The Academie (18 page)

“
Vacuum probably, but I
don’t want to wake my parents.”

“
Good point. Do you have a
broom? Maybe we can sweep most of it and get the rest with a
washcloth?” I glanced around, realizing then that even in places we
hadn’t been, a light layer of flour had somehow settled itself. “Oh
man, this may take a while.”

“
Okay, I have a
suggestion,” he said. “How about we finish making the dough and get
the cookies into the oven, and then we can work on cleaning while
the cookies bake? Then in nine minutes, at least we’ll have
something to enjoy while we clean, right?”

I smiled. “I like the way you
think.”

Forty-five minutes later, we had the
last tray of cookies in the oven, a third of what we baked already
eaten, and most of the flour cleaned up. We actually had a good
deal of it cleaned up pretty quick, before we realized that we were
both covered in so much that we were actually making messes as we
went. Then we tiptoed out the back door—trying not to drop any more
flour—and shook off outside before returning for the final clean
up. When that was finished, one at a time—so we could still keep an
eye on the cookies—we took turns changing into clean clothes. The
only other thing I had with me—besides my bedclothes—was the outfit
I brought for tomorrow. I decided it was better than wearing the
floury ones for the rest of the evening, so I put them
on.

“
So, you were right,” he
said as we began putting cookies into tins. “Stirring makes all the
difference.”

“
And keeping the
ingredients cool,” I reminded. “Because if the butter melts in the
batter, it changes the consistency and they end up thin and
runny.

He smiled. “I hope I remember that the
next time I make them,” he said as he took another cookie, “because
these are the best I’ve had.”

I grinned, proud of myself. They were
pretty damn good. I grabbed another.

“
Oh! I just remembered,”
he exclaimed, finishing his cookie and running to the window to
look out. “There’s supposed to be a meteor shower
tonight!”

“
What? Are you
kidding?”

He turned back from the window and
shook his head. “I used to watch it every year with my parents when
I was growing up. Man, I almost forgot! Do you want to see if we
can see any of it?”

“
Sure,” I said, not
exactly sure what I was getting myself into.

“
How about we grab the
blankets my mom left out and use those to lie in the grass in the
backyard?”

“
Are you sure she won’t
mind?” The Allens kept their house nice enough that I had a feeling
there were probably rules about what stuff could go outside let
alone lay on the bare ground.

“
She’s so happy to have me
home right now, I think I could get away with anything.”

I was surprised to hear him talk like
this; it seemed so uncharacteristic. I think my expression might
have conveyed my confusion.

“
Don’t worry. I’ll grab
our picnic blanket and lay that down on the grass first. We can use
these on top in case we get cold. It felt pretty chilly out there a
bit ago.” That sounded more like it.

We put away the last of the cookies,
turned off the oven, and wiped the counter clean. Then I helped him
gather up the blankets, and we headed out the back door. There was
a large open space between the patio and the garden, and I headed
there while Bryan messed with the porch light.

“
I guess I’ll have to get
that in a minute, after we get our stuff set up,” he called softly
as he ran to catch up with me. He laid what he called ‘the picnic
blanket’ on the ground first, while I held onto the rest of the
covers. Then he laid a fuzzy blanket on top of that. “This’ll keep
us warm, since the picnic blanket doesn’t provide much insulation,”
he said, straightening the wrinkles. I threw the rest of the
blankets in a pile at one end. “I’ll be right back,” Bryan called
as he ran back to the house.

I pulled off my shoes, climbed onto
the fuzzy blanket, and began to make myself at home. It was really
quite comfortable. But the August night air did have a moist chill
to it, so I grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around me as the porch
light clicked off.

Moments later, I could hear Bryan
shuffling back in my direction. Then I felt the soft movement of
the blanket as he sat down and began untying his shoes. “See
anything yet?”

“
Nope.”

“
Oh good; then I didn’t
miss anything.” He reached down, grabbed the last blanket and then
laid down close by my side. I felt my insides tumble. “Have you
ever watched a meteor shower before?” he asked quietly.

“
No….To be honest, I don’t
really know anything about them.” I couldn’t focus on the sky
overhead. All I could think about was how close he was to me. My
heart beat quickly. My voice wobbled as I spoke. I hoped he didn’t
notice.
“
Do they
happen often?”

“
Yeah. A few times a year
you can see them. My parents began bringing me out here to watch
the meteor showers when I was an infant, so I guess I’ve been
watching them my whole life. Some are bigger than others. Tonight’s
isn’t supposed to be huge, so I don’t know if we’ll be able to see
much— especially with the cloud cover and the lights from the city.
We are just far enough out of town that on clear nights I’ve been
able to see pretty good before. Of course,” he corrected himself,
“that was before a lot of the new buildings were put in.

Just then I saw a speck streak across
the sky. “Oh! I think I saw one!”

“
Really?” He sat up,
readjusted himself on the blanket, and when he laid back down, his
arm rested against mine. My stomach did flips.

“
So, I don’t want to sound
stupid,” I said, trying to keep my voice steady, “but what’s the
difference between a shooting star and a meteor?”

