My Butterfly (6 page)

“You don’t do this much, do you?” I asked.

Her eyes met mine with a blank stare.

“Your shoes,” I said, eyeing her feet. “Just be careful. Those don’t tend to be the best shoes for roof-climbin’.”

She tossed a sarcastic, but playful glare my way. Now, I didn’t have to imagine it.

“Now, what do I do?” she asked, perched near the windowsill.

“Just inch your way down,” I said. “I’ll catch you.”

She hesitated for a second, t
hen raised her chin and eyed the ground where I was standing.

“It’s not far, I promise,” I assured her.

She found my eyes again and then hesitantly left the windowsill and used her arms to balance as she slowly shuffled down the tin roof. It took a minute, but she eventually reached the edge and then stopped.

“Come on,” I said, holding out my arms.

Her eyes were planted on the ground, and she looked as if she were frozen.

I threw my hands on my hips.

“If you sit there and stare at it too long, you’ll never jump,” I said.

Her gaze slowly found its way back to me.

“William Stephens,” she softly said, kneeling down closer to the tin, “you better catch me.”

There was a serious demand not only in her words but also in her eyes that now pierced mine. I felt a sly smile start to crawl its way across my face.

“Oh, I will,” I said, holding out my arms again.

She gave me a reprimanding smirk, while I tried to tame my wide grin. Then, she closed her eyes.

“One. Two. Three,” she slowly whispered.

Then, she opened her eyes, took a deep breath and stepped off the roof. I caught her inches before her feet hit the ground and wrapped my arms tightly around her little waist. And the next thing I knew, her lips were inches away from mine. But her eyes were closed, and she was laughing. She made me laugh too, and eventually, she opened her eyes and found mine. Then, her laughter faded into a
sweet smile. I wanted to kiss her pretty lips right then. But I didn’t. Instead, I gently set her feet onto the ground and took her hand.

“Come on,” I said.

“Where are we going?” she asked.

I could hear her giggling behind me as I pulled her along.

“You’ll see,” I said.

I led her down the long, gravel driveway. It was dark, but the big light above us made it easier to see our steps.

“How did you get here?” she asked.

“Lou,” I said, stealing a glance at her. “How did you think I got here?”

“Lou?” she asked, scrunching the features of her face together.

“My truck,” I said and then paused. “Or…SUV or main form of transportation—whatever you fancy calling her,” I said, with a sideways grin.

“The girly name,” she exclaimed, as her expression brightened and she nodded her head in slow, exaggerated nods.

I was guessing she was remembering the night of the bonfire and Rachel’s big mouth.

“You named your truck?” she asked, with a wide grin.

I just smiled and shrugged my shoulders.

“Okay, but why Lou?” she asked.

“Why not Lou?” I asked.

“Come on,” she said. “I know you named it…”

She stopped and then started again.

“I mean, I know you named HER after someone.”

I felt my
smile start to edge a path up my face.

“Come on,” she said again, lightly shoving my arm. “Who was it—a girl you had a crush on in first grade, on TV?”

I threw my head back and laughed. If that were the case, I would have named the truck
Jules
. And believe me, I had thought about it, but in the end, decided against it. I had already been stalking her since we were kids; I didn’t need to make it any more obvious.

“No,” I said, shaking my head. “You’re way off.”

She flashed me a baffled look. Her puzzled face was cute, so I drew out the moment studying the perfect way she pushed her lips to one side and peeked through her big eyelashes from squinted eyes. And only after I had memorized her expression, I spoke.

“It was my grandmother’s name,” I said.

I continued to watch her as she paused in thought, maybe, for a moment.

“But isn’t her name Willamina?” she asked.

“No, the other one,” I said. “She passed away before I was born.”

“Oh, right,” she somberly said, while tossing her eyes to the ground.

“Her name was Louisa,” I said, trying to lighten the mood again. “Lou for short.”

Jules looked back up at me and smiled.

“Well, where is Lou, the truck?” she asked.

“On the county road,” I said.

“It’s on the road?” she exclaimed.

Her question
fit somewhere in between scolding and surprise.

“I pulled it off to the side, in the field; it’s okay,” I said.

I watched as a smile slowly returned to her parted lips. God, I couldn’t wait to show her my surprise.

We reached my truck a minute later. I made my way over to the passenger’s side door first and pulled it open. She playfully eyed me up and then jumped inside. I closed the door behind her and wondered how many more playful smiles I could take from those lips without kissing them.

Then, I jumped in behind the wheel and made a u-turn back onto the dusty, gravel road.

“Will, seriously, where are we going?” she asked.

I looked over at her. Her eyes were big and bright, and a wide grin hung on her lips. I smiled and returned my focus to the road.

“It’s a surprise,” I said.

I noticed out of the corner of my eye her head fall back against the headrest.

“I hate surprises,” she groaned.

I glanced back over at her.

“No, you don’t,” I said.

I watched then as her head quickly snapped back up and her eyes caught mine.

“When did you become the expe
rt of me?” she asked.

“An expert?” I asked, making sure she caught my teasing stare before I returned my eyes to the gravel road.

“Oh, that was just recently,” I said.

A wide, devious smile danced its way to my face.

“They give that title to ya after ten years of study,” I said.

She tossed her head back and made a sound that resembled either surprise or sarcasm—I wasn’t sure.

