The Boy

Twelve

Boy

I was standing beside the barn guzzling the bottle of water that Cash brought to me. I'd been busy today doing extra stuff for Benny on top of my usual work. Cash was telling me about a girl he'd met a few weeks ago that he'd been pining over.

"You'll never believe what I'm about to tell you."

"Try me," I challenged with a smirk.

His grin was from ear to ear as he said, "You remember the girl, Gloria, I was telling you about."

"Yeah." I gulped the rest of my water down feeling refreshed.

"I got the nerve to ask her out last night, and she said yes. I'm taking her out this weekend."

I smiled at him. "That's great. Don't you wish you'd asked her six months ago when you first met her."

"It wasn't six months ago," he said, matter-of-factly at my over exaggeration. I just chuckled. "I'm thinking about taking her dancing. She mentioned that she and her sisters learned how to do line dancing."

I wasn't exactly sure what line dancing was, but I didn't say that, because I didn't want to look like an idiot. "Sounds like a nice date."

Just then, I heard a truck pulling into the drive. It was Katy's friend. The freakishly tall one. Waylon? Walton? Walter? One of those, I think. When I saw Katy get out, I was a little surprised. Ever since Shawn was able to drive and got a car, I'd never seen her be brought home by anyone else. Except John of course.

When I saw the frown on her face and wiping her eye with her hand, I noticed she seemed to be crying. I wanted to go to her and see what was wrong. To comfort her and make her tears disappear. Sasquatch engulfed Katy into a hug, and she laid her head on his chest. For a brief second, I wished that was me. But that was a foolish thought. That would never be me.

While wondering why she could be so upset, I felt a smack on my arm. I looked over at Cash. "Are you even listening to me?"

"I'm sorry. What did you say?" I didn't even realize he'd been talking to me.

"I said stop falling for the boss's daughter. He'll kill you for sure."

"Yeah, I know." I looked back over to them, but they'd already gone inside. I turned back to Cash. "Can I tell something?"

He gave me an annoyed look. "You really have to ask that?"

I chuckled at him feeling slightly dumb for asking. "I do like her. I like her a lot."

"You're treading on thin ice, Jake," he commented.

"Trust me, I know. We've talked some."

"Really? When?" He sounded shocked and curious at the same time.

"About two weeks or so ago, we first talked down at the lake. I couldn't sleep and went for a swim. I guess she had the same idea. I went to leave when she got there, but she asked me to stay with her."

"No shit?" He raised his eyebrows.

"I was shocked too. But I sat with her, and we just talked a while." I left out all the X-rated details. "Then last week she fell asleep beside me on my bed," I sheepishly said in a low voice so only he could hear.

His eyes grew wide. "Are you serious? And I'm just now hearing about this?" He put his hand on his chest and pretended to be wounded.

I smiled at him. "It didn't come up. Plus, she told me not to tell anyone."

"Jake, you're my best friend. So, I feel obligated to advise you to really think about what you're doing. I don't wanna see you hurt. By her, or John." I nodded at him. "But tell me everything." His demeanor went from serious to attentive in the flip of a coin, a grin on his face as he waited for details.