ground as I start to jump up and down. Except he catches me mid-air.

I wrap my arms around his neck, "I think you owe me."

"I wonder if it was just a fluke?"

I shake my head. "Doesn't matter. You owe me."

He starts to walk me down the shore a little bit. "Where are you taking me?"

"To a special place."

"What if –"

"What if what?"

"What if someone tries to find me?"

"That's the point, Alex. I don't want us to get busted again in a compromising position." He puts me down and takes my hand into his. Then he points. "Watch out for that poison oak right there." I jump, which causes him to laugh. "You do stuff like that and you're sure to land in it."

A few seconds later we're in a small open field. I turn myself around, taking in the beauty of this place. "All these years, and I never knew this existed."

He wraps his arms around my waist. "Maybe there's a reason for that."

"Like what?" I ask.

"Maybe it was meant to be our special place."

I smile. "Maybe." I wonder if my dad knew about this place, if he brought my mom here. As the feeling of bricks resumes its familiar place, I beg, "Kiss me. Take me away. Take me somewhere else –"

He pulls me closer to his body, squeezing me so tight that I can't breathe. I close my eyes, partially waiting, and partially forbidding the tears to escape. He lifts my chin, bringing my lips to his.

***

I'M NOT SURE how much time has passed. We've been talking, skipping stones, and kissing. Blissful kissing. I'm not sure he had any idea of what he'd gotten himself into when he came up with his cute little game. Or maybe he did?

At any rate, I've found myself wishing the time wouldn't come to an end. It's that feeling the last night of a vacation. The bittersweet realization that time is almost up, but despite that, doing everything to fully enjoy the time left without spoiling it because of said realization.

There's one last stone in our pile. I glance down at it. "Want it?" I ask.

He shakes his head. "No."

I glance into his brown eyes. "Ya want me to do this one?"

"Yup."

"What if I mess this one up?" I reach down and pick it up. "Like the whole bottom of the ninth, bases loaded, full count, two outs..."

Drew smiles. "I guess we're about to find out how you do under pressure."

I don't care about the stone. I don't care if I can skip it, or not. I just want to kiss him again. "You made the game up..."

"I did," he quips proudly.

"Then you can change the rules."

"I'm listening."

"No matter what, I get another kiss. Either way it's a prize." I shrug.

"Ha. A prize either way. What's your reasoning?" He chuckles.

"Either the prize for winning...skipping a stone, or a consolation prize for choking."

"Deal." He moves back and plops into the overgrown weeds. I'd call it grass, but I'm not sure I see any blades of grass. It's mainly clover, wild onions, and dandelions. "How about if I give you a bigger kiss if you do it? That way you still have some incentive to do your best."

I glance back over my shoulder. "Deal."

Replaying the instructions he gave me earlier, I turn so that my side is facing the water. Then, putting the stone just right in my fingers, I glance back to him, holding my hand out. "Like this?"

When I look back, I freeze because it's not Drew sitting in the field. It's my father. So I stand still as if freezing and not moving will make this real. It has to be a figment of my imagination. Our eyes are locked and he smiles as he gives me a thumbs up.