“Right now,” my voice came out squeaky and unsure, “but it’s already way too late, or should I say early!”
Colton chuckled. “That’s the point young grasshopper.”
Crossing my arms over my chest, I slumped down onto my cozy bed and shook my head. “Come on get dressed,” Colton pushed.
He walked over to my closet and pulled out an old red hoodie of mine. “You should just always wear red,” he said grabbing a pair of black leggings and throwing them over to me, along with the hoodie.
“Well what are you waiting for?”
“I can’t get dressed with you in here!”
Colton rolled his eyes but turned in the opposite direction. “Come on get dressed I’m not looking anymore.”
Snatching the clothes from where they landed on the ground, I walked into my bathroom and securely locked the door. Knowing Colton I couldn’t trust him. After slipping the sweatshirt over my head, and taking of my shorts and replacing them with the leggings, I walked out of the bathroom and went straight for my closet.
The first pair of shoes I found was my black converses, and I slipped them on before turning to face Colton. He motioned for the window but I shook my head and nodded towards the door.
“It’s easier through Melo—I mean the other room.”
Without waiting for a reply, I opened my door and stuck my head into the hallway. My parent’s light was off, and there was no sign of any movement. I motioned for Colton to move out into the hallway with me, and we crept towards Melody’s room.
I was almost past the bathroom when my parent’s door slowly creaked open. Not wasting a second, I pushed Colton into the bathroom and slipped inside.
“Sutton is that you?” my father called out, his steps echoing off the walls of the hallway.
I turned on the bathroom light and hissed at Colton to get behind the shower curtain. He dove into the tile covered bath as I turned to face the door “Yeah dad,” I finally answered.
My father appeared in the bathroom doorway and smiled down at me. “It’s good to see you,” he said pulling me into a tight hug.
I squeezed him back, holding my breath when I heard the slightest noise come from the shower curtain. My dad must not have noticed it because he pulled back and looked at me strangely.
“What are you doing up so late?”
“Just getting a drink of water,” I motioned down at the sink.
“But you have your own bathroom in your room,” he reminded me.
Oh shit, I didn’t think of that one. “Yeah, but I forgot I left my cup in here from earlier today.”
And old disgusting looking cup sat on the counter in the bathroom. My father looked at it once and shrugged his shoulders. “Well I’ll get back to bed, just wanted to say hi to you, love you kido.”
My father retreated to his room, and the second his door shut I heard Colton gasp for air. Pulling back the shower curtain, I gave him a strange look.
“I was holding my breath,” he told me, still gasping for air.
Chuckling, I shook my head. “Why the hell would you—“
“I’m a loud breather okay!” he said grumpily, getting out of the shower and standing up.
I laughed as he crossed his arms over his chest with a frown. After shutting off the light, we crept across the hallway and into Melody’s room. Everything except the furniture was packed up in boxes; even the walls were bare.
I peeked back at Colton, who was looking around the room with a sad expression on his face. He obviously knew it was Melody’s room, but he hadn’t said anything, and I was thankful for that.
“Alright,” I whispered while opening the window, “the tree outside is really sturdy, just ask Mark.”
I motioned for Colton to go first. He effortlessly grabbed onto the branch outside and lowered himself closer to the next lowest branch. After his feet were placed firmly on that one, he let go of the top branch, steadied himself and jumped to the ground.
“Easy peasy!” he called up. “But wait there, I need to get something before you come down!”
Colton darted of towards the front yard as I stayed in the window of Melody’s room. After about a minute of waiting, Colton’s dark figure reappeared under the tree. He was holding something in his hands, but I couldn't tell what it was.
“Come on down!” he hissed up.
Taking a deep breath, I reached out for the branch and grabbed on. Pushing off the window, I hung in midair. Colton was taller, and his feet reached the bottom branch easily. I was shorter, so I had to move down the branch I was holding onto until my feet touched bellow. Picturing myself on monkey bars, I moved further down the branch slowly.
After shifting my hold on the tree about four times, my feet skimmed the lower branch and I let go. Now I was practically touching the main part of the tree, so I had something to steady myself with. I got my balance and bent my legs before jumping off. With a thud my feet hit the ground.