“Ten years of study, huh?” she asked.

I found her stare again and gently smiled.

“And they wonder why I’m not so good at math,” I said, shrugging my shoulders.

Her laughter filled the cab. I loved her laugh. I wished sometimes that I could secretly record it and play it back when I needed it the most—like when the school counselor was asking me what I wanted to do with the rest of my life or in the middle of a set of walls during basketball practice or something. Hell, I’d play it back when Mrs. Ritter was on her second piece of chalk in English class too. I
was trying to force back a wide smile fighting its way to my lips at the thought when I felt her eyes on me.

“What’s that?” she asked.

“What’s what?”

I glanced over at her. Her eyes were already fixated on a spot behind the wheel.

“That photo in your dashboard,” she said.

I took a quick glance at the dash and then noticed the photo propped up to the right of the speedometer.

“Oh that?” I asked, first eyeing the photo and then her.

She sent me a cocked, sideways smile and then slowly nodded her head.

“That would be Julia Austin Lang—the object of my studies,” I proudly said.

Her crooked smile instantly straightened.

“I’ve made your dashboard,” she said.

I glanced over at her again and caught her happy expression. I couldn’t help but chuckle a little.

“Jules, dear, the center of my dashboard’s nothin’,” I said, sending her a wide grin. “You made the center of my life years ago.”

I could tell she was trying her damnedest to muster up a sarcastic glare, even as her eyes grew softer by the second.

“Get over here, pretty girl,” I said, pushing up the center console and gesturing her to my side.

I returned my eyes to the road and then, seconds later, felt her body collide gently into mine. Then, I wrapped my arm around her shoulders and squeezed her as close as I could to me.

“We’re almost there,” I said, as I felt her head fall against my chest.

I could get used to this.

It was another minute before we crossed over an old creek slab and landed at the edge of civilization. The gravel road pretty much ended there. I pulled to the side so that Lou pointed toward a big, clover field, and I turned off the ignition.

Then, I looked down and found Jules already eyeing me up with those green jewels of hers. And I just knew her smile was asking me what the hell I was doing taking her to a dark, clover field in the middle of the night.

“I swear my intentions are pure,” I said to her, with a soft side-smile.

She laughed into my chest.

“Come on,” I said, leaning into the door. “It’s outside.”

She hesitated but then followed my lead and scooted back over to her door and pulled on the handle. Then, I switched off the lights, and suddenly, the world around us was pitch-black, and I had to stop for a second to let my eyes readjust.

“Will,” she squealed, laughing. “I can’t see a thing.”

“Good,” I said. “Close your eyes and just wait there.”

I rushed to the front of Lou and slid my hand against the grille to feel my way over to the passenger’s side.

When I reached Jules, I took her hand and led her back to the front of the truck. Then, I put a hand on each side of her hips and squared up to her. I couldn’t really see her face—just its outline—but it didn’t stop me from trying. I held her like that for a second, soaking up the way her little hips felt in my hands and how it felt to have her body so near to mine. Then, before it could get awkward, I hoisted her up onto the hood in one, swift motion.

She squealed again.

“Will, what are you doing?” she asked. “Can I open my eyes yet?”

“Not yet,” I said. “Now, don’t move.”

I stepped to the side and hoisted myself onto the hood next to her. Then, I slid back and brought her hips back with me, until we were both resting our backs against the windshield, side by side.

“Okay,” I whispered into her ear. “You can open them.”

My eyes had readjusted, so I could see her face go from blank to wide-eyed in the seconds that it took her to soak up the scene in front of us—all around us. I watched as her lips turned up and her green eyes sparkled the way they did when she was excited about something.

“Wow,” she exclaimed. “It’s beautiful.”

Above and all around us, dashes of light danced against a black background littered with thousands of tiny stars and a sea of fireflies. It was like our own, little light show. And the crickets and tree frogs were our little, country symphony. I took in a deep breath of fresh air and then rested my head back against the windshield.

“You like it?” I asked.

Her eyes left the lights and found my stare.

“I love it,” she said, resting her head on my shoulder.

She was quiet then. I guessed she was watching the fireflies dance in the distance. I, on the other hand, was watching her and the way her fingers played with the edge of my tee shirt at my side and the way her long hair fell in pieces across her shoulders, which had already been tanned by the pre-summer sun.

“So, you really never thought about singing?” she asked, while resting her head back against the windshield again.

Her voice surprised me a little and helped to snap me out of my trance.

“Singing?” I asked.

I turned my face toward hers.

“You know, as a career,” she said.

I chuckled to myself and lowered my head.

“Nah, it’s not for me,” I said.

“Then, what would you like to be if you could be anything?” she asked.

I sat there for a second and thought about it.

“You know, I really don’t know,” I said. “I figure it’ll come to me someday, though.”

She smiled.

“It will,” she said, reassuring me.

“What about you?” I asked. “I’m sure you’ve got plans to take over the world.”

I noticed her smile. It seemed bashful.

“I want to be a lawyer,” she said.

“A lawyer?” I asked.

I know I must have sounded a little surprised.

“Yeah,” she said, smiling. “I’ve wanted to be the same thing since I was eight.”

“That’s pretty young,” I said.

“Yeah,” she said. “I guess so.”

She paused before she continued.