KIM
"No, you didn't?" I laughed.
"Yes. I did." Jackson laughed back.
We were sitting on the bench of the picnic table, facing the lake. His arm rested on the table behind me. We were talking about ourselves and Jackson brought up a funny moment from before he moved here of when he went fishing and caught a big fish. He apparently brought it home and showed his Mom. His Mom freaked out.
"That's insane."
He laughed. "It is. My Mom made me take it back to the lake."
"I bet."
"Did you do anything insane like that?" He asked.
"Promise you won't laugh."
He grinned. "Can't promise anything."
"We stayed at a lake house once and Trent was taking a nap in the canoe."
Jackson waved a hand and laughed. "Wait. Who sleeps in a canoe?"
"Apparently Trent." I said then continued. "I thought it would be funny if while he was sleeping I'd push the canoe into the lake."
He laughed. "Oh my God. Why would you do that?"
"I was ten."
He continued laughing. "You're more of a rebel than me."
I shrugged. "Well, maybe. Just a little."
He chuckled and leaned his back against the table. "It's a very nice day."
I looked around and smiled. "It is."
"One of the best we've had in a while." He said and looked at me.
"Nice day to come out." I said. He didn't stop staring. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Did I ever tell you that you're beautiful?"
I shook my head. "I don't think so."
"Well, I'm telling you now." He said and kissed the corner of my lips.
He leaned back and put an arm around me. Grabbing my hand into his. "How does this happen?"
He leaned back a bit. "What do you mean?"
I motioned to the both of us. "Us. We aren't supposed to like each other."
He smiled and put a finger under my chin, making me look up at him. "We'll make this work." He said in the most soothing voice. "I know this isn't going to be easy. But we'll make it work. I promise." I smiled as he leaned in and kissed me. He smiled and bent down to the ground when we parted. "Turn around." I was confused but went along with it. I somewhat regretted that decision when something was chucked at my back.
"Ouch." I said and turned around, seeing a pebble on the bench. "Are you serious?"
"Pay back." He said. "Now we're even."
"You're a strange boy you know?"
He shrugged. "That's what people say." He position himself next to me again. "I had to."
"I know."
He kissed my head and we just sat there for a while. "Man, it's hot out here." He said first.
"So?"
He laughed and stood up. "I'm going to go dip my feet if you don't mind. You can come." He kicked his shoes and socks off and took his shirt off, heading to the deck. I kicked off my shoes and headed behind him. He sat on the edge of the deck, his feet dangling in the water. I sat beside him and let my feet dangle off the deck.
"You know it's supposed to get colder later, right?" I asked.
He nodded and pointed a thumb at his truck. "Got a sweatshirt in the truck."
"How long are we planning on staying here?"
"All day." He said. "Once you're here you don't want to leave."
"Then I better call my parents. I grabbed my phone from my pocket. "One second." I said and stood up, walking back to the tree.
My Mom answered my call and I told her I was spending the day with Lacey and that I'll be home before it gets dark. Mom Okayed the situation and hung up. I sent Lacey a quick text that if my Mom contacted her in any way she has to go along with it and she agreed. I locked my phone and headed back over to Jackson.
He followed my movement as I sat back down. "So, you're hanging with Lacey?"
I shifted a little to get comfortable. "No." I chuckled. "Just needed to get my Mom off my back. If I didn't call then I would get a ton of voicemails from her and the county police out to find me. She's very strict and protective."
He let out a breath. "God."
"Your Mom or Dirk know where you are?"
He shrugged. "They know I'm out."
"And you didn't tell them where?"
He shook his head. "No, of course not. Like I said, no one else besides me and you know about this place."
I nodded. "So, you just left your house."
He nodded. "Yeah. I was outside anyway so might as well." He paused for a moment. "You hungry?"
"Why?"
He smiled and got up. "I got some food in the truck." I watched him as he walked to the truck and opened the back door, pulling out a picnic basket and then carrying it back over. He sat down beside me, placing the basket between us.
I nodded in approval. "Nice."
He opened the basket. "Number one rule of coming here is to always bring food because you aren't going to leave anytime soon." He handed me a sandwich. "This okay with you?"
I nodded. "Yeah." I said and unfolded the sandwich from its clear wrap, taking a bite. "This is pretty good."
"Thanks." He said and grabbed one for himself. "Jake loves them."
"I see why."
He smiled. "You have some crumbs on the side of your mouth." I was about to wipe it when he stopped me. "I got it." He said and leaned it, kissing the corner of my mouth.
"Got it?"
"Got it." He reached back into the basket and pulled out two water bottles. "Thirsty?" I nodded and he passed one to me.
"You got enough in there to last until sunset?" I asked.
He nodded and closed the basket. "Yeah. This is just lunch."
I nodded. "How long do you usually stay out here?"
"All day. Sometimes through the night if it's nice out." Before I could speak he spoke again. "I tell them I'm staying at Cameron's." He laughed. "I knew you were going to ask."
"Am I really that predictable?"
He shook his head. "No. Sometimes. I am still trying to figure you out."
"Figure me out?"
