I FELT a light tickle on my arm and my eyes flutter open on their own accord. The sky was a misty blue, blending in with purple as the sun tried to overcome the darkness.
The light made its way above the trees, lighting up the forest below; like always it was a beautiful sight to behold.
I loved mornings. I was a morning person right after I got past my initial still sleep-induced state.
I wasn't surprised to wake up to the early morning sky rather than my popcorn ceiling because I would often wake up outdoors, accidentally falling asleep while gazing at the stars. It wasn't anything new.
I look down at my arm to relieve the tickle but instead, my eyes meet the yellow caterpillar thing that was inching up my arm. I shriek out in surprise and fear and stand up abruptly, shaking and jumping to get rid of any other caterpillars or insects that could be on me.
Bugs I didn't care too much about, but caterpillars, spiders, and such were a whole different story. I shake my arm trying to get rid of the caterpillar and see that it had jumped off. I try to calm my racing heart and then exhale loudly.
This is ridiculous.
I examined my arm to make sure there were no marks and I was glad to see nothing.
Suddenly I felt bad for the caterpillar. I look back to where I had seen it jump down and I tiptoe towards that spot in the grass. I look down only to see the caterpillar balancing itself on a blade of grass.
Oh gosh.
I didn't want it to die or anything so I looked around for a stick. I scanned the clearing and spotted a stick by the flat area in the center which was just meters away from the cliff. I smiled and ran over to the stick and came back for the caterpillar.
I crouched down with the stick in my hands, trying to get the caterpillar to crawl onto the stick so I could mount it onto a tree where it would be safe from getting squashed.
"Oh come on," I muttered, and then I was filled with excitement as the caterpillar moves onto my stick.
Finally!
Then, I slowly got up and walked over to the nearest tree and let it crawl onto the bark. I watch it for a few seconds with contentment before remembering exactly where I was and the events of last night.
I remembered exactly how there was another dude here with me.
My safe haven was no longer my little secret.
When I looked back at where I remembered him sitting I look down at the dirt and grass and see some random doodles in the dirt. Random stars and some pulled loose grass.
And then I see his basketball. Perched perfectly underneath a tree. I groaned knowing exactly what this meant.
I knew this was his promise.
He was coming back tonight.
☆•☆•☆•☆•☆•☆•☆•☆
"You saw someone else?" My grandfather inquired curiously, his dark brown eyes on me. "Who?"
"I don't know his name, but it was a guy. He looked around my age," I answered with a huff as I continued to set the table.
"Wow, The Edge is pretty hard to come across since it's deep into the forest and ours is the closest house to it. I'm surprised," He says with furrowed brows. I shared his intrigue. I don't know how he came across this place but he said he was trying to escape his house.
I knew what that felt like.
"Was he dangerous? He didn't make you feel uncomfortable did he?" My grandfather asks making me look at him with a worried expression.
"No, I'm surprised," I say truthfully. Knowing the reputation of teenage boys in my neighbourhood, I was pretty surprised that the guy didn't attempt to make a move on me or make me feel uncomfortable.
I didn't tell my grandfather about our conversation.
For some reason, I felt like it was supposed to safeguard our conversation as if what we said was evidence of our vulnerabilities.
Protecting a stranger's feelings as if they are my own.
Typical me.
"If he comes back and tries something on you, Layla, let me know. Please don't feel as if you need to hide anything from me," My grandfather says softly, his dark brown eyes looking pleadingly into mine. He already lost his daughter he wasn't about to lose me too.
"Of course," I smile at him and walk around the table to hug him.
He was my family.
He was the only person's feelings I had to protect as if they were my own.
That was family.
When we pull apart he looks at me with amusement.
"Sometimes your resemblance to your mother is uncanny," he chuckles towards the end. His eyes are sombre and sad. "The same eyes and smile, you remind me of her in the best way."
"Ugh don't insult me like that," I roll my eyes and walk away to grab some of those pancakes he had stacked and made for our breakfast.
"Oh please," he rolls his eyes. "Anyways, I already ate so I'm going to go start the truck and clear up the back just in case they need me to have the back cleared."
