The Boy in the Woods (2014 Wattys Winner, Wattpad Version)

Chapter 38 - Put Your Head on My Shoulder

"Chocolates!"

"I reckoned you'd like 'em," he said with another shrug.

"I love them!  Thank you, Marty."  She opened the box, and then held it out to him.  "Do you want one?"

"You choose first."

Looking over the shiny chocolates, she picked a round one, then offered the box to him again.  While he was making his decision, she bit into hers. 

"Caramel," she said with a smile.  "My favorite."

"Good," he said, finally taking one.  "Enjoy it 'cos I'm not buying 'em again."

"Why not?" she asked bemusedly.

"They caused me too much grief, that's why?" he grumbled.

"Why on earth would chocolates cause you grief?"

"When I brought them, Mrs. Schmidt asked me if they were for a girl," he complained.

"What did you tell her?" Jess asked, trying to hold back her smile.

"I told her no, of course!" he said with outrage.  "Then she asked me who I was buying them for and I was so stupid, I said the first thing that came into my head!"

"What did you say?"

"I said it was for a teacher," he muttered, his shoulders slumping, and Jess couldn't help laughing.

"Then she asked me if it was for a girl teacher!" he continued angrily.  "It wasn't like I had a choice.  I had to say yes!"  By now, Jess was holding her stomach because it hurt from laughing so hard. 

"Now she thinks I gotta crush on one of my teachers," he muttered darkly, his face flushing. 

Imagining him standing in front of the cash register, dying from embarrassment while Mrs. Schmidt interrogated him, Jess fell over on the floor, laughing even harder.

"It's not funny!" he insisted. 

"Yes – it is," she gasped.  When she'd finally recovered, she sat up, wiping tears from her eyes.  "I'm sorry about all the trouble, but I really like my present."

"Well, I reckon we're even.  You bought me a gift and now I bought you one."

Jess dropped her head while she picked up the box to put the cover on it, the lightheartedness of the previous moment vanishing.  She now understood what had motivated him to buy her a gift.  His pride was still wounded over the fish hooks she'd bought him for Christmas the previous year.

"From now on, let's not buy each other presents," Marty said, and she lifted her eyes as a pain pierced her heart.  He didn't want them to give each other gifts anymore?  Had he even wanted to give her a birthday present?  Or had he only done it because he'd felt the need to pay off his debt to her?  "We'll just make them, okay?" he continued, his eyes pleading with her.  "I reckon that's better, don't you?"  He seemed genuinely worried about her reaction, but when she smiled, his expression lightened.

"I agree.  We'll make them from now on," she replied, thinking about the wool cap she'd been knitting for his Christmas present.

Marty stood to fetch more wood for the fire while Jess gathered the empty wax paper wrappers and put them in the basket.  Then she leaned back against a chair to watch the fire and he joined her on the blanket, pulling a small piece of wood and his pen knife out of his jeans pocket.  He started whittling while she watched the flames, her thoughts turning to a subject she'd been mulling over for the last several weeks. 

At first she'd been reluctant to bring up the possibility that she and Marty could attend college together, because she knew his immediate reaction was to reject the notion.  He hadn't considered it was an option when the topic came up before, and he hadn't said anything recently that indicated he'd changed his mind.