What I love most when summer begins is lying idly on the grass and watching the blue sky. This may seem boring and pointless to others, but this is how I feel the peace I crave, and this is the only way I can relax.
I close my eyelids and stretch out on the grass, hearing birds singing pleasantly to my ears, but this wonderful feeling is interrupted when a stifled laugh reaches me. I open my eyes wide and lift my head, aiming a perplexed look at the boy, who is leaning against the fence with his hands.
- Ever since I met you, I've been able to laugh again. No one can make me laugh. You have a gift," he speaks up as he pulls a packet of teddy bear-shaped jelly beans from his pocket. - Are you coming to eat with me, or would you rather continue lying on the grass on a Saturday afternoon and watch the sky where there aren't even any clouds," he claims, lifting his face. - You are unusual, since you didn't fall asleep from boredom.
- It's relaxation," I explain, watching the smile on his face, with which he causes a pleasant warmth to flood my left breast.
I pick myself up from the grass and shake off my pants, nervously glancing in the direction of the house.
- I'll just tell my grandmother that I'm leaving and will join you shortly," I turn to him as I take a quick step toward the door. He merely shrugs his shoulders and nods in response.
I step inside and stop as if paralyzed when I bump into my grandmother, who is watching her new friend through the kitchen window. She raises an eyebrow and looks at me appreciatively for a moment.
- He's cool. In my day there were no such handsome young men. - I'm surprised that she reacts this way. Other grandmothers are distrustful and drive the boys out of the house as if, at the very least, they have satanic semen in them. I know this because many times I have heard complaining girls in my class who thought they would get more flack under their grandmother's care than with their parents. - Does she take you on a date?
- What, no! - I protest quickly, feeling myself blushing. - He's a friend and I just go to overeat sweets with him.
- Natural dating is the coolest. I get the most out of it," he says in an amused voice.
- It's not a date, I swear.
- But after all, I'm not saying anything. I'm excited to see such a handsome boy coming near our house. It reminds me of my youthful days. One difference is that I used to bring a different one every week.
- Is that a reason to brag? - I'm appalled by her lax approach to this subject. I think she enjoys it more than I do.
- If you get close, I'd love to meet him. Remember to invite him to lunch one day.
If only grandma knew what problems he is facing.... I don't know if she would be so eager to get to know him, since he's dragging his feet.
- I'm going out. I won't be back late," I announce as I put my phone in my pants pocket, then grab the door handle to go outside. - And really, this is not a date.
- Stop making excuses for me. Go and have fun, but still be careful. With boys, you have to be careful.
I roll my eyes and hastily close the door behind me so that something stupid doesn't accidentally come to her mind. It will be worse if she comes out behind me and shouts some inappropriate text to Jackson and I burn with shame.
With a quick step, I walk up to him and close the gate behind me.
- Why such a pace? Didn't you have permission to go out with me and try to secretly run away from home? - he asks with amusement in his voice, putting another jellybean in his mouth. He slips me a packet, but I pay no attention and rush him to hurry before the old lady plays a prank on me. - Are you grounded? Are you forbidden to leave the house?
- It's just that grandma is in a great mood today, and I'm afraid she will say something inappropriate, so I want to get away from the house as soon as possible.
- You are quite peculiar, but I manage to like it. Really," she says as we walk along the sidewalk toward the playground. - How can you run away from home from a grandmother who is in a good mood? I understand people who do this when their guardians are breathing fire.
- I won't explain to you why because then I'll probably burn with shame, so let's just change the subject. Let my grandmother sit at home, and I'll do my thing.
I glance at him and see that the smile doesn't leave his face. It seems to me that he is also in a good mood today.
- I need to meet your grandmother in advance before the usurers get me and I die. - I stop in mid-step and look at him with disbelief in my eyes when I see that he is serious. - Well what? After all, I haven't told you anything new. You know very well that my days are numbered, and it's a matter of time when these brainless people will get me.
- Are you still going to give up your life for money? You know what, I feel like properly slapping you upside the head. Maybe that way, something would shift there.
The 20-year-old leans over and puts his head up for me to do it.
- Try it. Perhaps it will actually work.
I roll my eyes when I see that he is having a great time.
- You'd better not, or I'll hit you too hard and kill you before the usurers get you," I reply jokingly, wanting to match his humor.
- Be careful, or I'll start to adore you so much that I'll still change my mind and pay them that money to live.
I open my eyes wider and look at him with confusion for a moment. Did he really say that directly to my face?
- So... should I do something to make you start to adore me? If it helps you make the right decision?
- Something that will make me instantly like you more? - He puts a finger to his lips and squints his eyes, thinking for a moment about the answer. - I think there is something like this.... you should kiss me.
A nervous laugh escapes from my throat as I pretend to be amused. His facial expression remains serious, so I grunt nervously.
- Oh god, no," I utter in a whisper, feeling myself blushing. I speed up my step and leave him behind, not realizing that at that moment he is smiling from ear to ear.
- Cute," he says under his breath, following me.