"I still don't understand why you really want to break your back to help random people move in... Besides, Aunt Marie and Richard can handle it since they are their neighbours," I roll my eyes before I stuff my face in pancakes. I watch as my grandfather puts on his shoes.
"Because it's a tradition," he smiles at me as he slips on his left shoe, "I helped almost everyone move into our area and we haven't had anyone new move in since that incident-"
"No need to make me feel ashamed, it's not our fault," I grumbled as I looked down at my half-eaten pancake. "Anyways, you aren't as young as you used to be, back then it was fine but not anymore. No need to sacrifice your back for people who don't need it and probably won't appreciate it."
"I don't think Gloria is like that and besides I know I not as young as before, but I'm trying the best I can for my age. Also, I'm stronger than most people in our neighbourhood," he chuckles proudly.
There was some truth to his statement, he was a lumberjack in his days so his arms were stronger than most and he was more active than men his age. It helped him keep his youth longer than most.
"Jenkins can testify. He couldn't hold up even a second against me in an arm wrestle," he boasts. I quirked my brow knowing Mr. Jenkins was probably complaining the whole time.
"Sure Thomas, I'll take your word for it."
"I'll be back in a few hours. No need to prepare for dinner, I will grab take-out or leftovers from Marie's," he says to me. I smile and pass him his truck keys.
"If they make you lift anything heavier than 20 pounds tell them that you have a granddaughter back home that won't hesitate to punch them," I say which makes my grandfather laugh loudly. His brown eyes lit up with amusement. "I know you wouldn't lay a finger on them so I will," I shrug.
"Oh my lord, Layla," He chuckles. "It's just Gloria and her son, I'm not going to throw hands at a poor woman and her teenage son nor will I let you,"
I gape at him.
"You're telling me that Gloria and her son don't have professionals helping them move and that rather they are relying on a 60-something-year-old man to help them?" I ask with an incredulous expression. This makes him roll his eyes.
"They have Me, Jenkins, his grandson, I think even Mrs. Halmshire's husband. Even on top of that, they hired like 5 men. Gloria came with a lot of cash I'm surprised that she is moving into our town of all places. Yet again, everyone in this town is rich it's just that we choose this lifestyle."
"When did you get the time to meet them?" I ask curiously knowing that he didn't wake up until like 9 and it was almost 11. I didn't even see or hear him leave the house.
"I woke up at 8 and Marie told me they lost a few trucks on their way to town and one truck was arriving early; so we are planning on helping out with the first truck until the other men get here. Gloria might need help because her son is coming separately in his own car."
"Great," I say sarcastically.
"Gosh, Layla," he chuckles before he exits the house. I grin at him sheepishly knowing that sometimes I was a little too much for him to handle but, I was talking with his best interest in mind.
"Take care! Don't push yourself too hard!" He says as adieu before moving to close the door behind him.
"Please be safe." I also tell him, watching his figure leave. I exhale once he is gone.
Once again I had the house to myself:
Both a blessing and a curse.
☆•☆•☆•☆•☆•☆•☆•☆
"Uhm..." I mutter under my breath as I try to recall my grandmother's infamous chocolate cake recipe.
And then it hits me.
It was 3/4 cup of cocoa powder!
I was planning on making a chocolate cake to take to Aunt Marie's so that the workers and my grandfather would have a snack to munch on while they broke their backs unnecessarily.
I also wanted to spy on my grandfather to make sure he wasn't doing more than he should, knowing that he often went overboard and carried away thinking he was still in his 30s.
Another thing I didn't understand was why Uncle Jenkins was coming even though he whines about every bone and muscle in his body hurting.
I'm sure he was only there to annoy my grandfather.
He and I had the same favourite pastime.
I then went ahead and took the whisk and tried to combine the dry and wet ingredients so that it would create the batter. I was happy that I hadn't made a huge mess because I don't think I could handle always having to vacuum and mop all the time. Making a mess would end up with me in tears.
The thought of failure gives me anxiety.
I grin at the chocolate batter and think about how similar it looked to my grandmother's. Before I poured the batter into the cake tray, I went over all the ingredients that I needed to add to double-check, and then when I was content, I poured it into the tray and threw it in the preheated oven.
