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  “I don’t know this town, Wesley. What is there to do?” I asked as I walked out the door.

  “There’s always cow tipping,” he joked.

  “You know, I heard that can actually kill them.” I found no amusement in tormenting animals. Not unless they were human.

  “I didn’t know that. Not that I’d ever do it.” He laughed as he opened the passenger door of my car.

  “Sure you wouldn’t.” I gave him a wink as I sat down. He shut the door and rushed around the front of the car before getting in and turning the key in the ignition.

  “There’s a park about a mile up the road. We could go there and just talk,” he suggested.

  “Yeah, that sounds like fun,” I admitted.

  I was suddenly wishing I had brought sunblock.

  ***

  We sat in the grass side by side, picking at the weeds.

  “Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you are?” he said without warning.

  I was taken aback. “No, I don’t think that they have.” My throat felt suddenly dry.

  “Sorry, that was probably a pretty lame line.” He laughed, throwing his head back.

  “No, I think it was pretty good.”

  I leaned into him and he wrapped his right arm around me and pulled me close. It was awkward at first, but after a moment I felt comfortable. He seemed content with my response to his touch.

  “How old are you?” he asked as I rested my head on his shoulder.

  “Eighteen.” I breathed in the fresh air. “You?”

  “Same.”

  His skin felt cool and smooth against mine.

  “What are you doing this Saturday?” he asked as he leaned his head on top of mine.

  I grinned as the wind blew through our hair. “Nothing.”

  “You want to go to a movie?”

  He was asking me out.

  “Sure.” My body went numb.

  He had asked me out! Oh my God!

  We sat in the grass for a few minutes more while I daydreamed about our first date. It was about ten minutes in when he suddenly started to lean toward me, before stopping halfway and pulling himself erect, then running his fingers through his brown hair. He did the same thing a total of three times. I wasn’t sure if he was attempting vertical sit-ups or trying to kiss me.

  “You know you are totally giving me a complex here,” I said quietly.

  “I didn’t think it would be this hard,” he muttered, leaning forward with his head in his hands.

  Then he looked at me with those blue eyes. They were sparkling, dazzling, and utterly captivating.

  “You didn’t think what would be so hard? Weirding me out? Because if that was what you intended, you are doing an awesome job of it,” I said, fighting the urge to grab hold of him.

  He let out a nervous laugh.

  “I haven’t met someone in a very long time that I had any interest in. I just didn’t realize it would be so hard to just...”

  I sat up, leaned over, and kissed him on his cheek.

  His eyes flew open and then a big smile spread across his lips.

  ***

  I dropped Wesley off at his house at about a quarter after seven. He kissed me on the cheek and got out of the car.

  “I had a great time,” he said as I walked around to the driver’s side.

  “I did, too.” I grinned from ear to ear.

  “I can’t wait for Saturday,” he replied.

  He hugged me briefly, the coolness of his body calming the warmth in me.

  “I can’t either.” I smiled at him as he let me go and turned to walk away.

  “Tomorrow in class then?”

  “Of course.”

  I watched him walk up the driveway and disappear around the corner of the house, then got into my car. I drove all the way home with a broad smile on my face.

  My mother was sitting in the living room when I entered the house. She was reading one of her many books and took no notice of me at first. I put my bag down on the table and stretched.

  “Have fun?” she asked me, looking up from her chapter.

  “Yeah.”

  “You’re late. Next time it wouldn’t hurt to send me a text message to let me know where you are.” She raised an eyebrow and gave me a stern look.

  “Sorry, Mom. I wasn’t meaning to give you a fright.” I winked at her and she frowned.

  “I think you are the last person I need to worry about,” she murmured.

  I grinned. I always loved it when she went into mom mode.

  “True. Still, next time I will make sure I let you know.” I popped my knuckles.

  “Thank you. So who were you with?”

  “Oh, just… out,” I said vaguely.

  “With?” she pushed.

  “A boy,” I said, glancing at her. “We don’t have anything going on this weekend, do we?”

  “Nope. Not that I know of, at least.”

  She was already reopening her book.

  “I’m going to go and do my homework now,” I told her as I walked over to her and kissed her on the top of her head.

  “Make sure you do it right,” she instructed, pointing towards my room. “No TV till it’s done.”

  “Seriously, Mom, where do you get this stuff?” I groaned as I turned to leave the room.

  “What? No one watches TV till the homework is done. That’s the rule for everyone.” She looked like I was supposed to know this.

  “What are you reading?” I asked as I made my way into the kitchen.

  “Nothing special.”

  I took myself off to my room. I threw my bag on my desk and walked over to my stereo. Turning on my music, I settled in for a few hours of trig and my report on the federal government. I was about halfway through my math homework when my phone buzzed. I grabbed it and smiled.

  Wesley: Was thinking about you.

  I laughed to myself. He was really turning on the charm.

  Me: I was thinking about you too.

  It wasn’t a complete lie. In between answering math problems I had replayed our afternoon over and over again.

  Wesley: Wish I could see you right now.