*
I sit on the swing next to him and eat jellybeans out of his packet, not caring that he is a stranger to the boy I am just becoming friends with. Is that what I can call it? I don't know myself. I have known him for a very short time, and he has already managed to open up to me.
Furthermore, I know about his family, his problems, and the danger he faces. I get the impression as if I have known him all my life because he has managed to tell me literally everything about himself, and more importantly, I am really comfortable in his company.
- Did you also have such a stupid habit as a child of cutting up frogs and playing surgeon? - he asks when his attention is caught by a plastic frog lying in the sandbox. - I wonder if I was the only one who had such sick ideas ten years ago.
He doesn't even realize how concerned my gaze is as I stare at his profile.
- You know... it sounds terrible. I beg you, just don't tell me you liked it.
- I liked it. I imagined then that I was a surgeon," he replies, looking at one point in front of him. - It's just a pity that my life took such a crazy turn and after graduating from high school I let go of further education. Perhaps my calling was to study medicine?
Now I see that he is joking.
- I would be afraid to go to such a doctor.
- Really? And aren't you afraid to hang out with me? You know what kind of people are sitting on my tail, and yet you still accompany me and eat jellybeans. - He crosses his arms over his chest, unequivocally shaking his head.
- Hey! I'm not eating out your jellybeans. You treat me yourself," I defend myself with clear indignation in my voice.
- I'm only inviting you to them, not telling you to eat them out. - The jokes stick to him, and the worst part is that they don't make me laugh at all. Today we have a peculiar mood, so we can't be in agreement.
- Anyway... I can be a howler of gibes as well. Throughout my life, I have heard many triggers against me, and the worst thing is that they come out of my mother's mouth and never sound sweet.
- I won't ask you about the worst because I'm afraid of the answer, but why don't you brag about the least awful one? - She pulls down her eyebrows, looking at me with curiosity in her eyes. - I, on the other hand, will reveal to you the most embarrassing nickname that my mother gave me as a child.
- Okay, so be it. The nicest nickname I got from my mother was "crowd pleaser."
Jackson opens his eyes wider, looking surprised.
- In that case, it's a good thing I didn't ask about the worst. I don't want to know how you felt then.
I shrug my shoulders.
- There came a point when I just let it in with one ear and let it out with the other, so as not to completely break down.
- Then how about I make you feel better? Would you like to hear what I was called as a child by my dear mother? - I nod my head. - They used to call me "ugly baby," because I was indeed not beautiful back then. Good thing I grew out of that.
And you have grown up quite well, I think as a wide smile appears on my face.
- Many people say that when a person is ugly as a child, as he grows older he begins to charm others with his beauty.
- I am a veritable example of this, aren't I? - asks a bold question, winking at me.
- This one. Grunt is too obsessively fond of his reflection in the mirror.
I laugh under my breath, and then my attention is drawn to the men who are standing in front of the playground and watching us intently. Perhaps I, do not interest them that much, but my heart goes up to my throat when I see that they do not take their eyes off Jackson. It looks like they are making sure he is the person they are looking for.
- You know what? - I say in a trembling voice, fearing the worst. - Until now, I believed that someone was watching over us, and you wouldn't be in trouble in my presence, but I think we are just being watched by visitors who want to get you.
Jackson follows my gaze and unexpectedly springs to his feet. When he grabs my wrist and forcibly pulls me off the swing, I have no doubt that these are bad people who would like to hurt him.
- Just tell me one thing.... what kind of condition do you have? Good, average, or poor? I will have to adjust to you.
- I think average... - I am unable to finish the sentence because he drags me behind him and after a while we run ahead, just to lose the thugs who threaten his life.
We pass people, occasionally bumping into someone. With trepidation in my eyes, sometimes I look over my shoulder to make sure they are far behind, but I have to admit that they are in pretty good shape for their age when I see that they are right behind us.
- If they catch us, will I die too?
- These are people who remove everyone in their path, and you can be a witness in this situation," he replies, and I am full of admiration that he is not winded. How good is his condition when I feel like I'm going to give up the ghost shortly? - Have you had enough?
I nod, pleading with the heavens that the hoodlums will meet a bad fate and something will prevent them from continuing their run.
As we blend into the crowd of people, Jackson unexpectedly turns to the side. He pulls me into some narrow alleyway and we both crouch by a building. It's so tight that I'm even snuggled into his body.
I breathe heavily and comb my hand through my hair, which is overlapping my face.
- If I had met you earlier, I probably would have been happy that someone wanted to kill me. Now, however, I don't want to die.
- I often run away from them, so take it easy. They won't catch us.
I lift my face the moment he looks at me. Being too close to him, our gazes meet. My heart is pounding like crazy, and just in this situation I can tell myself that it's from fatigue.
- Isn't such a dose of a little adrenaline exciting? - he asks me, and I nod in agreement. He is right. Even though I'm scared to death, I have to admit that experiencing something new is really fascinating.
I like it, especially since I'm experiencing it in his company. How can you not like a bit of madness at the side of a handsome boy? Many girls dream about it, although they don't admit it at all. I don't want it either, and even before myself.
I wonder what my grandmother would say when she heard what my date really looks like she told herself? It would be better if she never found out.