To kill some time I decided that I would visit The Edge and set up for tonight. There were on many occasions that I wanted to store my usual things underneath the tree so that I didn't have to come earlier in the day to set up but I knew I would take any excuse to go back there again after last night.
I was intrigued, to say the least.
Very interested in why solidarity connected us.
Very interested in what caused the sadness to linger in his eyes.
Besides, I wanted to know if the basketball was still there or if he had taken off with it.
But if I read correctly; he was coming back tonight.
I set myself a 20-minute timer on my watch and slipped on my flip-flops and ran out into the yard. I swerved to the right, where there was a small opening between the trees. It was after 10 or so steps into the thick mass of trees that I reached the clearing.
My eyes snapped over to where I saw the basketball in the morning.
And there it was the rustic bright orange ball, untouched. I curiously looked around to see if anyone was around.
Something I thought I would never have to worry about but now I do.
Seeing as if there was no one around except the birds who peacefully sang from the treetops, I looked at the ball sighing.
Why was he coming back? Why can't he just take the hint and go away?
For a second I get the absurd thought of throwing the ball off the cliff but, I obviously go against it and I turn away, remembering that I had a cake baking in the oven.
So I leave and don't look back.
☆•☆•☆•☆•☆•☆•☆•☆
When I turned the curb, that's when I saw the huge mover's truck parked right on my Aunt's neighbour's driveway.
I sighed; I really didn't like the fact that my grandfather had to help them.
But he was always very selfless and I knew he was having fun carrying out his so-called "tradition".
Even if he broke his back or something I knew he would say it was worth it for the 10-minute kick he got.
It was true though, he helped almost everyone move into the neighbourhood. He always said it helped bring the community together and helped them get to know us better so they wouldn't judge us when the gossip started to fly around. It was weird because people in my neighbourhood rarely moved out and new people never moved in. It was as if we just all occasionally swapped houses.
I watched as Liam, Mr. Jenkins' grandson, and 1 other dude dressed in a mover's uniform carried an expensive-looking beige-coloured sofa into the house. I looked around the truck and tried to peer inside the house to look for my grandfather, and that's when I saw him talking to this blonde woman with gorgeous, slightly familiar-looking green eyes. He was looking at her with understanding and she gave him a small smile. The floral patterned sundress she was wearing perfectly suited her angelic looks, her blonde hair framing her face perfectly to accentuate her high cheekbones.
I didn't understand why she radiated sadness despite the smile on her face.
I made my way over to them unsteadily. There was no way that woman I assumed was Gloria would recognize me so I had nothing to fear.
She was new here, I had nothing to fear.
Nothing to fear.
Nothing to fear...
I was walking towards them with my grip on my baseball hat when I bumped into a hard chest.
I yelped and tripped on the other person's foot sending myself flying towards their chest. I made the mistake of letting go of my bag with the cake container and I could feel the sharp realization come across as panic as I just realized what I had done.
I don't even look up to see who I had bumped as I crouch down and peer inside the bag to see the smushed-up cake through the clear plastic top of the container. I mourn the destruction of my delicious cake inside the container.
Shit.
I groaned in annoyance as anger surged through me. I worked so hard on this cake. I was so excited for my grandfather to try it.
As I reached for the handle of the bag my hand met another as we were both for the bag at the same time.
I look up with wide eyes and I'm shocked when I see familiar green eyes stare right back at me. Guilt and a hint of another unknown emotion swirling in his eyes.
I was stunned and frozen in my spot and I keep my eyes trained on him as he picked up my bag and takes my arm to help me up; all while maintaining eye contact.
And then he talks.
The same voice belonging to the boy by The Edge. The same eyes that stared at me with sadness were looking back at me with recognition and guilt.
I could never forget his eyes.
Last night I didn't really know who I was talking to but in this light, I realized the moonlight didn't do him any justice. He towered over my 5'7 frame at somewhere around 6'2. His grassy green eyes were brighter than any I had ever seen before and he had gorgeous luscious-looking curly, dark hair. I didn't even want to look down at the chest I had just bumped into by I knew he was built of only lean muscle in all the right places. He had a really nice face but yet there laid a frown and eyes shining with apology.
