The Woods (Original)

Is This More Than You Bargained For Yet?

At around 6:00 in the morning I decided to get up. I never fell asleep again that night. I started to get hungry so I figured I would make some breakfast.
   Reuben followed me into the kitchen as I got up to get some cereal. We had some Froot Loops and Reese's Puffs left, I chose the Froot Loops. I grabbed my favorite bowl and poured the cereal in, followed by milk.
Vvvrrrrr
   My phone vibrated and I had a message from The Coolest Girl in Town, and I smiled.
   Petra: You up?
   Me: Never went to sleep.
   Petra: Oh, I'm sorry.
   Me: It's fine, I'm used to it. You sleep well?
   Petra: More or less.
   Me: Well I'm glad one of us did lol.
   Petra: Did you get in trouble last night?
   Me: Nah, my mom was passed out drunk in her room.
   Petra: Oh, I'm sorry.
   Me: It's fine don't worry about it.
   Petra: You wanna hang?
   Me: Yeah sure :)
   Petra: Ok, be there in a few.
   Me: Ok, be careful. I'm glad you made it home safe last night.
   Petra: Thanks and I will :)
   I set my phone down on the table and continued eating my cereal. As I shoved the last spoonful in my mouth I heard a knock at my door. I put my bowl in the sink and made my way towards it. As soon as I opened the door and felt the wind on my bare chest I realized, "Oh crap, I forgot I didn't have a shirt on!"
   "Woah, Jesse. Trying to show off your abs?" She said jokingly.
   I could feel the blood rushing to face and my heart started racing. "I'm- I'm so sorry. I-I uh I forgot," I said and my stomach started getting a huge knot in it. I needed to calm myself down.
   She chuckled, "Don't worry about it Jones," she said as she walked past me and into the house.
   "Uh... Yeah," was all I managed to say. I wasn't fat but I wasn't a muscular guy either. I guess I'm just average. I looked down at my stomach. I had some chub-chub down there, but I wasn't fat. I didn't have abs either though.
   "Jesse, don't worry about it," she emphasized, causing my attention to divert back to her.
   "Right... Sorry," I said in embarrassment.
   "Don't be. Now go change," she said.
   "Alright, alright," I said as I walked back into my room.
"You idiot," was all I could think.
I opened my closet door and grabbed a blue T-shirt and some blue jeans that had a hole in the knee that I got one day when I got pushed in the hallway and fell, causing the fabric to tear. Next I decided to put on my plain black converses that had mud all over the trims of them. I then walked into the bathroom to comb my hair and brush my teeth, then I was finally ready.
   I walked in the kitchen to see Petra kneeled down petting Reuben. "'Bout time," she joked.
   "Yeah, yeah. You like Reuben?"
   "He's adorable," she said rubbing his neck. "You ready?" She said as she got up.
   "Yep," I said with a smile.
   "C'mon then, let's go."
   "Oh wait, let me write a note and say I'm going out," I said.
   Went out with a friend, be back soon.
-Jesse
   I studied my note and put it on the refrigerator with a magnet. "Ok now I'm ready, where are we going?"
   "Just into town," she replied. I went ahead and grabbed my wallet just in case.
   We walked out of my house saying our farewells to Reuben and made our way to Petra's motorcycle. Last night it was so dark that I didn't see the paint job on it. It had a cherry-red coating with metal flake and an orange pearlescent.
   "Wow," I let out. "I never got to see it last night. I like your bike's paint job," I said.
   "Thanks," she replied.
   "When did you get it?"
   "My dad bought it for me for my 16th birthday," she said.
   "Nice... My birthday is pretty soon," I said remembering how close I was to being 17. I had almost forgotten.
   "Really? When?"
   "April 22nd." Today was the 16th.
   "That's awesome! You'll be 17, right?"
   "Yup," I replied.
   "We'll have to do something special that day," she said with a smile. I simply smiled back in reply as we both got on her bike. She started up the engine and pulled out of the driveway.
As she made the right turn to start down my road, I realized as she sped up that I wasn't holding onto anything.
"Ah!" I let out as I grabbed onto her.
She laughed, "What happened Jones? Did ya forget?"
"Yeah," I admitted.
We entered town at around 8:00 so all the businesses were open. Petra parked her bike in the town square and propped it up on the kickstand.
"Come on, let's walk around town," she said.
"Alright," I answered.
We walked around town for a while, and eventually we came across a snow cone stand.
   "Hey, wanna get some snow cones?" I asked.
   "Oh... I didn't bring any money," she admitted.
   "It's ok, I got it," I said as I pulled out my wallet.
   "Oh, Jesse, you don't have to-"
   "It's fine, I got it," I said interrupting her.
   "Thanks... But next time it's on me, alright?"
   "It's a deal," I said approaching the stand.
   "What can I get you two today?" The guy asked.
   "What flavor do you want?" I asked her.
   "I'll take a blueberry one," she said.
   "Alright," I said turning back around to tell the man what we wanted, "I'll take a medium coconut, and a medium blueberry."
   "Ok, that'll be five dollars," he said as I handed him the bill. "Coming right up!"
   He handed me the snow cones and I gave Petra her's, "M'lady," I said jokingly as I bowed down and handed her the cone.
   "Ooh, such a gentlemen," she joked back.
As we walked downtown Petra began to hum and then sing. "Making my way downtown, walking fast, faces pass and I'm home bound."
"DOOO DO DO duh dun nah DOOO DO DO," I jokingly sang the music.
"Staring blankly ahead, just making my way, making a way, through the crowd," she continued with a smile on her face.
"DUN NUH NUH NUH NANANA."
"And I need you."
"DUN NUH NUH NUH NANANA."
"And I miss you," we looked at each other and burst into laughter.
"Not bad Jones, not bad," she chuckled.
   "Thanks, some day I want to be a professional beatboxer," I said sarcastically, and we both laughed.
   "Come on, let's go to the lake," she said.
We walked back towards Petra's bike, discarding our empty paper cones in a trash can on the way. We hopped on the bike and were off.