The Understorey, Book One of The Leaving Series (29 page)

“I thought he was just messing with me,
trying to get a rise out of me as usual, like he got some sort of
sick pleasure out of scaring me. In the past, I’d always felt you
were kind of harsh on him about me and the few times I would let
you in on the stupid things he’d say to me, you’d scold him and he
would just take it out on me later. That’s why I kept it from you.
It’s why I’ve kept a lot of weird things he’s done from you.”

    “It’s okay Jules,” were
all the words I could rally up.
So it was a joint effort. I gritted my teeth and tried to hold back
what I was thinking, but couldn’t.
    “He’s crazy! The both are!” I said.
    “This whole thing is going to be squashed
tomorrow and I’m going to be the one who does it!” she exclaimed,
her eyebrows furrowing at the last bit.
    “You can’t Jules!”
    “Why?”
    “Because we need to ignore this behavior,
whatever their motives are, and pretend like we have barely taken
notice of them or their note.”

“So from here on we just pretend they haven’t
scared the crap out of us?”

“Yes,” I said, not really certain if that was
the best route to take. “I think it’s the best thing to do, for
now, at least.”

“Alright Elliott, if you think that’s
best..........but if things take even the slightest turn for the
worse, I’m taking charge.”

“And I’ll be right there beside you.”

My Uncle Danny came back around and let us
know that Jules’ parents didn’t take things well. They wanted to
take Jules out of the school immediately but Danny had talked them
into taking it easy and waiting to see how things turned out.

They reluctantly agreed and the next day we
returned to school and acted as unbothered as we possibly could,
albeit slightly more touchy-feely than usual, which was already
borderline obscene. Jules held on tightly to me every second she
could, said that it made her feel safer. I sort of liked that bit.
If Jules felt more comfortable touching me, that suited me just
fine. I witnessed Jesse
and
Taylor squirm a little bit at
the sight of it, but this time it didn’t give me the satisfaction
that it normally did.

I wasn’t one hundred percent certain Taylor
was involved or not. I studied her reaction to see if it still fell
under her normal crazy self but couldn’t tell. If I was a betting
man though, I’d probably put all my chips on the
both
of
them. I felt an uncontrollable rage to hurt Jesse, well both of
them really, but luckily for them, Jules was the deterrent.

    We reached the Friday
before Thanksgiving break without incident and Jules and I felt a
lot better about the note by then. We figured it was just a onetime
thing since the entire school, its staff and the police knew the
details. We felt confident that Jesse would stifle any plans for
future pranks.

Early the next morning, I sat around my
kitchen table and chatted with my mom while I waited for Jules’
parents to pick me up.

    “So I talked to Danny last
night,” she said.
    “Oh yeah?”
    “Yeah, he thought like we did. That whoever did
this thing is done.”

They didn’t want to point fingers at Jesse
and Taylor. My mom especially didn’t believe it was Jesse. He did a
spot on impression of Eddie Haskell with her, if you catch my
drift. I didn’t argue with any of them. I knew the truth and
thought that as long as they were quiet, there would be no need to
taint any smallish reputation of being decent they still had,
despite the fact that it hung by a thread. Their razor sharp
indecencies would cut those on their own. I’ve found it’s always
better for people to discover things like that without my help.
I’ve found that when I did help things along, the shock would lose
its potency and water down the needed reaction.

    “I hope you’re right,” I
said.
    “Are you excited sweetheart?”
    “Huh? About what?” I asked, my mind still
occupied by the idiots.
    “About Mauch Chunk, Elliott. Golly baby! What
else? You’ve been counting down the hours and minutes to this trip
since day one.”
She laughed. It sang through the house like a clear bell and
touched every heart within a hundred foot radius. It melted away
all the anxiety resting in my chest. Her happiness was always so
contagious.
    “Of course I am! It will give me a little
glimpse into college life and it better be good because I’m gonna’
be there for awhile.”
The gleam in her eye flickered for a moment and she sighed.
    “Yes, you are, quite awhile.”
    “I’m going to miss you mom.”
    “I will too son, but sooner or later a mother
has to let her boy contribute to the world in the way they were
destined to. That’s life.”

I laughed, “No mom, I meant over
Thanksgiving.”

“Oh,” she cleared her throat, “yeah. I’ll
miss you loads son. It won’t be the same without you here. What are
the plans for her aunt’s house?”

“Well, you know, sex, drugs, rock’n’roll.
Debauchery.”