He nodded. "Yeah. There's still some things I need to figure out about you. And there are some things that you should figure out about me."
I smiled. "Like what?"
"You'll have to wait and see."
I took the last bite of my sandwich and crumpled up the wrapper. Jackson extended his hand to me saying that he would take care of it. He took it and got up and walked to the picnic table. He leaned under it and put the wrapper in what I suppose is a garbage bag that was nailed into the bottom of the picnic table.
He saw my expression and smiled. "Put it there for easy clean up. I switch it out every other week."
I smiled back. "This place is full of surprises."
He nodded and put his legs up, wrapping his arms around them. He took a swig of water. "Dirk disposed of all the beer in the house." He said while looking at his bottle.
"Yeah?"
Jackson nodded. "Beer use to be in the waters position."
"How long have you been sober?"
"Not happy about it. But maybe since we first started studying together."
I nodded. "So, that time when Dirk took the beer away from you was it?"
"Yup, that was it."
I smiled and rubbed his knee. He just stared at my hand. "You doing good?"
"It's hard. You see it on TV, it's mentioned in country songs, and it seems to come around more when you quit."
"Hey." I said soothingly. I smiled and leaned up, kissing him. "Good?" I said when I parted.
He smiled back. "Good." He moved his legs so they were daggling over the edge of the dock and he laid down on his back. His feet tracing the water. I did the same.
We didn't speak to each other as we looked at the clear blue sky. We didn't have to. Just being in each other's presence spoke enough.
JACKSON
Kim and I sat together at the picnic table, facing the lake. We talked. We talked about anything like we did last night. It came so easy to talk to her.
"No, you didn't?" She laughed.
"Yes, I did." I was telling her a funny story about the time I went fishing and decided to bring this big dead fish home with me to show Mom and see if I could keep. She freaked.
"That's insane."
"It is. My Mom made me take it back to the lake."
"I bet." She continued laughing.
I was resting my arm on the table behind her. My fingers brushing the fabric of her shirt. She didn't seem to notice. "Did you do anything insane like that?"
"Promise you won't laugh."
I grinned at her. "Can't promise anything."
"We stayed at a lake house once and Trent was taking a nap in the canoe." I could tell she was trying not to laugh herself.
I laughed and motioned her to stop. "Wait. Who sleeps in a canoe?"
"Apparently Trent." She said. "I thought it would be funny if while he was sleeping I'd push the canoe into the lake."
I laughed. "Oh my God. Why would you do that?"
"I was ten."
I couldn't stop laughing. Dirk once said that when he was a kid he did the same thing to his brother. It just seems better coming from Kim. "You're more of a rebel than me."
She shrugged. "Well, maybe." She squinted her eye and held her ring and thumb fingers close together. "Just a little."
I chuckled and leaned onto the back of the table. My arm never moving away from her. "It's a very nice day." I said, taking in the view ahead of us.
"It is."
"One of the best we've had in a while." I said, turning my head to look at her.
"Nice day to come out." She said. I couldn't take my eyes off her. "Why are you staring at me like that?"
"Did I ever tell you that you're beautiful?"
She shook her head. "I don't think so."
"Well, I'm telling you now." I said and kissed the dimple on the corner of her mouth.
I leaned back and moved my arm so instead of it resting on the table it was around her, holding her hand.
"How does this happen?"
"What do you mean?"
She motioned to us. "Us. We aren't supposed to like each other."
I smiled and placed my fingertips under her chin, making her look at me. "We'll make this work." I said. I was trying to reassure her that I know we are strong enough to make this work. "I know this isn't going to be easy. But we'll make it work. I promise." I said and kissed her lips. "Turn around." She surprisingly did as I said. I reached my arm down onto the ground and picked up a pebble. I slid down the bench a little ways and threw the pebble, hitting her in the shoulder. I slid back next to her while she was turning around.
"Ouch." She said. She saw the pebble lying between us. "Are you serious?"
"Pay back." I said. "Now we're even."
"You're a strange boy you know?"
I shrugged with a grin. "That's what people say." I tried to get back into the position I was originally at before I moved. "I had to."
"I know."
Once I was settled I gave her a kiss on the head. We sat there for a while when I felt sweat on my forehead. This time it wasn't from being nervous. This time is because it was getting hot out. I rubbed the back of my hand on my forehead. "Man, it's hot out here." I said.
"So?"
I laughed and stood up. "I'm going to go dip my feet if you don't mind. You can come." I kick off my Nike's and ankle socks. I took my shirt off and headed to the deck. I walked backwards, smiling as I watched her kick her shoes off. I turned around when she was done and continued walking the few steps to the deck. I sat on the edge, my feet dipped it the water. The deck wasn't low enough to put my whole leg in. The water would only go as far up as my ankles. I watched Kim as she moved to sit next to me.
"You know it's supposed to get colder later, right?" She asked once she got down.
I nodded and pointed at my truck. "Got a sweatshirt in the truck." I always kept clothes, pillows, blankets and other stuff in the backseats since nobody ever sits there.
"How long are we planning on staying here?"
"All day." I said. "Once you're here you don't want to leave." When I first found this place I found minutes turning into hours. It's like doing something exciting and then having to return back to your normal life after.
