I'm Innocent - Jake T. Austin

10: Technology is a Bitch

I do apologize for not updating for a month and a half. I've had extreme writer's block for this book and my book, Infinite. Please forgive me :( I've also been busy with school and work. I hope you guys still continue reading! I extremely am thankful for the love and support.

This is mostly a filler chapter to get things heated up for the next chapter; I hope you all enjoy!

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10: Technology is a Bitch

I've been walking with this celebrity for minutes, the sky is dark violet, a few sparkles escaping, passing through the dark silhouettes of trees. We've remained silent for moments now; I've had to rest against a few tree trunks for seconds, the pain in my ankle sporadically appearing and disappearing. Jake would turn around a few times, waiting in his spot until I can catch up to him again. He made a few remarks on how slow I am, but other than that, it's been okay. I stumble against his back as he abruptly stops; "Are we here?" I ask, looking around. Right away, I feel the breeze due to the water; the full moon beams its light onto it, ripples dancing due to the pebbles Jake had kicked. He doesn't answer me; I walk towards the edge of the cliff, looking down at the two-foot plunge into the water. I sit down, the water is clean - clean enough to see my reflection due to the moonlight's shine.

I realize Jake is standing behind me, his reflection in the transparent water as well. He looks far off in the distance, and I turn around to see a hard expression on his face - unreadable. He places his bag softly on the ground, kneeling to retrieve something from it. I return my eyes to the water flowing, grabbing a pebble to throw into the water. It doesn't even glide; it simply sinks at a point in the blank canvas of the liquid.

"That was pathetic," he sits two feet away, "A little girl could do so much better." "I don't care," I look away from his direction, the moon's shine distracting me from him. He scoots towards me, a rock in his hand, "This is how it's done." His arm extends out, throwing the pebble - it bouncing, creating five ripples before it sinks in.

"Whatever," I roll my eyes at him. More time passes, eating us up. I do not know what to do - it's dark; the breeze coming from the water causes my legs to shiver, the shorts and shirt I have on not helping me. I do not want to break the silence; I rather wait for him to speak because I seem to have my tongue twisted every time I try to tell him something.

"There isn't any artificial light here," he mentions as he stares off, his head tilting back to look at the sky as his arms rest on the green grass, "No cars. No city lights. Just the moon and stars." I follow his gaze, looking above me. I haven't even noticed the brilliance of the coruscating phenomena. There's millions above us, surrounding the moon, painting the whole sky. It's like a piece of black paper, and glitter is poured - spread out by a child at play. I faintly smile, this being my first experience underneath the stars. He points at one of them, "Do you know what that one is?" His voice comes off - a mere whisper - like he genuinely wants to know. I follow his finger, trying to figure out which one he's pointing at, but since I cannot pinpoint it, he sits even closer, his body pressed against my side, "That one."

"That's actually a planet. The heat radiating off it makes it sparkle brighter, so it looks like a star when in actuality, it's the planet Venus," I explain, staring at how bright it is. As soon as I am done explaining, I realize how bright these genuine lights are: there isn't any created light through long, scientific methods and processes - there aren't any cars or creations of combined chemical compounds to help provide for humans - it's the dark sky brightening this scenery.

Out of nowhere, I feel the burn of his touch, "Here," his hand grabs my wrist, placing a rock in my palm. "Wha - I'm not throwing another rock in the water," I say, but he comes closer, kneeling behind me with his hand holding onto my wrist while his left hand rests on my shoulder. In a swift motion, he controls my hand to throw the pebble, and I release at as soon as his movement stops.