“Keep that tongue wagging and you’ll find
yourself sitting across from your aunt Becky instead of Jules at
dinner young man.”

Apparently, not in her usually playful
mood.

“Jeez, mom, relax. I was just teasing.”

There was a knock at the door and I jumped
out of my seat to answer but before I could leave the kitchen my
mom hugged me and slipped something in my hand.

“Here’s some extra cash son, for whatever you
need it for.”

“For the drugs?” I teased.

“Hush, boy.”

She reached way up to my head and brought my
forehead to her lips.

“Thanks mom. Tell dad I love him and Maddy
too, although she doesn’t deserve it,” I winked.

I grabbed my satchel and headed toward the
door. When I opened it, there stood a shivering Jules with the
rosiest cheeks and, boy, did she look stunning. My mom waved at the
Jacobs and they waved back. We crunched our way through the snow
and tumbled into Jules’ parents’ car.

“Hi Mr. and Mrs. Jacobs!” I said.

“Hi Elliott!” They said in unison.

“Excited son?” Mr. Jacobs asked.

“Very,” I said and stared at Jules with a
grin that touched both my eyes.

She reached across me and grabbed my seat
belt. When she clicked it into its buckle, she winked at me. She
killed me.
This game we got going on I like,
I thought,
touching her arm. She nodded.

    “I brought our huge fleece
blanket for the car ride there. And our awesome travel music,” she
frowned, “ that we didn’t get to finish putting together. We’ve got
at least fifty songs on here though.”
    “I think that will get us through,” I
winked.

Something about going away with Jules got me
into such a cheeky mood. If her parents hadn’t been there with us,
I’d have ravished the hollow of her neck. It didn’t help that she
looked so incredible.

She was wearing something new, something she
must have bought in Charleston when she went with her mom to pick a
few things up for their trip. She wore a grey thermal top and faded
distressed blue jeans. Typical of Jules, she had all this silvery
jewelry on, tons of bracelets, a necklace. She wore this hat that
made her literally look like the cutest girl I’ve ever seen in my
life.

I pulled at one of the ear flaps and asked
her what it was. She called it her pom-pom beanie. It was striped,
light grey and black, a chunky knit, and had braided ear flaps with
tassels that reached to the bottom of her ribcage. Her long raven
hair hung in soft curls around her shoulders and reached the middle
of her back. She was so beautiful, I couldn’t help myself.

    “You look so pretty
Jules,” I said.
She sat up from retrieving the iPod from her bag and her cheeks
burned pink once more and I’m guessing it wasn’t from the chill
air.
    “Thank you Elliott,” she said.

We both glanced into the rear-view to catch
her dad’s reaction and much to our surprise he was deep into his
own conversation with Jules’ mom. Neither caught my comment or
maybe they just acted as if they didn’t, either way what I said
wasn’t that bad, just a little too intimate for Jules to feel
comfortable around her parents. She was sort of a prude that way,
especially in front of her dad.

Once, I tried to link pinkies with her at
their house while waiting to leave for her mom’s birthday dinner
and Jules looked at me like I’d assaulted her. What a goof. I could
tell her dad didn’t care as long as we were being respectful but
Jules was careful and I could appreciate that.  She plugged
the ear buds into the iPod and handed me the left bud and I placed
it into my ear and she did the same with the right. She started to
play our list and we both took out our ‘time passers’ as she called
them. She had her sketch pad and I brought a book. She spread the
fleece over our laps and I almost burst into laughter when I saw
her dad count to four, assuming he was counting hands.
Parents
.

I hadn’t even finished chapter four when I
caught Jules drifting to sleep. I gathered her pencils and folded
her sketch pad and placed them all into her messenger bag. When I
tucked the pad into place I’d caught a glimpse at one of the pages
in the back and nearly lost it. She’d written ‘Mrs. Elliott Gray’
all over it. She cracked me up, not that I didn’t mind it though. I
wanted her to think of herself as my wife.

When I sat back up, I accidentally bumped her
knee and she briefly woke and repositioned herself onto my
shoulder. I wrapped my left arm around her and read my book with
the right. There was absolutely no other place I wanted to be other
than in that car at that very moment.

    Eventually I dozed off
myself and woke with my book at my feet. I glanced to my left and
saw Jules still asleep. I reached down for the book and it woke
her.
    “I’m sorry Jules. I didn’t mean to wake you
honey,” I said.
    “It’s okay, I was about to wake up anyway,” she
said stretching. “What time is it dad?”
    “Nine,” he said.
    “We’ve been asleep for three hours?” I
asked.
    “Six more to go,” said Jules.
    “War?” I asked, my right eyebrow raised.
    “Deal. And deal? You’re going down!”

