The Price of Forgetting

Chapter 3

I'd been right. After I got home and everyone made sure I was alright, I was in more trouble than I ever dreamed. Beyond my own stupidity, I'd scared everyone pretty badly. If Papa hadn't come home a little earlier than expected, I might have been stuck there for a whole extra day. Uncle Michael knew the woods too, but no one knew them like Papa. And I'd obviously proven how dangerous it could be. I was actually lucky to have come through it with only a broken arm.And so I spent the next couple of months grounded. I wasn't allowed to go anywhere without an adult, and even then, it was nothing fun. Most of the time, I was given heaps of chores, which wasn't easy with a broken arm, and aside from a quick visit to make sure I was alright, Matthew wasn't allowed to see me outside of a few family dinners. My parents might have gone so far as to take away my paper tablets since I loved to write, but I'd broken my right arm, so I couldn't use them anyway.

I was utterly miserable, and by the time my punishment was over, the best days of summer were too. So even if my arm was all healed, which it wasn't, Matthew and I still would have been limited by the weather.

Well, that and Matthew's anger. My stupid actions resulted in him being punished too. There was our lengthy separation, but our parents also found out that Matthew had been the one to bring me to that place before I tried it on my own. So he was a little mad about that, but mostly he was angry with me for putting myself in so much danger. I wanted to argue that I was fine - that it was only because I'd been surprised and frightened by the snake that any of it had happened, but it was hard to argue with a broken arm. I hated that everyone thought I was so helpless though.

Matthew, especially, never let me forget it. Any time he went away, he made me promise not to wander off too far by myself. I knew he did it because he cared, but after a while, it was really starting to get on my nerves. Five years later, we were still having the same discussion. Not only was it irritating that he thought I was too dumb to remember promising the same thing dozens of times before or to have learned from my mistakes, but I wanted us to be having a whole different kind of discussion by now.

We weren't children any longer, and my feelings were no longer that of a silly little girl. I loved him. So much it hurt sometimes. Usually when I'd start wondering what in the world was taking him so long to move our friendship to something much better. I know he didn't have feelings for any other girl, and he did love me too. I just couldn't tell if it was the same way I loved him or just as a best friend.

Hoping to move things along, I tried to make him jealous by acting extra friendly with Jesse for a while, but it hadn't worked. I don't know if it's because Matthew didn't like me that way and therefore didn't care, or if he saw through it because he knew Jesse usually got on my nerves. Whatever the reason, it had backfired and now Jesse acted funny any time I was around. He was always trying to do things for me and he always tried to tag along with Matthew and me the way Danny used to. Thankfully, it wasn't too difficult to get away. Matthew and I had to be creative sometimes, but we usually managed to do it, and our secret spot made a nice hiding place.

Once Matthew and I were free to get back to normal, we started coming here all the time. He assured me there weren't any poisonous snakes around, but he would still make sure our rock was free of any of the disgusting creatures before I joined him on it. We'd have lunch there and enjoy the scenery while we talked and laughed.

Today, however, I was not feeling like laughing. Matthew just told me he was going away again.

"How long this time?" I rested my chin on my hands as I stared at the sparkling water.

"I'm not sure. Probably a week or so. Evie has a lot going on right now. She needs me."

"Evie..." I grumbled. Of course.