Supernova Souls - Ryan Upchurch

-31-

Five minutes later and they're both laying on the trimmed grass in front of the pond. Delilah had her head resting gingerly against the ground and her arms crossed over her chest. Her back was flat against the cold grass she was fairly uncomfortable on, the short blades poking into the cheaply made fabric of her Shania Twain t-shirt and almost through to her skin. She shifted often, but eventually gave up on trying to get comfortable and simply laid there, watching clouds hang and change their shapes in the pale blue sky. Ryan had one arm underneath his head and the other over his stomach, palm flat against his shirt that rode up just enough to reveal the top of his bluejeans. His hat was left discarded on the Chevy's dashboard because he thought the many trees surrounding the pair would be enough shade, but as usual, it wasn't.

Muddy water lapped at the ground in front of the two. The noises of the gentle waves and the sight of the ripples in the ice cold water was soothing, especially to the headache that Delilah had forming behind her eyes. It was quiet. Serene, even.

Delilah had kicked off her shoes and socks next to the truck and with the way she was laying, both her feet were barely underneath the surface of the water. It was cold against her skin, the contrast between her warmth and the icy waters soothing to her. Cold water paired with a hot summer morning? Perfect.

Her eyes trailed off over the pond. Not too far away, the water trailed off into a creek that led somewhere deep into the thick brush and woodlands. "Hey, where's this lead off to?"

"Creek I guess." He said with a shrug. "Hey, I'll race you to the truck- whoever gets there first gets the first slice of pizza."

Her truck was backed into the grass, positioned so the truck bed was backed up and the dropped tailgate was hanging halfway over the water and the cab was beside a big tree. Said tree had an old rope swing hanging form one of its strong branches near the icy water. Delilah looked over at her truck shaded by the tall Sycamore tree and then back to Ryan.

A petty smirk stretched across her face from ear to ear as her eyes locked with his. A mischievous glint was hidden by the beautiful blue of his irises. "That a yes?"

"Hell yeah!"

She quickly stood from her spot and Ryan followed suit, but before she got the chance to dart off towards her Chevy he put a hand on her shoulder, gently resting his palm there. "On the count of three.."

"3.." he said, looking down at her. "2.." he took his hand off her shoulder and she planted her feet firmly against the patchy grass beneath her bare feet, prepared to run as fast as she could. "1.. go!"

They both darted towards the big brown truck.

Ryan breathed heavily though his nose as he ran past Delilah with a devilish grin plastered on his face. She glared at him and sped up, doing her best to ignore the painfully sharp rocks that she accidentally stepped on though the occurrence was few and far between. As she passed him, she smacked his arm and for a few seconds they were beside each other, closing in on her matte brown Silverado.

Delilah glanced at him one last time before she bolted past him and made it up to the bed of her Chevy. She gave him a cocky grin and yelled "I win!" As she stuck her foot on the step built into the back bumper and jumped up into the lined truck bed.

He stopped dead in his tracks and stared up at her in disbelief. He almost won, for Christ's sake, and at the last damn second she stole first place away from him! "Not fair!" He whined, tossing his head back as he dragged his feet while he walked defeatedly up to the truck. "I almost won."

"But you didn't, soo.." she turned on her heels and headed towards the middle of the truck's bed. She could feel his eyes on her, so once she reached the spot she plopped down on the hard bedliner and grabbed the pizza box, scooting it closer to her. She crossed her legs underneath her and opened the box then looked back down at him.