Now I could see what Colton was holding; the video camera. He must have had some obsession with the thing because he was always lugging it around.
“You made me wait just so you could capture me climbing down a tree?”
Colton looked down at the camera in his hands and shrugged. “It was your first sneak out; I had to get it on tape.”
“But technically it wasn’t my first, you did make me climb down my balcony before,” I pointed out.
“But you never actually left your yard, so technically in my book that isn’t sneaking out.”
“I did sneak out of the house though!”
“But you never left the yard!”
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed the camera from his hand and pointed it in his direction. He flinched from behind the lens and held up his hand.
“Camera shy?” I asked.
Colton snatched the camera from my hands and pointed it back at me. “Of course not, but the camera doesn’t do me justice. It can’t capture all my sexiness.”
I tried to hold in my laugh as long as possible, but in seconds I was bent over laughing harder than I had in a while. Although I fully agreed that Colton was sexy, his arrogance and confidence was easy to laugh at.
“There’s no denying I’m hot Sutton,” he said glaring down at me.
Straightening up, I raised my hands in the air. “Whoa, I’m not denying anything!”
Colton smiled. “So you do think I’m sexy.”
Thankfully the lack of lighting covered my cheeks because I could tell my face was on fire. Why did Colton always seem to make me blush when no one else could?
“I think you’re cocky,” I said brushing past him and walking towards the front yard.
He followed after loudly, tripping over some branches and a few other things scattered in the yard. When I turned back to scold him, the camera was once again trained on me.
“Must you video tape me?” I hissed.
Colton nodded, but did not reply. Sighing, I continued towards his bike which was parked on the side of the street. I looked up at the night sky as I waited for Colton to start his bike. Stars littered the endless black void.
“Trying to catch a shooting star?” Colton asked as his motorcycle rumbled to life.
“Something like that.”
He handed me his helmet and I climbed onto the bike. “So where exactly are we going?” I asked.
“I guess you’ll have to find out.”
**
“And what exactly are we doing here?”
Colton had taken us on a thirty minute ride out of town and into the middle of nowhere. We were on a back road, surrounded by trees and buzzing insects. There was a sign on the side of the road, but it was so weathered that I wasn’t able to read anything.
Instead of answering me, he took my hand and led me closer to the woods. I was about to protest when I saw the trail he was leading us too. Okay, so maybe I wouldn’t have to trudge through the thick underbrush, but the trail still didn’t explain what we were doing here.
“Colton what are we—“
“Shhh,” he interrupted, putting a single finger to his mouth. “Just listen.”
At first, all I heard was the crunching of our feet hitting the underbrush, but as we traveled further down the trail, all kinds of noises seemed to fill the night. Buzzing insects sang out all around us, the faint but familiar hoot of an owl echoed off the trees, I could even almost hear the trickling of water.
As we approached a clearing, I realized that my hand was still in Colton’s. Taking a deep breath, I tried to ignore the butterflies in my stomach. Stop feeling like this Sutton!
Before I could get into some internal battle with myself, Colton stepped aside and I gasped. The clearing was smaller than I thought it would be, but it ended at the start of a small pool of water that gradually went out into a waterfall. Although the water was black under the night sky, I could tell it was a beautiful blue color by day.
“Well?”
“How did you find this place?” I asked, turning to face Colton who was smirking down at me.
He looked out at the water before turning back to watch me. “Uh, I used to come here with my dad all the time, he would take me and my bro—siblings out here for the day. No one really knows it’s here, he found it hiking a while back.”
“It’s beautiful,” I whispered, looking back out at the serene view Colton had provided me with.
Sometimes I needed a reminder of how beautiful the world could be, it always seemed like such an ugly place.
My eyes landed on Colton once again; he was still watching me. “Yes, it is,” he replied, gaze still stuck on me.
Taking in a deep breath, I lowered myself to the ground and laid down on my back. Colton mimicked my position, and we both gazed up at the stars.
“You know, we really don’t know much about each other,” I pointed out.
He laughed. “Tell me about yourself, freckles.”
Hey guys, if you enjoyed this chapter, please make sure to vote and support my story, it would mean the world to me! Love you all! I read Through it, but I don't have an editor right now, and I'm still working on some stuff so bare with me!