  I shook my head. Then I sent him a quick selfie of me doing my math homework. I didn’t even make it a pretty one. Instead I crossed my eyes and made a gesture like I was stabbing myself through the temple with a pencil. In response to my image I received one in return. The phone nearly fell out of my hands. He had sent me one of him lying in bed in nothing but his sleep pants.

  Me: You look comfortable.

  I hit myself in the face. Man, how lame could I be? If he was interested in me before, he wouldn’t be after that lukewarm response.

  Wesley: You look stressed.

  I laughed. Maybe I was wrong about this boy.

  Me: I have to get this done. Text you before bed.

  Wesley: Ok.

  I put my phone down and proceeded to answer the next ten questions on my sheet of problems. I admit I kept going back to the image of Wesley. Eighteen-year-old bodies didn’t usually look that good. How was it even possible?

  By eleven I was homeworked out. I put down my pencil and rubbed my eyes. And I thought I was confused about religion! Try spending several hours trying to figure out American government... I put my books back in my bag and shut my laptop. There wasn’t much else that I could do tonight.

  I changed into my sleep clothes and braided my hair in pigtails, letting them hang in the front. Then I picked up my phone and opened Wesley’s message, taking one last lingering look at the image he had sent me.

  I turned on the camera of my phone and took a shot of me lying in bed. I wasn’t exposing anything. My baby doll shirt covered every important part of my upper anatomy. All it did was leave a little hint of flesh in the stomach area.

  Me: Heading to bed.

  Wesley: Lucky bed! See you tomorrow, beautiful. Sleep well.

  I put my
phone on my end table and rolled on my side. My head was swimming with all the images of the day. I fell asleep, welcoming the darkness.

  Chapter Seven: With This Ring

  It was Friday already and Wesley and I had spent every day after school together in the park, just talking. It was nice to have someone I could feel comfortable with. Not to mention someone who seemed to have his own cooling system.

  “Dawn.”

  “What’s up, Mom?” I asked as I ran from my bedroom to the living room.

  “You have plans tonight?”

  “No, not tonight.” I raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

  “No reason.” She smiled sweetly.

  She had a reason.

  “No, really, Mom. You don’t ask me what I’m doing if you don’t have plans already.” I frowned at her.

  “Want to start a fire?” She wiggled her eyebrows at me.

  “The last time you said that I burnt down the shed at the old house.”

  She rolled her eyes. “No. I mean, do you want to start a fire and roast hotdogs tonight?”

  “Oh. Yeah, that sounds like fun.” My frown turned into a smile.

  I loved it when we spent time together. I loved it even more than when we did it before everything happened. My mother was starting to feel better. I could see it in her face. All her work at the church was paying off. Maybe all we had to do was leave El Paso for her to find herself again.

  We grabbed the hotdogs and buns from the kitchen and went outside. She had dug a fire pit in the middle of the backyard. She must have done it while I was at school, because it wasn’t there the day before.

  “Do your worst.” She pointed at the pit.

  I rubbed my hands together and closed my eyes. Once I felt the warm prickle in my fingers I opened them, willing the fire to escape. The flame hit the pit, igniting it instantly. My mother put the hotdogs on two spits and handed one to me. We took a seat on the concrete blocks and roasted our dinner.

  “What brought this on, Mom?” I asked softly as my hotdog began to sizzle.

  “I figured we hadn’t had a good night, just the two of us, in a while. I miss spending time with you.” She looked at the fire as if she wished she could jump into it.

  “I missed spending time with you, too, Mom.” I smiled at her and she winked back at me.

  “So, what are your plans tomorrow?”

  I had a feeling she knew something. She always knew something. I couldn’t go a day without her asking about something that had happened to me. It was as if the moment I was in her presence she could read my mind. All kidding aside, I thought she really could.

  “Nothing much. Just thought I would catch a movie in town.” I didn’t want to admit to her that it was a date.

  “Oh? Anyone special?” she asked as we put our hotdogs on their buns and smothered them in mustard.

  “I suppose,” I admitted.

  The more time I spent with Wesley the more I wanted to be with him. We had only shared the one kiss on the cheek, but there had been plenty of hand holding and hugging. He was old-fashioned, I suppose. Never once did he make a pass at me. Not that I would have stopped him. I probably would have died right there in his arms, actually.

  “Do tell,” she said, leaning forward.

  I just laughed.

  ***

  I was lying in bed, staring at the ceiling, when my phone buzzed. Every night around the same time we sent messages to one another. I often fell asleep talking to him, but he never held it against me. It had been five days since we first met and it felt like I had known him most of my life.

  Wesley: What are you doing?

  Me: Lying in bed.

  Wesley: Sounds like fun.

  Me: What about you?

  Wesley: Watching a really crappy horror movie.

  Me: That sounds like more fun than I’m having.

  Wesley: Yeah, just wish you were here watching it with me.

  Me: Me too.

  Our conversations always bordered on the edge of romance.

  As I mentioned before, I was no stranger to teenage relationships. I had had my fair share of boyfriends while we lived in El Paso. None of them wowed me enough to actually fall in love. I had, in fact, never been in love. I had also never been up after midnight texting a boy that I had known for just a few days. On the outside, looking in, we appeared as if we were nothing more than friends. From the inside, looking out, it was as if we were already beyond that point.

