Day One
All of the colors seemed to blend intricately at the moment, mixes of pale blue and light pink as the sun had fully risen by then. Her eyes pierced the clouds traveling through the sky as she felt the grass curve beneath her body. Was this all life was? Laying in an open field with nothing but a few trees for shade. Nothing of importance she was missing? It felt like a day that was merely a figment of her imagination. Life was much more difficult than it needed to be. Driving cross country to lay in a field made the world seem much more simple. The breeze passing by and the soft laughter of children as they ran past their parents were liberating. Vicariously she could live through their nonsense and laugh to herself. Wiggling her toes between the blades of grass she felt the rush of freedom. It was a long time coming. Being on her own was common but followed by the busy town, this was freedom. Yellowstone National Park was encircling her body as if giving her a hug of reassurance. As much as she never wished to say it, reassurance is what she needed. Instead of speaking that need aloud to the empty space, she claimed for herself, she continued to bask in her little victories.
Shaking his hands out by his side, he attempted to flick the nerves from his skin. It didn't help as he stepped another foot forward still feeling the sweat pooling on his palms. It had been ten minutes that he sat on the bench watching her. It was impossible to place what did it, the hair that shined auburn in the early sun. He thought it might be the way she smiled and moved her head side to side as if singing a song in her head. He waited as long as he could, anxiously bouncing his leg while building the courage to say anything. Each step he took made his knees feel as though they would collapse while he continuously wiped his hands on his pants in case he had to shake her hand. If it went sideways, he would get the boys to move the car and pray they wouldn't cross paths again. Taking in a deep breath he halted a few feet from her, noticing her eyes were closed he felt increasingly creepy and rushed to turn around. With his sudden movement his keys jangled alerting her of his presence. Beneath his breath he cursed before turning back to face her. Now that he saw her head on, things had gone awry. Her head lifted slightly off the grass as she leaned on her elbows. He was all talk when it came to women, he knew it as well as the guys. Now his great plan fell in a heap around him as he was rendered speechless and heard his heart beat echo through his ears.
"Are you going to stand there all day or would you like to lay beside me?" The girl asked cocking her head to the side. She wasn't alarmed by his presence in the slightest. It helped his case that she was a people person and deep down incredibly lonely. Had it been another girl, she would have asked what he was doing, accuse him of stalking her. The way his eyes darted back and forth out of none other than nervous habit, she waited for his reply with a smile.
"If that's alright with you? Not trying to be a bother," he mumbled letting the words fall out in a puzzling order. The voice that came from her wasn't what he had expected. There was a southern twang too it dripping with a delicate breathy tone. Wishing the chill along his spine spread to his hands, he rocked back and forth on his feet. "It's a public camp site. I can't stop you," the girl chuckled leaning back onto the grass while patting the empty space beside her.
The boy inched closer then before taking a seat on the ground beside her. Ignoring the rapid rising and falling of his chest he made use of the height advantage he had. Pulling his knees to his chest he sat staring down at her face now. Her studied her then: long angular nose, pale freckled skin gaining slight color from the sun, small ears dotted with piercings, and light pink lips curled into a smile. His own lips twitched upward as his eyes settled on her own. As if he wasn't already entranced by her, the eyes did him in. Wide and full of curiosity were her big hazel eyes mixing the colors of green and amber. They focused so excitedly on the sky that he hoped she might look at him for a second just to see them head on.
"Go on lay down. Can't watch the sky sitting straight." She spoke softly again as he laid his head beside her trying to see the beauty that she saw. Wiggling his feet back and forth he wondered what was so special above them. The sky looked as it did anywhere. A pale blue and puffy clouds, nothing spectacular. The way she watched was as if she had never seen the outdoors before. "I'm Luanne. Pleasure to watch the skies with you."
"Uh, I'm Josh. Luanne? After the Foreigner song?" The minute he spoke the words he pinched the skin on his palm. If it wasn't the Foreigner song he was going to feel ridiculous and have to come up with an excuse to leave. "My dad loved them. Minute I popped out it was settled. Luanne Faye Clarke. Can tell my parents didn't think about the repercussions of naming their daughter Luanne in the 90's." She laughed as she talked filling him with warmth. There was no hesitation in telling him about herself.
"Joshua Michael Kiszka isn't all that creative. How long have you been here? I haven't seen you here before today." He asked hoping she'd continue the conversation.
"See that beige PT Cruiser. Just managed to get it out here from home this morning. Making my way out to Texas for a job and have made a road trip out of it. Didn't think about how long it would take driving. How long have you been here?" She turned her head to him then making him attempt to breathe quieter before running his hand through his hair out of nervous habit.
"Few days. We are heading to Texas too, San Antonio actually. My brothers and I play small shows here and there. Been here for three days resting. Playing bars gets tiring with the late nights. You want to meet them, we are about to make lunch?" Christ. He just met her, she doesn't want to hangout with them.
"I'm starving! Let's go." She rose from the ground then grabbing ahold of little tan sneakers and a small bag.
Following Josh to his brothers she must have thought she'd gone insane. She just met him. He was quite nice though. Nice enough to offer her free food. She watched his back as they walked over. He had curly hair encircling his head giving him a 70's vibe along with light blue flowing pants with an Elton John t-shirt hanging loosely on his shoulders. If his brothers were just as nice as he was they would get along just fine.
