Лаура Миллер - My Butterfly

She smiled, and then her dagger eyes fell from mine. I let out a happy sigh and followed her back into the gym again.

“I just don’t understand where it could have gone,” she said, dramatically throwing her hands into the air.

I silently prayed that she wouldn’t look up.

“Hey,” I said, stopping in front of her.

I took a chance that she wouldn’t punch me, and I grabbed her small hips and hoisted her up onto the stage.

“Look, it’s late,” I said, looking at the imaginary watch on my wrist and positioning my body so that it was square with hers and touching her legs.

She looked a little thrown off, but she didn’t protest.

“We’ll look for it again tomorrow and the next day and the day after that, if we have to,” I said. “And we’ll keep looking for it, until it turns up.”

Her eyes fell to her lap. She looked defeated. And I wasn’t sure if she even noticed that I was touching her.

I dramatically sucked in a big breath of air. Then, I brought the back of my hand to her chin and gently lifted it until her eyes were in mine.

“We’ll find it,” I said.

She smiled a pouty smile.

Damn it. I loved that smile too.

“It’s just my favorite,” she said. “I bought it with my babysitting money. I’ve had it for a long time.”

Ugh. For the first time, I started to feel bad about hiding it from her. I paused, while the words, Let’s look for it in the rafters, fumbled around on my tongue.

But quickly, there was a second thought. That precious ball of hers could buy me some precious time with her. Time, I quickly and easily decided; I wanted time.

“I’m sure it’s in a safe place,” I reassured her.

She half-heartedly smiled.

“Thanks for helping me look for it,” she said, meeting my gaze.

My eyes immediately turned guilty, and I quickly tossed them to the floor before she could read them.

She sighed, and then I looked up again.

“In the meantime, are you hungry?” I asked.

Her green, suspicious eyes were on me fast.

“I was thinking maybe we should grab some dinner at Donna’s,” I continued.

“Will Stephens,” she scolded and pushed past me, jumping off of the stage and landing with both feet onto the wooden gym floor.

“Nice try, but I’ve got to get home,” she said, grabbing her duffle bag.

“Maybe tomorrow then?” I called out after her as she made her way toward the glowing exit sign.

“Bye, Will,” she said, glancing back one, last time and sending a confident smile my way.

I smiled, then shoved my hands into my pockets and watched her walk away until her thin frame disappeared into the hallway. When she was gone, I sighed, shut my eyelids over my eyes and allowed my head to fall back. A second later, I forced my eyes open, and then gradually, I felt a grin returning to my face because high up in the ceiling was her little, white volleyball.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure it’s in a safe place,” I mumbled, chuckling to myself.

Then, I lowered my head and started my own journey toward the glowing, red exit sign.

“I don’t know, Jules,” I said, tossing a tennis ball into the air and catching it. “We might be searching for this volleyball for the rest of our days.”

She turned her face toward mine. Her blond hair was in a ponytail and was spread every which way over a straw bale left over from archery class. I had constructed us a pretty nice lounging bench using the bales, and now we were each lying against a home-made straw pillow. She was squinting. The sun was in her eyes, and her big eyelashes looked as if they were trying to shoo away its rays.

“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.