Despite the anger in me, I knew he was insanely attractive and I was just very lonely and deprived.
Shit.
"Fuck, I am so sorry," He apologizes as he looks down at me with a frown. He lets go of my arm and gives me back the bag, his fingers grazing mine. His voice also sounded so much more clearly than it did last night as there was no impatient wind to carry his voice into the forest.
He even had a nice voice.
I look down at the bag and then back at him and then I feel annoyed all over again.
This was so ridiculous.
"You ruined my cake," I glared at him. He looks back at me and I don't stop there; I don't know where this annoyance came from but I was truly upset about my cake. Usually, I would bite my tongue and not say anything, walking away as the better person but for some reason, I went against everything I was.
I tried the cake back at home and it was delicious. It tasted just like my grandmother's and I wanted my grandfather to taste it. "I baked a cake for everyone and now it's ruined."
"I'm so sorry I had no idea. I guess we're both blind-"
"Uh excuse me? How am I blind when you are the one who walked into me," I glare at him, my brown eyes narrowing.
"Right..." He drawled. "Anyways about your cake. I apologize," he says once again as he runs his fingers through his hair.
I hate how he keeps apologizing.
"Don't apologize," I grunt at him with my glare fixated. He looks at me with amusement.
"Okay," he says trying to fight the smile that was threatening to break through on his face.
"Yea and don't do that either."
"Do what?"
"Smile. You don't deserve to do that after you ruined my cake," I scowl slightly.
He rolls his eyes, his smile just getting bigger.
"Sorry," he says before realizing what he said, "Oh my bad-"
He looks back down at me and I can't handle his eyes on me so I look away, the irritation dying down.
He notices my sad expression. "Hey, I mean I'm pretty hungry right now. Kinda in the mood for some cake," he says with a light smile, as he crouches down slightly to knock my shoulders as a friendly gesture. I look up at him with a glare not wanting to let my guard down. Did he think this suddenly made us friends?
I was still mad.
"You don't deserve any cake."
He pouts.
"Don't be mean," he drawls, "I'm starving."
I roll my eyes, "Thanks to you, the cake is smashed up. You really want to eat it when it looks like that?"
He merely shrugs in response."Why not? Cake is cake."
"Well now it's not as good looking it probably looks like shit in a box," I say cringing. He laughs out loud making me look away.
Ugh, he even has a nice laugh.
"Whatever, let me try some," he smiles at me as he takes the bag from my hand and leads me over to Aunt Marie's porch.
Aunt Marie makes the perfect entrance as she comes out of her house right when we cross her lawn. Her eyes light up when she sees me following behind the dude.
"Oh, Layla! You finally met Kayden!" She smiles at us joyfully making my face drop a bit. She knew him so that means he isn't a passerby in town.
And his name is Kayden.
"Oh, what you got in the bag?" she inquires as she eyes the white plastic bag in Kayden's hand. He holds it up for a second before speaking on my behalf.
"She made some cake and she offered to let me try some. I said I was busy helping them move things into the house but she insisted," he said spitting out lies. I gaped at him.
The audacity?!
"Aunt Marie, don't listen to a word he says. He is a compulsive liar," I said monotonously. Kayden then turned to look at me with a fake offended expression which I rolled my eyes at.
"How rude," he gasps in feigned shock.
I looked over at my Aunt who was looking at us with a small smile.
"Wow, that's exciting, Layla. What recipe did you use? Your grandmothers?"
I nod in response making my aunt's face light up as she then rushes over to Kayden and me. Kayden hands her over the bag with a moment of hesitation. I look at him and he takes it as permission to hand it over.
"Layla, can I try some?" She asks as she takes out the container from the bag. I cringe at how it looks in the container. Kayden takes this opportunity to laugh obnoxiously.
"Oh shut up, that's all your fault," I glare at him. "Keep laughing and I will make your face twin with the cake."
That made him shut up and look at me with a smirk.
"Oh really, I would love to see you try, Sweetheart."
"I'm not your Sweetheart," I glared at him.
"Okay, babe," and then I open my mouth to object but then he starts up again. "Sweetheart, sweetheart, sweetheart, sweetheart, sweetheart," he taunted while smirking at me.
