Souls in Peril (22 page)

“
A little? That entire piece of paper is covered with numbers, on both sides.
”

“
Only this side has to do with us.
”
Max smiled
at the word
us. He liked what that implied.
“
You
’
re five-eleven,
”
she continued,
“
and I
’
m five-five. If I have this much of a lead,
”
she pointed to a number on the paper,
“
It will compensate for the height difference. Sound good?
”

Max took the paper and pretended to be engrossed. He counted aloud, as if double
-
checking her figures. He handed the paper back to her and asked in a serious tone,
“
How do I know you
’
re not giving yourself an unfair advantage?
”

“
You just checked the numbers yourself.
”
Now mad, s
he shoved the paper back in her pocket.

Max found the look of outrage on her face hilarious.
“
Em, I can tell you with all my heart and soul that I couldn
’
t understand a word, or rather a formula, that was on your little pink paper.
”
He gave her a mischievous grin and added,
“
I suck at math.
”

“
Rude!
”
She playfully slapped his shoulder.
“
Okay, you can
’
t start until I
’
m at the oak tree. I
’
d tell you how many yards that is, but I
’
m afraid with your math impediment, it might confuse you.
”
This time she smiled mischievously.
“
We race around the track and meet back at the tree, first one wins.
”

She turned and jogged to the tree, patting it as she reached it. She held up her hand and shouted.
“
Ready?
”
Max gave her a thumbs
-
up.
“
G
o
!
”

It didn
’
t take long for Max to catch up to her. He stayed a reasonable distance behind so not to discourage her, plus he rather enjoyed the view. As they got closer to the tree he ratcheted up his speed.

But so did Em, reaching the tree first.
“
That
. . .  is what . . .
you get
. . . for gawking . . .
Mr.
Sánchez
,
”
Em said between breaths.

“
How do . . . 
you know
. . . 
I was
. . . 
gawking, Ms. Emma?
”
Max questioned, equally out of breath.

“
Because I wasn
’
t
. . .
born yesterday.
”

Max laughed.
“
Okay, maybe a little. It
’
s your fault for having such pretty legs.
”

“
Lame excuse.
”
Emma sank onto the grass and rested her head against the oak. Max sat next to her.

“
Sorry for gawking. Do you hate me now?
”
He picked off a piece of the tree bark. Her sudden intake of breath took
him
by surprise.

“
Don
’
t do that. You
’
re going to kill the tree.
”
She rubbed over the spot he
’
d picked at.
“
The bark is like skin for a tree to protect it. If you open the skin you allow insects to get inside.
”

“
Oh
, y
ou
’
re a tree hugger,
”
he teased.

“
No. I happen to love oak trees is all. Look at the tree, Max. It
’
s huge and it all came from . . .
”
she got up and walked a few steps before picking up
a tiny little acorn
,
“
. . . this
.
”
She
glanc
ed over at Max and laughed.
“
I know. Silly, but I really do love them. My mom is an avid horticulturist so you can blame her for my fetish. She helped me do a project about trees for the sixth grade science fair and I fell in love with the mighty oak. In fact,
that was the name of my report:
From a Little Acorn Grows the Mighty Oak. Kind of a twist on the original quote.
”

She
lumber
ed back over to the tree and Max stood.
Circling it, she ran
her hand along the bark,
peer
ing up the tree
’
s length and smiling. Right then Max knew he was a goner. He
’
d remember th
e
moment for the rest of his life because it was the moment he fell madly in love with Emma McKay.

“
Even a little acorn can become extraordinary. It
’
s kind of become my metaphor for life. I want to be a journalist and write about things that matter to people and make a difference. I want to become a mighty oak someday. The Angel Oak,
”
she said looking at Max.

“
Angel Oak?
”
Max stepped closer to her.

“
The Angel Oak is the name of this huge oak tree in South Carolina. Some
people
believe it is over 1500 years old. It
’
s something like sixty-five feet high and the trunk is twenty-eight feet around. Its longest branch is close to a hundred—
”

Max couldn
’
t stop himself. He leaned in and kissed her. And she kissed him back. Max
’
s heart pounded as he drew her closer under the mighty oak.