  Neither of us would admit it. We knew something was there. I mean, really, look at our last conversation. There was a mutual attraction forming. We longed to be near each other when we were apart. The students at school pretty much ignored us both. I received a few sporadic death looks in the hallway, but all in all they were blind to us.

  Wesley: I’m excited about tomorrow.

  Me: Yeah, me too.

  Wesley: What time do you want me to pick you up?

  Me: I figured we could just meet in town.

  It wasn’t that I didn’t want him to meet my mother. It was just that I wasn’t ready for all the questions that she would ask. She would want to know all of his family history. I guess, in a way, to see if she had maybe met an ancestor of his in the afterlife. It was easier this way. At least then, if the date went bad, I could come home and he wouldn’t have to know where I lived.

  Wesley: You scared of me meeting your mom?

  Me: Actually, yeah. I just want to make sure she doesn’t freak when she meets you.

  Wesley: She into death metal and Satan or something?

  Me: Why do you ask?

  Wesley: Have you looked in the mirror recently?

  Alright, that I would give to him. In this day and age I was considered goth by fashion sense. I always wore black, always had a dark look on my face, and always listened to my music loud. While the other kids got in their cars blaring the newest Bruno Mars I got into mine blaring Pantera or Metallica.

  I was a mother’s worse nightmare, to be honest. Even my ex-boyfriends feared the inevitable when it came to meeting the parents. That was probably why, shortly afterwards, I always found myself single.

  Me: Not the point! My mother is a different breed of mom.

  Wesley: Then it is probably best she doesn’t meet my father.

  We talked for a bit longer before deciding to go to bed. I lay there for a bit in the silence before I let sleep take me.

  ***

  I stood outside the theater house in Midvale, waiting for Wesley. He had said we should meet at six out front for the seven o’clock showing. However, it was already nearing six-thirty and I was becoming antsy. Had he stood me up? I felt hurt and anger mixed together. Nobody would make a fool of me.

  I stomped to my car and swung the door open, throwing myself into my seat as I grabbed my phone and frantically texted his number.

  Me: I’m standing outside the theater wondering where you are. You said six, right?

  I waited for him to respond, but just like every other text message I had sent that night it got no reply. My heart was pounding. I had to take a walk. If I didn’t I would wind up singeing the upholstery in my car. I liked my seat covers. The last thing I wanted was to burn them.

  Getting out, I took one last look around but found Wesley nowhere in sight. This, I scolded myself, was what I got for actually thinking that a guy was into me. I walked along the sidewalk, letting the late summer air caress my face. I stuffed my hands deep into my pockets and kept my head down. The anger in me kept pulsating and I didn’t want anyone to see any sparks coming from my hands if they decided to fly.

  I rounded the corner heading towards the main drag. There was a pond on the other side of the road and I figured being near water was probably in my best interest. Then I saw two figures in the darkness across the road. Their faces were so close it almost looked as if they melted into one. I couldn’t hear them at first, but then their words flowed over the air to me.<
br />
  “You know you cannot ignore her!” said a seething male voice. I could almost see how the man’s lips parted in a sneer.

  “I can and I will.”

  I paused. It was Wesley’s voice.

  “She demands you return.” The other figure grabbed Wesley around the throat and backed him into a tree. “You do as the mistress commands.”

  “Don’t you ever just want to be alone, John?”

  Wesley seemed unaffected. He sounded almost amused.

  “Why are you so special to her?” I could see the other boy had dark black hair that curled in the front. His eyes glittered like ice.

  “Maybe I’m just better than you.” Wesley’s voice sounded hard and cold as he stared back at this John character.

  I must have made a noise or stepped on a twig as I came closer. The other guy’s eyes shot toward me and he dropped Wesley from his grasp. I trotted over and Wesley grabbed my hand, holding me close to his side as if he was protecting me.

  “Watch your back, Jensen,” the boy snarled. “I won’t let you run away like she did.” He looked at me and smiled before turning away. “I will see you soon enough.”

  Wesley stood there holding me close until the dark-haired boy was out of sight.

  “What was that supposed to mean?” I asked as he squeezed my hand.

  “I wouldn’t worry about it. He’s all talk and very little action.” He turned his head towards me. “I am so sorry.”

  “No, I just thought you had stood me up is all.” I shook my head. “That was a bit intense, don’t you think?”

  “Naw. John is relatively harmless.” Wesley tried to smile but there was something in his eyes that told me John was far from harmless.

  “You okay?” I looked up at him and he pulled me closer, wrapping his arms around my waist and kissing me on the forehead.

  “Yeah. I’m much better now.” He laughed as I buried my face into his cool chest.

  “What was he talking about?” I asked, my voice muffled by his shirt.

  “What do you mean?” I could feel him playing with my curls.

  “Who demands for you to return?”

  He tensed for a second and then his body relaxed.

  “There are some things about me that are better left unknown,” he said simply.

  I didn’t press the issue. We stood there for a while just holding each other. I had a feeling he was waiting to see if the dark-haired boy would reappear. When he was satisfied that he was gone we were good. He led me onto the grass and we lay back on it and looked up at the stars.