"Then I better call my parents." She said and slid her hand into her pocket and grabbed her phone, dialing her parents' number. She put it to her ear. "One second." She said and got up, walking towards the tree. I watched her talking on the phone. "Mom, I'm going to be out for a while. I'm with Lacey." When she finally hung up she sent a quick text I'm guessing.
I looked at her as she sat back down. "So, you're hanging with Lacey?"
She got herself comfortable. "No. Just needed to get my Mom off my back. If I didn't call then I would get a ton of voicemails from her and the county police out to find me. She's very strict and protective."
I let out a huff of air. I was getting a cold breeze. I wanted to go get my sweatshirt from the car but I didn't want to move. "God."
"Your Mom or Dirk know where you are?"
I shrugged. "They know I'm out."
"And you didn't tell them where?"
I shook my head. "No, of course not. Like I said, no one else besides me and you know about this place."
She nodded. "So, you just left your house."
I nodded. "Yeah. I was outside anyway so might as well." I hummed a little and turned towards the truck. "You hungry?"
"Why?"
I gave her a smile and stood up. My feet burning on the wooden deck from the cross between cold and hot. "I got some food in the truck." I walked to the truck. The whole time trying to get my feet to warm up. I grabbed the basket and carried it back. Still trying to warm up my feet. I sped down the deck and placed the basket between Kim and I as I sat down.
She nodded in approval. "Nice."
I leaned down and opened the basket. "Number one rule of coming here is to always bring food because you aren't going to leave anytime soon." I grabbed a sandwich and handed it to her. I didn't know how to make anything else so every time I came here it would always be a sandwich I would eat while I was here. "This okay with you?"
She nodded. "Yeah." She grabbed it from me and removed the clear wrap and then took a bite of the sandwich. "This is pretty good."
"Thanks." I said and reached in to the basket grabbing myself one as well. "Jake loves them." Jake makes me make him one for school almost every day. Jake says I'm the only one who knows how to make it the way he likes.
"I see why."
I smiled. "You have some crumbs on the side of your mouth." She moved her hand to get it but I stopped her. "I got it." I grinned and kissed the corner of her mouth.
"Got it?"
"Got it." I reached into the basket and grabbed two water bottles. "Thirsty?" I gave her one when she nodded.
"You got enough in there to last until sunset?" She asked.
"Yeah. This is just lunch."
"How long do you usually stay out here?"
"All day. Sometimes through the night if it's nice out." I knew she was about to ask where Mom and Dirk thought I was so I stopped her. "I tell them I'm staying at Cameron's." I smirked. "I knew you were going to ask."
"Am I really that predictable?"
"No. Sometimes. I am still trying to figure you out."
"Figure me out?"
I nodded. "Yeah. There's still some things I need to figure out about you. And there are somethings that you should figure out about me." We are both still unfamiliar with each other's lives that we should work on figuring those things out. There are just some things I don't feel comfortable talking about yet.
She leaned back a bit. "Like what?"
"You'll have to wait and see." I winked.
I saw her crumple up her wrapper and saw that she didn't know what to do with it. I motioned her to give it to me to take care of. I got up and headed towards a garbage bag that I nailed under the picnic table. As I walked over to the bag I could feel a cold breeze hit my bare chest, making me shiver. I threw it away and basically hugged myself to stay warm as I got back to her.
I looked at her face. She has this look on her face as if to say are you kidding me? "Put it there for easy clean up. I switch it out every other week."
She watched me sit back down. "This place is full of surprises."
I was not about to put my feet back in the water. The water was getting cold. I don't know how she was still baring it. I lifted my legs up so my knees were almost touching my chest but not completely. I grabbed my water bottle and wrapped my arms around my knees, taking a swig of water. I looked at the water bottle. This is all I've been drinking since Dirk took the beer away from me when Kim first helped me study. After that all the beer disappeared. "Dirk disposed of all the beer in the house." I said.
"Yeah?"
I nodded and took a glance at my now empty water bottle. I twirled it in my hand. "Beer use to be in the waters position."
"How long have you been sober?"
I wasn't happy that I have become sober. I didn't want to become sober. But I guess it wasn't my choice. "Not happy about it. But maybe since we first started studying together."
"So, that time when Dirk took the beer away from you was it?"
"Yup, that was it."
She smiled and placed a gentle hand on my knee. I could feel it through the fabric of my jeans. It warmed my leg up a little. My leg was freezing under my jeans. "You doing good?"
"It's hard. You see it on TV, it's mentioned in country songs, and it seems to come around more when you quit."
"Hey." She said and gave me a kiss. I knew it was to make me feel better about that situation. "Good?" She said as she leaned back but was still close to me.
"Good." I smiled. I put my feet back over the deck and laid on my back. My feet were just sliding on top of the water. I made sure they didn't go all the way in or else I would be a shivering mess.
Kim laid down close to me. Our sides touching as we held each other's hand between us. We looked up at the blue sky. How was it blue? It feels like it's 15 degrees out. But we didn't speak. But we did speak. Not with words but with the presence of each other.