expired

Chapter 7, Part 1

Nothing like opening your front door to the sound of plates clinking and voices chattering... loudly. Matt and Jane were in the kitchen chatting up a storm, so quickly I wasn't sure if it was in English or Russian. I took my time peeling off my shoes (that had gotten soaked in the rain), so slowly I overheard their conversation. Oops.

"I just don't know if we can afford to be that close to the city, Matthew," Jane said, followed by the slamming of the cabinet. I could hear our good china shaking in its boots, ready to come crashing down to the floor with one more good hit.

"Babe, calm down," Matt said. I peered around the corner, watching Matt sit Jane down at the table. She had her head in her hands, her clock practically spinning out of control, not that Matt's was doing much better. "We know that I'm going to be making good money at this shop. Even better than I did the summer I fixed up my dad's Jeep."

That got Jane to chuckle a little. They continued to weigh the options of living closer to our house or living closer to Matt's work. I guess house hunting today was a pretty big deal. Jane was like that-- any time she got started on something, she had to finish it. School projects, planning parties, dating Matt, house hunting, pregnancy.

My cover was blown by Clover running up to me, nearly knocking me over. It wasn't often I'd go this far into the day without taking her for a walk.

"My baby puppy!" I exclaimed, accepting her slobbery kisses all over my face. I reasoned that one lap around the block wouldn't be too much before I took a well needed nap. Not only did I think it was weird with how much Clay loved his bikes, but it is exhausting.

Heading out just to smell the roses with Clover turned into an hour and a half ordeal. Apparently she missed me so much that she had saved up all her energy until I got home, and didn't stop dragging me until we were way farther from home than normal. By the time I got home instead of me dragging Clover in by her leash as normal, it was the opposite. I was exhausted, and almost as if she understood. Clover sat perfectly still as my tired hands set her free from her collar, and nudged me up the stairs as I flopped into bed. Only a few short minutes after Clover curled up by my feet I drifted off, dreaming of bikes, clocks, ice cream and...

***

Clay!

I woke up in a panic, punching my sheets in search of my phone.

2 New Messages

From: Dad 7:30 P.M.

Hey sleepyhead... Jane and Matt went out for a date night. Your mother has headed out of town for the week so I went out to the bar with the guys... if I need a DD I'll let you know ;P

I rolled my eyes. Next.

From: Clay 8:03 P.M.

You coming?

"SHIT!"

It was now 8:15. My sweaty thumbs told Clay I'd be there ASAP. Clover glared at me as I threw the sheets over her and pulled every article of clothing I owned out of my drawers, the rejects piling up on top of her.

"Too fancy, too casual, too-- yikes!" That top didn't even cover half of me-- not quite sure how it ended up in my wardrobe.

After I struggled to get my life together, I pat Clover on the head and ran out the door, ignoring Matt asking me where I was off to as I passed by.

When I got to the Tree, Clay was waiting for me, outside this time. I'd run nearly the entire way, stopping a block ago in the hopes of regulating my breathing before I got there. I wasn't able to quite stop panting before I got to Clay.

"Don't get too sweaty now," Clay laughed, brushing back the sweaty hairs that were starting to stick to my face and bending down to kiss me. I cringed as I felt the beads of sweat from my lips roll onto his. "Hm, salty," he said, pulling away, laughing as my face turned bright red. "I'm kidding!"

I rolled my eyes and stepped into the Tree.

"Forgetting something?"

I stuck my hand back through the Tree's leaves. Clay grabbed it and I pulled him inside, but apparently he wasn't expecting it.

"Ow!" We toppled onto the grass. "Watch where you're going," I said, smiling to myself as I shoved his head off of my stomach and stood up. Clay held out his hand to me for help, looking so offended when I shook my head. Maintaining poker-face eye contact, I walked over to my chaise and sat down, struggling to contain my laughter.

After a decent length stare down, all within five seconds Clay was on his feet and charged at me from my prideful perch, lunging at me. I thought I was going to die right then and there, but he was actually jumping over the chaise, reaching down to grab me on the way. We rolled onto the ground, Clay taking the impact as he held me tight onto him before rolling over, leaving me laying on the ground as he held himself up in a straight arm plank above me.

"That was quite the maneuver," I said. He was so close I could feel his breath on my cheeks.

"Really? Watch this one," he said, doing a push-up to kiss me.

I laughed softly, feeling my face heat up. We stayed like that for a second, staring at each other-- until it got awkward (or Clay's arms got tired).

"What's the big plan, Walker?"

Clay reached deep into his pocket as if he was about to pull out a treasure map, but instead pulled out a penny, flicking it to me with his thumb. I looked at him, confused. What did a penny have to do with our adventure?

"My dad and I used to play this game when I was little and he didn't know what to do with me in the summer," Clay said, grabbing the penny from me, flipping it. He caught it in his hand and turned it over onto the top of his other, revealing Licoln's profile. "Heads, we go left, and," He flipped it again, this time magically landing on tails. "Tails, we go right."

"How do we know how many times to flip?"

"How old are you?"

"Until you feel like you're far enough from home to be excited but close enough that you can have someone to call if you bust your head open."

My eyes widened. "Shouldn't you call the paramedics for that? Or a doctor? Or--"

"Shhh," Clay wrapped his arms around my shoulders, leading me over to the bikes as he tucked the penny into my hands. "You flip first."

I did. "Tails."

"So we go right." Clay said, strapping his helmet to his head and handing me mine. We were on our bikes and we were off.

Right, right, left, right, left, left, left...