"Leave me alone, stranger," I groaned with a glare while trying to run away from him and behind my aunt who I didn't realize had served herself some of my cake on one of the paper plates I had bought.
I ignore Kayden and watch as my aunt takes a spoonful of the cake and puts it in her mouth. Even Kayden stopped annoying me and glanced between my aunt and me to observe my reaction to her trying my cake.
My aunt's eyes widen and she looks at me with slightly teary eyes but the happiest expression I had ever seen on her. Her blue eyes stare down at me as if I had brought her back something she had lost long ago.
"That tastes just like hers..."
That was the best compliment I could have ever received.
I grin at her and gave her a hug. She doesn't hesitate to wrap her hands around me. I pulled back and my aunt straightens her back and chuckles to try to get her emotions under control.
I was so happy she enjoyed it.
"Don't worry about how it looks, Layla, her cakes always looked different every time but always tasted the same."
I chuckle at her and my aunt smiles before taking the container and heading inside the house.
"I'll put this in a different container and I'll send it back with your grandfather when he heads back home," she says before rushing inside. I turn around and see Kayden and I immediately roll my eyes at his amused expression and turn to walk away.
"You really made her happy," he says as he falls into step with me. I raise a brow at his action but smile neither less.
"I know. It was my grandmother's cake recipe," I tell him. He runs a hand through his hair. "I guess you won't be able to try any since Aunt Marie ran off with it."
What was I doing? I wasn't out to be friends with him.
"I know, I seriously wanted to taste it, she was raving on about it."
We were walking away from my aunt's place and started to walk in the direction of my house which was just streets away.
The silence around us was comfortable; like it was last night, I felt like myself with him and it was internally freaking me out.
As if catastrophe didn't dictate my life.
I cleared my throat and realized that at this time, there were no cars on the road and the sun was beginning to descend.
"I recognize you, you know," he says suddenly, his voice sounding so kind and gentle. I look over at him and see him smiling at me.
"You know...from the cliff, you were the girl who was mesmerized by the moon...taking pictures and gazing at the stars."
I blush much to my dismay. I turn away from him, not wanting him to think he had any effect on me. People who look like him often have playboy tendencies and I didn't want to be a play toy.
I didn't know what I wanted.
Maybe I just wanted a friend, but for me, those don't come or stick around often.
"It was hella cute," he admits. Okay what.
And I blushed again and I saw him look at me but I tried to hide my face.
"Awww, I'm making you blush," He teased once he got a look at my red-coated cheeks. I nudge on his broad shoulders hard, making him stumble in his step a bit but he laughs. I knew I didn't push hard but he let me.
I was not this person. Who was I pretending to be?
"Thank you for yesterday though," He says on a more serious note as he calms himself down.
"For what? I did nothing." I say truthfully, letting my brown eyes meet his green ones. For some reason, eye contact felt like too much so I look away.
"Naw, you saved me," he says quieter than he thought it would be. I look over at him due to the change in tone. "Thanks for letting me stay. I really needed to be out of the house yesterday, more than you can imagine. I really tried to not intrude but damn the shit you were doing looked interesting as fuck," He continues with honesty in his voice.
I awe at his ability to speak his mind. I noticed that about him; he was outgoing in the very best way.
He was truly an enigma.
"You seem pretty interested in the moons and astronomy," He says to me. I leave my trail of thought and smile at his observation.
I had no reason to be rude to him. He hadn't done anything to me yet.
"Yea, it's sort of my thing," I respond quietly as I kick a lone pebble as we walk along. I watch as our shadows grow longer with the setting sun.
"Thats a really cool 'thing' to have," he nods. "Anyways where are we going?"
"The Edge."
"The cliff?"
"Yea but I call it The Edge," I say smiling at him slightly. I watch his expression and he smiles slightly as he stares straight ahead.
"I like that. The Edge." He says testing it out. "I left my basketball there," he adds.
"I know, I saw," I roll my eyes.
"Yea...I was planning on coming back tonight. Nights are always hard for me. Like last night I was looking for a basketball court or somewhere I could play ball and let out some steam but I couldn't find it so I decided to go into the forest."
