Delphic Song

Chapter One

“You don’t know what you’ve got yourself into, Connolly. You know I kick ass at cartwheels.”

I stepped back, gesturing for him to go first and laughing. "The best you can do is try. I did gymnastics for six years. You can't even dream of cart wheeling better than me."

 Liam rocked back on his heels, a smug look on his. "But I can, and I will." He raised his hands above his head dramatically, readying himself. "Watch and learn, Gwen."

As I studied him, his smirk faded. His features changed; his blue eyes narrowing in fierce concentration. He bit his bottom lip, his dimples appearing as they always did. I smiled when I recognized his expression as one I'd seen many times before. He always bit his lip when he was focusing, as his world seemed to tune out. It was with this kind of concentration that he took on every challenge, from school grades to sports to ridiculous cart wheeling challenges like this. I'd know him for as long as I could remember, and Liam had always had this seriousness about him. One moment he'll be joking around, and the next he'll flip a switch in his mind and intensity takes over. I'd always admired it about him, ever since I was a kid. I remember looking up to Liam, the older and smarter one in our childhood duo, and promising myself I'd be like him someday. Determined to be my best, like him.

Liam moved suddenly, throwing his body to the side. His hands came down one by one, and his legs came after, arcing overhead, cutting through the sky. They seemed so much longer than when he was standing. He landed perfectly. He straightened, his lean muscles revealed as his shirt rode up. I looked away, pretending not to notice his nice abs.

Nice doesn’t even do them justice. I inwardly smacked myself.

Liam and I had been best friends since practically forever. My dad said that when Liam moved to town with his mom, they hadn't known anyone or anything about our small Maine hometown, Fryeburg. My dad and Liam's mom, Lucia, had met in the local Thriftway buying baby food. They had got to talking babies and poof, Liam and I were best baby buddies. We hardly saw Lucia anymore; she worked as a sales representative and she traveled all the time. She was rarely home, and when she was, it was only for a short time, and only when it was completely necessary. When we were younger, Liam had stayed with us all the time when his mom wasn’t home. His dad had left Lucia before Liam was even born, and had been out of the picture ever since.

Anyways, that's how Liam and I became attached at the hip. I don't even remember him moving to Fryeburg; I was too young. But my dad has shown me so many pictures of Liam and me as children that it’s like I can recall every moment perfectly. Snaps of Liam and me in the bubble bath, of us snuggled close together on my bed, asleep. Liam was two years older than me, and Dad always said that he looked after me like an older brother.

“What did I tell you?” Liam asked, interrupting my thoughts. He brushed his hands together, shedding grass.

I shrugged; making an unimpressed, “eh,” noise. “Prepare for the true master.”

I eyed the ground where I would start, and threw my body over in to a cartwheel. My hands hit the ground one after the other, my legs swinging up over my head, pin wheeling over me. My feet hit, first my right, then my left, the impact shaking my legs. I swung the rest of my body up into standing position and immediately bent in half in a deep, exaggerated bow. I lifted my head, a wide grin stretched across my face.

"Ta da," I sang, skipping across the grass. I threw my body sideways in another cartwheel, landing perfectly balanced on my feet. “I think we both know that I won that." I adjusted my necklace, a special dream catcher charm tied to a strong hemp cord. It had swung up and crooked during my gymnastics.

“Hell no,” Liam said. “I was totally better.”

“Was not!”

“Was too!”