Rounding the corner 3 boys around Josh's height stood around a pot of water on a grill making an absolute mess of things. The one with the darkest hair scolded the other two laughing at the overflowing water bubbling along the coals. She watched him clear his throat dragging their attention from the chaos to her.
"This is Luanne she's heading the same way we are. Drives the car we saw earlier with the cool stickers." Josh looked to her with a smile then making her grin back. She found her stickers to be quite cool herself.
"I'm Jake the twin brother. As you can see the resemblance." She could see the resemblance slightly, Jake's features were sharper and more refined than Josh though.
"I'm Danny, not a technical brother but you could say we are basically related." This made much more sense as he did not look similar to them at all. He did however have a wide warm smile that brought ease to her mind.
"Of course I am last. Sam. The baby of the three. I like your shirt." Luanne looked down as he shook her hand to see her tan shirt with The Doors on it that was far too big on her.
"Thanks, may I ask what the hell you all are doing with a pot of water like that? It could explode." The boys held sheepish smiles looking at her. "We wanted spaghetti. Didn't want to look up how to make it this way."
"I think you have a good set up boys. Very efficient." Josh spoke up trying to hide his sarcasm with a grin earning Sam flipping him off and the other two rolling their eyes.
"Out of my way boys, just sit and look pretty." Luanne's accent thickened as she moved over to the pot of water and went to work as the boys sat at the picnic bench talking amongst themselves.
Josh watched her work. Even handling boiling water she didn't place her shoes back on. Reminded him of Sam and his absence of covering his own feet. She swayed as she moved about humming whilst she cracked the pasta. It was as if she was in her own little world all the time.
"Josh she's something else. Where the hell did you find her?" Jake piped up watching along beside him.
"Cloud watching." Josh replied with a lopsided grin not removing his eyes from her actions.
"Jesus Christ. He leaves for 5 minutes and comes back with her. I leave for 5 minutes and all I do is take a piss." Sam muttered watching her with the others.
"I think she's nice. She didn't run seeing these two idiots trying to make spaghetti." Danny smiled taking a glance at Josh. The guy was in a trance with her every movement.
As Luanne placed the paper bowls in front of the boys she took the empty seat next to Josh. He shifted giving her more room to move, nearly knocking Jake from the bench entirely. As they dug in the boys told her all about their adventure of playing in different bars across the country. She laughed continuously as Josh talked only making his smile widen. He listened intently as she talked about moving away from home to work on a movie set outside Comstock, Texas.
"I'd love to be a director you know? Not to work with the top stars but to make classic movies again. Movies don't have the same feeling that they used to." Luanne spoke wildly with her hands nearly smacking Josh in the face.
"That's what Josh wants to do. When we get tired of the band stuff he wants to go into film making. Ain't that right Josh?" Danny kicked him under the table then.
"I love it. I mean I love music too. But I don't think music can ever top film for me." Josh who had always been the talkative one found himself a fish out of water now. The words felt like fire trying to come from his throat.
"We have much to discuss Joshua Michael Kiszka." Luanne's grin lit the small shaded picnic table as she turned her head to him. Her swirling eyes melted into his making his cheeks flush.
"Whatever you wish to discuss Luanne Faye Clarke, it would be my pleasure." Josh spoke not breaking their eye contact.
As the hours flew by she got to know the boys as well as you could after just meeting. There was a definitive dynamic amongst them. They worked well together each one having their own spot. It took a while but Josh opened up finally. He was complex, not only was he passionate when he spoke he was also chaotic just like the others. For every time he was loud and laughing he would later be soft spoken and smiling.
She took her camera out of her bag as the five of them walked through one of the trails. She was primarily recording the abundance of nature around them. Not even realizing it Luanne focused the camera to Josh. The setting sun was illuminating his tanned skin and fluffy hair. She wanted to remember him this way when they all parted ways.
"When do you all leave?" She spoke up before processing her words.
"Two days. We like to travel on Thursdays for less people, traffic's a bitch. Heading toward Wyoming next. Jakey likes the cowboy aesthetic." Josh spoke up making her look back at Jake who tipped his hat toward her.
"You heard about Cody, Wyoming? Rodeo capital of the world. I like the cowboy aesthetic too." She replied winking at Jake who grinned brightly back at her.
"I would not be caught dead at a rodeo." Sam exclaimed flicking his lighter repeatedly.
"That's a shame. It's my next stop after I'm done here in Yellowstone. I haven't been since I was a kid." Luanne watched all 4 of the boys turn toward each other before Josh spoke without hesitation.
"Cody seems magnificent this time of year. Can't wait to see it. Heard there is a dam on the way there." She watched Josh run his hand through his hair again as he looked at her with a shy smile.
She felt her chest heave for a moment before continuing to walk down the path back towards the boys car and picnic table. Did she expect to go all the way to San Antonio with these boys? She planned a month to drive out to work. Potentially ,she could have a month worth of time with Josh. If Luanne's father knew she was planning around a boy he would be furious. If her mother saw the boy though she would understand.
In the simplest way to put it, he was adorable. Luanne turned her head watching the sun begin to set and thought about not even 10 hours earlier when she laid in the field and Josh laid beside her. When she looked back she watched the boys argue over dinner making her lips curl upward. Josh peeked over Danny's erratic waving hands and grinned toward her making her heart swell. Any hesitation she had properly flew out the window then.