Лаура Миллер - My Butterfly

“I’m sure it’s somewhere safe,” she said and then turned her head again so that it was out of the direct path of the sun’s rays.

I lifted my head off the straw bale.

“You don’t seem that worried about it anymore,” I said.

“Hmm?” she asked, as she turned her face back toward mine and used her hand to shield her eyes from the sun.

“It’s your favorite ball, right?” I asked. “You still want to find it, right?”

“Oh, yeah, it’s not that big of a deal,” she said.

I hesitated before I continued.

“Well, I mean, it’s got to be around here somewhere,” I said, fearing my time with her might be coming to an end. “Maybe it’ll just take a couple more days.”

“Uh,” she said, shrugging off my comment and turning her head again. “We don’t have to look for it anymore. It’s okay.”

“No,” I almost shouted, sitting up.

I paused then and took a second to regain my composure and to clear my throat.

“Actually, you know where we haven’t checked?” I asked.

“Hmm?” she replied, not bothering to turn her head this time.

“The shop,” I said. “We haven’t checked the shop.”

I watched her shrug her shoulders again.

“I don’t think it’s in the shop,” she said.

She was facing away from me, and her eyes were closed, so I took the opportunity to stare at her without her knowing it. And why was she acting so strange all of sudden? A few days ago, all she wanted was that dumb ball. Now, it seemed as if she could care less about it. She was a strange creature, but she sure was pretty. She was about an hour removed from volleyball practice — little, spandex shorts, cut-off tee shirt and all. Pretty.

“You know where we haven’t looked?” she asked, opening her eyes and turning her face toward mine again.

I sat back against the straw bail, startled, hoping she hadn’t noticed me staring at her.

“Where?” I asked.

“The rafters…in the gym,” she said.

My heart stumbled and then came to a complete halt for a second. Then, I watched the corners of her lips slowly start to turn up, and I couldn’t help but smile too.

“The rafters?” I managed to get out, through my grin.

“Mm hmm,” she said, nodding her head.

We were both silent for a moment, each searching the other’s eyes.

“Yeah, we could look there,” I eventually said.

Just then, she shoved my shoulder. She shoved it hard, but it didn’t do much to move me, in the end.

“Will Stephens,” she said, raising her voice and now standing over me.

She was pouting, but she was smiling too — sort of.

“I know you put it there,” she said.

My jaw dropped open. Caught red-handed.

“I…,” I stuttered. “How, how do you know?”

She rested her hands on her hips.

“Rachel told me,” she said. “She saw you do it.”

Damn it, Rachel.

The corners of my mouth started to turn up again. I knew they weren’t supposed to, but I couldn’t help it. She looked so darn cute. And besides, it had been worth it. That ball had given me her undivided attention for a week. As it turned out, I had grown to love that dumb ball after all.

“Jules, I promise it wasn’t on purpose.”

I sighed and then lowered my head. That was a lie. I couldn’t lie to her.

“Okay,” I said. “It was on purpose, but I had to.”

My gaze traveled back up to her face again, while she dropped her shoulders and dug her dagger eyes deeper into my forehead.

“You knew I was looking for it,” she said. “I just don’t get why…”

“Wait,” I interrupted her, as a smile slowly started creeping its way back to my face again. “When did Rachel tell you?”

Rachel couldn’t keep a secret to save her life.

“The day I lost it,” she said. “I ran into her later. You were also supposed to tell me that she was looking for me.”

“Wait,” I said again. “You knew where it was and that I had put it there this whole time, but you still pretended to look for it with me.”

Had she liked hanging out with me too?

She narrowed her eyes at me, and I knew she had read my mind. A new, obnoxious smile beamed across my face now over the obnoxious one that was already there.

Then, I watched as she grabbed her duffle bag from the ground and slung it over her shoulder.

“Will, the point here is that you threw my ball into the rafters,” she said. “Nothing ever comes down from there.”

I really tried hard, but I couldn’t stop smiling.

“You’re such a child,” she said, letting out a deep sigh and then turning and walking away.

I sat there frozen — and speechless.

