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“Good enough,” he said, and he’d turned off the powerful light and walked back into the house, not quite slamming the door but definitely closing it firmly behind him.
I sagged against Eli, who leaned against me, his chest shaking. “Are you laughing?” I asked him.
“No,” he said, sobering a little. “Just trying to catch my breath.”
He sank down onto the grass, and we all sat down with him. I leaned on him, as Katie and Jake and then Aaron and Lynda all sat close together.
“I’m never following you guys anywhere again,” Lynda said.
“Me either,” Katie added.
I knew for sure that I would never go back out there to that spooky cabin.
Lynda punched Aaron on the shoulder so hard that even I flinched. “You shoved me between you and the door, you ass!”
“I didn’t want it to get me,” Aaron replied over a choked laugh.
We all sat together for about forty-five minutes, just talking quietly. And then Katie jumped to her feet. “My dad is going to kill me,” she said. “It’s after ten.”
Jake shined his flashlight at her watch and cursed softly. “I’ll walk you back,” he said to her.
“I have to go, too. We can walk together. ’Night, y’all,” Lynda called out, and she and Aaron left with Jake and Katie, until it was just me and Eli.
He looked down at me, and I could see the smile in his eyes. His laugher was always a constant, as was his calmness. Where I was always worked up about something, Eli was just the opposite. I got up and started to walk back to my cabin, but he gave a quick tug against my fingers, and I realized that he was still holding my hand.
He pulled me closer to him, his hands lifting to bracket my face, and then he kissed me. His lips were soft and moist, and he opened his mouth so wide that my face got wet. But he figured it out after a second or two, and his kiss became sweeter rather than frantic. He pulled back, brushed my hair from my forehead with gentle fingers and said, “How was that for a first kiss?”
I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand. “It was a little slobbery, to be honest,” I answered.
Not offended in the least, he chuckled and tugged my hand, leading me toward my cabin. “I’ll do better next time.”
Next time? “Hey, Eli?”
“Hey, Bess.”
“I don’t think it could be any better,” I whispered, with what felt like a perma-grin on my face.
“I don’t think so either,” he replied.
He walked me all the way back to my cabin, and then he kissed me again, this time more tender lips than slobber, and it was perfect.
I went inside and my mom met me in the kitchen. She stopped and stared at me. She smiled a knowing smile. “Did you have a good night?” she asked.
“It was the best,” I whispered. And I went to bed, still thinking about that kiss and what it meant.
20
Bess
Aaron clutches his stomach as he doubles over, and the guy getting chemo in the chair next to him leans over to be sure he’s still breathing. “Is he all right?” he asks.
“He’s just an idiot,” I reply, absolute fury in my veins. I kick his shin and he jumps, covering his leg with his hand.
“Hey!” Aaron cries. “That hurt.”
But the incessant laughter slows down to a choked sobbing sound, at least. “You girls were so scared,” he said. “I never saw you pedal so fast!” He makes a choking sound. “You were terrified.”
“I thought it was real, you ass!” I hiss at him. But his absolute joy at revealing the ruse to me now makes a grin tug at my lips. “I hate you,” I say.
