Chapter 4: Utopia
(UNEDITED)
"Oh, my god! Is that the time?" I asked Josh, glimpsing the large watch on the wall behind his head.
We had started off our day by going to St.Andrews park, laying in the grass chatting. We then messed around on the swings and had a quick game of tag that ended with us rolling in the grass laughing. Time had slipped away and we sat on one of the parks many hills and watched as the sun set. Romantic - right? It was Josh's idea and of course I loved it. Josh was my faithful boyfriend of one year and we had a happy, caring relationship. He was captain of the football team and had bronze, tanned skin. Sandy blond hair hung across his face and he had an adoring smile that would make any sane girl go crazy. He had a funny, cheeky personality and was annoyingly kind. Another trait that I loved about him was that he was always romantic and this was one of those moments.
After we watched the sun set, Josh had taken us to my favourite ice cream joint - Big G's ice cream parlour.
"Yup! What time do you have to be back tonight?"
"Mum never said, and we both know my curfew (11:00) but I wanna get back for half nine, to be in mum's good-books. She kinda flipped out on me this morning which is unusual for her and I don't want it to happen again." I told him
"Ok, sure thing babe, I've seen how scary your mum can get when she's angry and that's scary!" He replied with a lopsided grin, widening his eyes in mock horror.
"You big oaf!" I replied playfully hitting him on the shoulder.
"I love you too." He replied with a sarcastic smile "Come on now, we don't want the witch to turn you into a toad!"
"Sometimes I wonder why I ever started dating you josh!" I replied with an eye roll, but he could see I was joking.
"Hey! I'm hurt!" He replied, covering his chest with a hand and widening his eyes with a pout on his lips.
We both laughed merrily as I gave him a hug, then he got up to ask for the cheque. Josh payed the waitress and politely bid her goodbye, then turned to me and wrapped his arm around my waist.
"Come on hon! Lets go!" He sang, leading me to his navy blue Volvo. He got in and revved the engine, waiting for me to buckle up.
Ten minutes later, when we arrived at my house, he lead me to the door.
"Thanks for the day out and ice cream, Josh, it was really nice."
"Nah, it was nothing, besides I'm the one that should be saying thank you."
"What for?" I asked bewildered.
"For letting me spent time with the greatest girl in the world - you!"
"Aww, thanks, that's so sweet." I replied, pecking him on the cheek.
"I try my best." He replied, wriggling his eyebrows.
I let out a little laugh then gave him a warm hug.
"Bye Josh, I'll see you tomorrow - Kay."
"Okay sweetie, night night." He replied, giving me a quick kiss on the lips then turning and walking down the driveway.
"Love you!" He cried out just before he got into his car.
"I love you too." I replied, grinning, then I turned to the house and let myself in. Mum was cooking lasagna (my favourite) and I lost myself in the smell. I then headed into the dining room and waited for my dinner to be ready.
*****
I crept out of bed and quietly dressed in my black workout clothes. All around me, the house was pin drop silent. I glanced at the mini grandfather clock in my bedroom and smiled - 23:55 - I'd get there by midnight.
Still grinning like a fool, I walked over to my dressing table. Precious's cage sat on the dresser - an expensive cherry wood cage with reinforced glass encrusted into it. She sat there (precious), waiting for this moment. Quick as a flash, I grabbed her and let her slither up my arm and curl around my slim neck. I then slipped on my running shoes and tiptoed towards the window.
Within seconds, I was scaling down the tree beside my window. With a graceful and muffled thump, I jumped into my back garden and bowed to my imaginary onlookers. It took all of one minute to edge down the garden, and creep out the back gate into the alleyway behind my house that lead to the forest.
As soon as I entered the forest, precious tensed around my shoulders and let out a small hiss. Alarmed, I timidly glanced around. I couldn't see anything, but decided to keep an eye out as I jogged. I wasn't really worried about anything jumping out at me - I did have an over protective, poisonous snake wrapped around my neck.
It was a self made tradition to go for a jog each night at midnight in the forest. Precious would always come with me, but not only for protection - it was a personal, twisted joke:
Max had gotten precious for me as a present on my 14th birthday. He knew I was petrified of snakes and thought it would be hilarious if he got me one.
At first, I was terrified and wouldn't even go into the same room as it. Then I saw him guffawing at me. He was rolling on the floor, clutching at his sides with his face an abnormal shade of red. I scoffed at him and decided to prove his sorry backside wrong.