“You owe me a ball, Will Stephens,” she called out over her shoulder once she had gotten several yards away.

I watched her strut into the sun as I leaned my back against the straw bale in our makeshift bench again. There was a permanent smile now tattooed to my face, and on that smile in big, bold letters, I was pretty sure it read: Today was the best day of my life. Today, I learned that Julia Lang actually liked hanging out with me.

I bent down and concealed my face behind his before I brought my hand to my mouth.

“Hey, uh, I didn’t want to say anything in front of the girl, but I’m pretty sure you left the dome light in your truck on, and there’s a copy of that Cosmo your sister left in there on the seat,” I whispered.

Jeff’s eyes grew wide, but he kept his stare straight ahead. I was pretty sure he was calculating the cool points he’d lose if anyone were to see the magazine in his truck. I was waiting for him to question why I hadn’t just turned off the light myself and hid the magazine, but he never did. He just sat there for a second, then stood up, dusted off his blue jeans and squared up to Julia.

“I’ll be right back,” he said to her then.

And just like that, he hopped over the log he had been sitting on and disappeared into the night behind the fire.

When my eyes fell from watching Jeff trot away, they stumbled onto Julia. Her bright green stare was already on mine, and there was a soft, questioning smile planted on her face. It was cute.

“Will Stephens, what did you say to him?” she asked.

She was trying her best to scold me, but I could tell she wasn’t that upset by whatever it was I had just said to make the lanky boy dance away.

A smile edged across my face, as I took Jeff’s now vacant seat next to her on the log.

“I told him his truck lights were on,” I said.

Her eyes lingered on me, and she didn’t say anything for a good second.

“Are they?” she asked.

I knew she already knew the answer.

“No,” I said, grinning into the flames.

I watched the flames pop and dance among the logs being consumed by the fire. I watched them for long seconds before I felt her stare still on me. Then, I turned my attention back toward those pretty eyes of hers.

Her face was angled just enough into the light the flames gave off that it made her features glow with warm colors. Her lips were soft-looking but sexy, as if she could give one, out-of-this-world kiss. And her eyes, even without the fire’s light, were that shade of green that made you stop and want to stay in them for awhile. My own eyes were drawn to them like a moth to light. I loved those eyes of hers. I had always loved those eyes.

“When are you going to say yes?” I asked.

She kept her smile, but her eyes broke from mine and returned to the fire.

“Depends on what the question is,” she said, gradually returning her gaze to me.

“Same question,” I said.

I traced the path her eyes made. They seemed to be searching every feature on my face.

“Then, same answer,” she softly said.

She was smiling with that temptress smile of hers. It was beautiful, but, God, what did it mean? Did she want me to pull her against my body right now and finally touch those lips of hers I had been dying to kiss? Was I supposed to just sit here? Woman, what do you want from me?

“Come on, Jules,” I protested instead. “I know you like me. And you’re gonna love me, someday,” I added for effect, while throwing a piece of bark into the flames.

“Love?” she questioned.

She had this surprise in her voice. I expected it.

“Jules, just let me take you to Donna’s,” I pleaded.

She laughed, and I watched her long curls fall from her shoulders to her chest as she shook her head.

“That sounds like a date, Will,” she said.

I paused for a second and pushed my lips together.

“Yeah, it kind of does,” I admitted, smiling and nodding my head.

I glanced at the fire for a moment and then returned my eyes to her, but her gaze was already planted on me. She wasn’t smiling anymore, and her face had grown sincere.

“You’re serious, aren’t you?” she asked.

I was speechless, while I thought about her question.

This girl must be completely and utterly out of her mind. Of course, I was serious. Why wouldn’t I be serious? She was gorgeous; she was smart; she thought Jeff was an idiot; and she was the sexiest woman I had ever met. Done. Done. Done. And done.

“Jules, I was always serious,” I finally said.

“Will, you threw rocks at me in third grade.”

I couldn’t help my smile turning up a little more. I tried to hide it by sending my eyes to the ground at my feet.

“It was out of love, I promise,” I assured her, as I met her eyes again. “You could think of it like Cupid’s arrows, only they were rocks.”