"You decided to go into the forest in the dark because you couldn't find a basketball court? You know you could have run into wolves or something considering you left from the right side of the clearing," I reprimanded him with a raised brow. He laughs at my response. I knew there were no wolves in the forest but I still felt like playing along.
"I was a depressed man yesterday, cut me some slack. I was seriously not in my right mind and didn't even think about the possibility of getting eaten by wolves," He chuckled as if what he had just said was just a joke.
I was genuinely curious. How did he go from someone looking like he was so sad to someone who was able to laugh freely without any burden? Was he that shallow to his emotions or was he just an expert at hiding them?
"As if wolves would want you," I roll my eyes, playing along with what I knew he wanted.
He was such an open book.
"Mhm, you want me," He teases as he raises his brows suggestively.
"And I'm a wolf? Nah... Correction, jail wants you. Or Satan, or better yet, nobody!" I say sarcastically. I was a bit taken back by his teasing but I welcomed it. It was fun talking to someone other than my Aunt or grandfather. I didn't have other people who even wanted to talk to me.
"You break my heart," he says dramatically as he holds his hands on his chest over his heart.
"Yea, I'm just doing what I do best."
"Right..." He drawls as he rolls his eyes at my pretend arrogance.
It's peaceful after that and I listen as the wind ruffles the leaves of the trees and bushes.
"I haven't introduced myself yet," Kayden pipes up. "I'm Kayden," he says grinning at me from beside me as he runs his hand through his hair, the dark brown, strands parting with his fingers. I bring my eyes down to his happy expression.
He was so cliche.
But his smile was so insanely contagious.
"I know your Aunt exposed my name but I wanted to properly introduce myself," he says sheepishly. I grin inwardly at his silliness.
"My name is Layla, just like my Aunt said earlier," I smile lightly.
"Super cute."
"Thanks, I know."
He takes my walking as a cue to fall back in step with me.
"I'm new here so if you get us lost, it's all on you," He admits.
"Wow, thanks for letting me know," I say sarcastically, he grins at me boyishly in response. "I've lived here my whole life, don't worry you're in good company."
We walk for an extra minute with more haste and we reach my house.
"This is my house," I say pointing quickly at the small house, not wanting to create a huge show. I watch him curiously to gauge his reaction and he looks back at me in fascination.
"Ah, so this is where angels live," he says as he then looks at me with a smirk.
I chuckle at his silliness.
"What I was saying about the wolves was totally cap by the way. I really don't want to die, so no need to drag me into the forest."
"If I wanted to kill you I would have done it already. I watch a lot of How To Get Away With Murder," I pass him a smirk. He rolls his eyes.
I lead him through the trees towards the clearing. His eyes light up with recognition.
"Damn, it looks even better in the daylight...hella cozy," he says loudly in awe as he walks past me and into the center of the clearing. "Wow the land here is flat," he notes.
"Yea, my grandpa and I were going to plant vegetables here so it's flat but we decided against it because he didn't think the positioning was right," I blabbed running my mouth on about something that wasn't even true. I couldn't tell him that after my grandmother passed, my grandfather refused to come here so he scrapped the plans.
He nods in understanding, I notice that he has his basketball in his hands again. His hand was huge and it almost encased half of the ball.
I gulped.
"The way you looked at me yesterday got me thinking that you're not used to people coming here."
My heart starts pounding in my chest.
How can he even see that?
For some reason, I felt the double meaning in his words. I look at him carefully, letting my eyes run across his face.
"To be honest, I don't think anyone even ever tried."
"Tried what."
I licked my lips and looked around, anywhere but at him. "Tried to find this place." It was true, with just a bit of exploration into the woods behind our house, anyone could find this place.
"Well, I did," He says looking at me with those striking green eyes, it was as if he could see into my soul.
I watch as he then turns to look over at where the moon was beginning to peek over the trees in the forest below us. I watch as the orange sky gives him back that familiar gorgeous hazel tint from last night. His eyes filled with so much light it was brightening up my night sky.
"I did, and I think that it is beautiful."
His voice didn't even falter.
☆•☆•☆•☆•☆•☆•☆•☆