She smiled up into Max
’
s brown eyes
when he pulled back
.
“
What took you so long?
”

“
What?
”
Max
stumbled
, s
urprised
by her question.

She shrugged.
“
I
’
ve been hoping you
’
d kiss me for two weeks now. I thought maybe you didn
’
t like me that way.
”

“
You mean I could have kissed you two weeks ago?
”
Max playfully slapped his forehead.
“
Well, I guess we
’
ll have to make up for lost time.
”
He tugged her back in
to
his arms.

“
I guess so. Who knew it would take the Angel Oak to motivate you,
”
she giggled.
“
I should have told you about the tree sooner I guess.
”

“
Next time you go visit your tree, I
’
ll go with you so I can give it a proper thank you,
”
Max said.

“
I
’
ve actually never been to the tree. I plan on taking a road trip there
, maybe during spring break of my senior year. It
’
d be sort of a senior trip, without a bunch of seniors
.
”
She laughed.

“
Maybe I
’
ll go with you?
”
Max said it as a question more than anything.

“
I
’
d like that,
”
she said before she kissed him.

Max and Em were inseparable after that. Their families became friends too. They went camping together in the summer and snowmobiling in the winter. He and Em also spent countless hours around the oak tree, doing homework, sharing their dreams, and kissing; Max
’
s favorite thing to do under the tree. She became more than his girlfriend, she became his best friend. They planned their senior trip to South Carolina again and again. Sometimes they planned to drive there, just the two of them. Other times they planned to bring friends. The only thing that didn
’
t change was the plan to gather a few of the acorns and plant them in their parents
’
yards. They
’
d transplant the trees to their
own
home after they got married where their children could climb them as they got bigger.

“
You do realize it will have to be our grandkids that climb the tree since oak trees gr
o
w slowly,
”
she pointed out
once
.

“
I guess we
’
ll have to find a house with a grown oak tree then. After we plant our saplings, we
’
ll have our own little forest of oaks,
”
Max promised her.

“
An entire grove of oaks
.
Max, you are the best. I
’
m the luckiest girl in the world.
”
Max didn
’
t point out how wrong she was. He figured ignorance was bliss.

Max remembered how that promise earned hi
m
some very nice kisses that beautiful spring day. He picked up a few of the scattered acorns and squeezed them in his hand. With all the strength he could muster using JD
’
s body, he hurled the acorns, along with a deafening roar, as he tossed away the dream
s
that w
ere
no more.

His headache came back with a vengeance as he walked soberly back to JD
’
s house. Max knew why it hurt. JD
kept
struggl
ing
to remember the accident.
“
Don
’
t bother. The doctor said you may never remember. Besides, you
’
re innocent so what does it matter
?
”
Max knew he should try a little harder to reassure JD, but his head pounded to the point where he had to fight off nausea. He went straight to bed when he got home, grateful Tim wasn
’
t around. He didn
’
t have the energy to deal with the weasel tonight.

Chapter
1
3

Max shoved the dozens of old homework assignments and test papers that
’
d fluttered to the ground after opening JD
’
s locker back inside.
Today at lunch I
’
m cleaning this mess up,
he thought,
until remembering his plan with Izzy.
“
Tomorrow then,
”
he conceded under his breath, running all-out to PE.

Late for class, he quickly changed into his clothes and rushed to the basketball courts, arriving last. He kept his eyes cast to the ground so no one could see the bruises. Just as the nurse predicted, he had two black eyes, though only mild, so mild
Mel
hadn
’
t even noticed them when he left for school.

Izzy, however, did.
“
Let me guess. It was Coach Mather, right? He watched three girls shove me down into a puddle of muddy water last month and did nothing. Well, except laugh.
”
She held out her
finger
.
“
Keep to the code.
”
They hooked
fingers
and nodded. He tried pressing her for more info about
the code
only she insisted they not talk about it in front of anyone. She promised they
’
d talk over lunch in one of the empty classrooms.