I got out my deck of cards and we played for
another two hours. Five hours down. She got tired of winning so we
decided to play twenty questions. Twenty questions isn’t much fun
when both partners can guess whom the other is thinking in three or
less questions. We couldn’t
talk
either, at least not about
the things we wanted to talk about. We stayed quiet for a few
minutes when Jules suggested tic-tac-toe. She pulled out her sketch
pad but instead of drawing the graph, she wrote,

My name is Julia, not Jules, Elliott. How
many times do I have to tell you?
I laughed at the memory
and took the pen from her.
I know that but I like Jules. I’ve noticed I’m the only one who
calls you that. It makes me a part of you that only we
share.
I know what happened. I just wanted to confirm that you knew
too, so I don’t look like a fool.
We both
laughed.
You’re so freaking cute Jules.
Seriously, YOU are
Elliott. I’ve been dying to kiss you since
Harrisonburg.
Seriously, you can’t say things like
that when you
look like you do right now.
You
gonna’ do something about it?
Stop torturing me Jules.
It’s not fair.
Alright, alright.
I’m glad
to be getting out of Bramwell, I wrote,
changing the
subject.
Me too. I am most glad to be getting away from
THEM.
They’re done. I’m certain of it. Besides, Jesse
will
get a shovel to the face if he so much as breathes
on you.
Elliott! Your thoughts are always so
violent
I’m violent? Does a certain football game
mean
anything to you?
She giggled under her
breath.
Seriously though, I wouldn’t let anything happen to
you,
ever. I promise.
No one can keep a promise like that
babe. Be realistic.
I’m being honest Jules. Not one
hair on your head
will they touch.
She sighed aloud
and I decided to change the subject, yet again.
So, can your family cook? ‘Cause I’m a growing
boy you
know? I need the calories.
My memaw Joan E is an
excellent cook. She taught me
everything she
knows.
Did she? I’ll have to thank her then. I am
forever
indebted to her for that. You’re an amazing
cook.
Thanks sweetheart.
Jules broke her most
stringent rule, leaned in and pecked me on the cheek. I guess that
was all I was going to get.
Whoa Jules! Now your dad is going to think we’re
messing
around!
Shut up Elliott!
More laughing.
Seriously though Jules, your outfit looks so nice on
you.
Oh Elliott, get your head out of the
gutter.
I’m not trying to be saucy with you. I mean it.
You
look incredibly beautiful.
Stop, you’re
making me blush and that will make my dad want to
read what
we’ve been writing.
We both looked up and saw her dad’s
eyes refocus from the rear-view back onto the road. Something told
me it wouldn’t be a comfortable vacation for him. Poor guy. I
promised myself I’d try to make it easier on him, to behave just a
little more responsibly to ease his anxiety.
So, I can’t believe I haven’t asked you this yet, but
who’s all going to be there?

I’d already met many of Jules’ family members
from previous visits from them to Bramwell but there were a few I’d
be meeting for the first time and although this would have scared a
lot of guys my age and even older, it didn’t faze me in the
slightest. I was comforted to know that while we would be living in
Philadelphia she’d have some family nearby.

A lot of my cousins will be there, most
you’ve never met before.
Many aunts and uncles. I’m most
excited for you to meet my
aunt Isabel.
I’m
looking forward to meeting all of them. I want
this trip to
go as smoothly as possible. I want to
be invited to future
visits. Got any suggestions?
Be wary of some of my
cousins. They’re awesome, but they love
to tease. My cousin
Lizzy is the best, you’ll love her. Just stick
close to me
and you’ll be okay.
Oh that should be no problem
whatsoever.
I threw a sneaky grin her way and we both
laughed quietly.
    “I need gas”, Jules’ dad said in a huff and
slightly jerked the wheel toward the nearest exit.
We bumped heads.
    “Ow! Dad!”
    “Oops! Sorry kids!” he said with a slight
smirk.
He was ornery, he must have been where Jules got it.
    We stopped at a gas station in Greencastle and
ate lunch at a little burger joint named Billy Miner’s. They had
some of the best burgers I’d ever eaten in my entire life. It was
an amazing town and every person we’d met there treated us as if we
were family. I promised myself I’d go back again.