Confidently, I strolled back into the room and kicked Max with the tip of my toe to get his attention. Then, with a nervous smile, I reached into precious's cage and carefully pulled her out. (Thankfully, I didn't know she was poisonous at the time) Max, by this time was sat, frozen to the floor with a look of awe and pride etched across his handsome face.
"She's poisonous you know." He'd told me, snapping out of his shocked state.
"Nope but good to know." I had replied, forcing myself to smile and ignore my thudding heart. Precious was surprisingly gentle, slithering over my body and licking at the air around me - getting a sense of me.
We'd been the best of friends ever since. Precious had yet to kill anybody and loved me to bits. She generally had good judgement of people and would be friendly to pure hearted people or leave alone those that posed no threat. But when she came across someone she saw as a threat to her or me, it would be hell to get her not to poison them. But at least I was safe?!
As for Jgging in the woods, guess who put me up to it? Yeah, Max:
We were playing dare or double dare. It was my turn and i decided to go with double dare, knowing that even if he dared me to swim the English channel, i would have to do it. I sat and waited for max to come up with a dare, my heart rate accelerating with every minute that passed. Eventually, a dangerous glint came to his eye, and a smirk crossed his lips.
" Go for a run in the woods - at midnight." He dared me.
Instanty, my pale face turned paler. My lips quivered, and a shudder raced along my spine.
"What?! You have got to be kidding me - its suiside. God knows how many tales there are of people going in there after sunset and never coming out. Do you want me, your fabulous, funny and loving bezzie to die Max? Do you?!" I exploded.
He grinned, opening his mouth to speak: "Naw, of course not, i just want to scare the living daylights out of you! And anyway, we both know that those stories are a load of cra- i mean rubbish!"
" No, we dont!"
"Even if we didn't, which we do, there is only one way to find out! Come on, lets go - were going for a midnight jog!"
"Uh, Max, its only half ten - weve got a good hour and a half before midnight."
"Good, we have enough time to get ready. You go and get dressed in your jogging gear, and i'm going to go down and get us some food. We need to be fueled up when the clock strikes the hour."
"Ugh!' I groaned and and got up to get ready.
By 23:55, we had dressed,eaten and were standing on the edge of the forest. Precious was wrapped tightly around my neck, making me feel less scared, but not safe. Max stood next to me, and I gripped his hand tightly as we took our first step into the forest.
Surprisingly, the erratic beating of our hearts slowed down with each step we took. A blanket of peace, serenity and tranquility engulfed us the further we jogged. Soon enough, we reached the heart of the forest. Compared to the rest of the forest, it was wild and unkept, yet stunning at the same time.
A glistening waterfall dropped around 55m into a crystal pool of water. Fringing it were smooth beige rocks and pebbles. Tall, luscious green grass swayed in the wind alongside daisies and clovers. The full silver moon illuminated the clearing, giving it a ghostly, untouchable beauty.
"It's picturesque." I breathed, gazing around.
"Yeah, it is." Max replied, looking into my eyes.
At that moment, something inside me seemed to click. A switch turned on. I realised that I liked Max - I liked him more than a bestfriend. Way more than a bestfriend. He seemed to realise too, and his eyes filled with love, and something else. A flicker of lust.
Slowly, he began to lean into me, not breaking eye contact. His midnight black eyes dancing with emotion. Finally, he was a breath away, his nose against mine, his minty, hot breath tickling my mouth. Cautiously, he looked down to my lips, then back to my eyes. I wrapped my arms around his neck as he leaned down and kissed me delicately and passionately.
Fireworks exploded across my body as he kissed me. The kiss was sweet and blissfull - perfect. Eventually, he broke away and gave me a boyish grin. Then, he grabbed my hand and pulled me down to lay next to him. We stayed like that till sunrise, savouring the moment, with birds singing melodies around us...
I came back to now, and noticed I had jogged into the clearing. Tears of happiness forlornly ran down my cheeks. We (Maxand I) had decided tokeep 'our place' a secret and decided to call it Utopia.
We never did get together as a couple. In fact, we pretended that magical night never happened and carried on as bezzies. But ocasionally,I would catch him giving me longing looks or looks full of love, and he would catch me doing the same. It didn't last long though, I no longer loved him. It was just a silly little crush...
With that thought, I decided to head back home. Precious was till tensed around my neck, but had stopped hissing a while back. Every now and then, I would hear a twig snap behind me, but ignored it. If the person (presuming it was a person) wanted to hurt me, they would have done it by now. Besides, I was exhausted and couldn't wait to get home and fall into a long, deep sleep...