My Mate the Wanderer

4. Buck Naked

As I left the clearing with Tyler obviously watching my every move I couldn't help but feel sad about leaving without him.

Why in the world would I already feel this type of attachment to someone I barely know.

As my dad would say 'Oh, the woes of the teenage heart!'.

There I go again being dramatic.

At least with this new encounter of mine I'll have something interesting to share with Sadie.

I can tell that every time I talk to her she's judging me about how boring my life is.

I still can't believe that me, a pretty passive person, would even have the audacity to think 'mine' about someone so perfect.

It's not that I'm particularly ugly or anything but I'm just kind of plain, or at least that's how I see myself.

My mother always says that I'm her 'gorgeous daughter' but I'm pretty sure that moms are obligated to say that.

As I walk towards the house I can't help but feel like I'm floating.

I've never had a real crush before so I'm guessing that this is what its supposed to feels like.

I think I'm about halfway home when I quickly realize that I'm a total idiot who loses all of her stupid belongings.

My book, my darn book, I left it in the clearing.

I turn on my heels and quickly jog back to the clearing so that I can make it there and back to the house in time for dinner.

How could I be so careless?

As a burst through the clearing I'm slightly surprise that there is no sign of Tyler.

I hurriedly make my way back over to the rocks I was sitting by to pick up my book when I notice that his pack is still there.

His pack and something else, every article of clothing that he had been wearing a few minutes ago.

My face blushes at the though of him with out his clothes on.

I shake my had to rid myself of the thought and quickly snatch up my book.

Then it hits me; if his clothes and belonging are here where the heck is he while naked.

I take a quick survey of the stream and to my surprise I don't see him anywhere.

I think this is the most confusing and laugh-worthy thing I have every thought of, but since he isn't in the stream my mind went to an image of him running buck naked through the woods.

The thought alone makes me howl in laughter.

As much as I'd like to find out what he is doing I use the better part of my judgement and start to jog back home.

The rest of my way back home was uneventful but I kept finding myself chuckling at the thought of naked Tyler running through the woods.

I walk up to the back door, slightly out of breath, where I can see my parent sitting at the dining room table, clearly waiting for me.

"Your late Aubree" my mom says in a gentle yet kind of scolding tone. "You know my only rule for you is to be home on time for dinner. It's my one of my only rules, so please do take care to follow it."

I lower my eyes to the floor out of embarrassment and humbly say "Sorry I forgot my book and had to run back for it."

Mom nods her head and gestures for me to sit so we can all begin eating.

Dinners at my house are normally pretty quiet, and this one was no different.

We all ate and cleaned up then went back to our own separate activities.

As much as it may seem that we're detached from each other, we all just chalk it up to our 'independence'.

I make my way up to my room so that I can tell Sadie everything that has happened today.

As I sit down at my computer desk I can already see that Sadie is online probably waiting for me.

I tell Sadie all about my adventure in the woods and between all the exclamation points and capital letters all I can make out it's her demanding a picture of me and him together.

I think she might be pushing her luck but I honestly wouldn't mind having a picture of me and him together.

I guess that I'll have to go back to the woods tomorrow to try and meet up with him again.

After I'm finished chatting with Sadie I look at the clock and realize that's it's getting pretty late.

I turn off the computer and head to my closet to get changed into a pair of shorts and a tank top to sleep in.

I climbed into bed and got comfortable while thoughts of Tyler kept popping into my head.

My heart fluttered at the thought of Tyler sitting with his shirt off at the edge of the stream.

As I drifted off to sleep the last thing I imagined was him planting a hot and delicious kiss on my lips.