“
Oh, good question. Well,
a star is on fire—like our sun—and a meteor is a chunk of rock,
like the earth—except, thankfully we’ve never yet had one that big.
Unless that is, you believe in certain theories of the origins of
our planet.” He seemed to recognize the tangent he was about to get
off on and continued. “Anyway, shooting stars are basically other
suns light years away that are dying out. Because they are so far
away and the light takes so long to reach our eyes, by the time we
see them, they’ve actually already been gone for millions of
years.”

“
Oh yeah, I remember
hearing that. Cool.”

“
And a meteor is chunk of
rock that bursts into flame when it hits the earth’s atmosphere.
Oftentimes the two look very much the same though. But in times of
meteor showers—like tonight—you might get to see a whole lot of
them all in one evening.”

“
Oh! I think I just saw
another one!”

“
Oh really? I’m missing
them all!”

“
Wait, no. That one just
turned back on. I think it was a lightening bug.” Fortunately, it
was dark enough that he wouldn’t be able to see how red my face was
turning.

He laughed lightly, then
whispered in my ear.
“I’ve done that.
Sometimes it’s hard to tell the difference.”

“
Yeah, it is.” I could
barely get the words out. I felt dizzy in the moonlight, with him
so close to me—this amazing guy who was far too good to be
true.

Then I felt his hand reach over and
find mine. His touch sent electricity soaring through my body. We
wove our fingers together for the first time, and it felt amazing
just to be there, close to him… I never wanted it to
end.

I laid there, looking up at the sky,
but not seeing. All I could think about was his hand in mine, his
body so close, and his quiet, rhythmic breathing. We laid there
like that for I don’t know how long, and I’d tighten my grip on his
hand every now and then just be sure it was real, and then I’d
remember this perfect moment could only be for tonight, and I felt
as though my heart might rip in two.

“
I’m crazy about you,
Allie,” Bryan said, breaking the silence.

“
You too,” I said to him
and the starry sky.

I didn’t know if I should smile or
cry. It seemed too cruel that we’d be brought together, only to be
torn apart. I tried desperately to hold on to the moment, to blaze
it into my memory forever.

“
I’m not seeing anything,”
he said softly a while later. “Are you still awake?” He propped
himself on one elbow, angled my way, allowing him to hover slightly
over me.

“
Yeah,” I said. Though my
eyes had fully adjusted to the dark, I could still barely make out
his features in the darkness.

“
You were quiet for so
long, I thought you might have fallen asleep.” His free hand
brushed the loose strands of hair from my forehead. “You can sleep
if you want. I know you must be tired.”

“
I’m okay.” I was
exhausted, but I didn’t want to waste even a moment of the time
that I had with him by sleeping. There’d be plenty of time for that
later, after I’d survived the goodbye.

“
You’re beautiful,” he
said, stroking my cheeks and lightly touching my forehead. I
wondered if he was trying to make out my face in the darkness as
desperately as I was trying to discern his.

“
I’ve never felt so lucky
and so unlucky all at the same time,” he said a moment later. “I
mean, here you are, and being with you is…perfect….But tomorrow I
have to go back there….” His voice cracked, and it sounded like he
was trying to hold back tears.

I gently touched his face, then moved
my hand across his cropped hair. I smiled softly as it tickled my
palm. And then he bent down and kissed me ever so gently on the
forehead. I had never been kissed there before. The sensation sent
warm chills running through my body.

The clouds parted, showering us in
moonlight. I could clearly make out every feature of his perfect
face—now only inches from mine. His eyes were so deep, so dark, and
the way he looked at me, it was as if for the first time, someone
really saw who I was.

I lost myself in his gaze…somehow my
life had tumbled into a fairytale. It was to be too good to be
true. He smiled, and I stopped doubting. I smiled back, and he
leaned over and kissed me ever so gently.

24.
please stay
…

As we laid in his backyard, I must
have drifted off to sleep because the next thing I knew, a much
groggier version of myself had the sensation of being lifted up.
Then I felt the gentle rocking motion of being carried.

I eased open my sleep-swollen eyes and
saw Bryan cradling me in his arms, turning sideways to fit us
through the door without bumping my head or feet on the frame. He
walked through without closing it and continued down the hall in
the direction of his parent’s bedroom. He stopped short of where I
had seen them go earlier, and made an abrupt right. Then I could
feel myself being gently laid on a bed.

“
Sorry to wake you,” he
said softly when he saw me looking up at him through sleepy eyes.
“You were shivering, so I thought I better bring you in so you
don’t get sick.”

I watched him as he walked to the
other side of the bed. “Here, you can get in the covers to warm
up,” he said, pulling the comforter back from the bed.

“
Where are you going to
sleep?” I answered in the same quiet tone.

“
On the couch; it’ll be
fine.”

“
Please
stay...”

He looked at me for a moment and
chewed on his lip. “Okay. You sleep in the covers and I’ll sleep on
top. And I’ll keep the door open, if you don’t mind. I just have to
run and close the back door.”

He left the room and I could hear his
quiet footsteps padding down the hall and returning a moment later.
As promised, he laid down next to me on top of the
covers.

“
What time is it?” I
asked, trying to orient myself.

“
About four
o’clock.”

“
Have you slept at
all?”

“
Not yet.”

“
What have you been doing?
Did you see any meteors?”

“
Just a couple. Mostly
I’ve been thinking.”

“
About what?”

“
A lot of
things.”

I didn’t know if I should pursue it,
so I laid there for while, then took my hand and laid it over
his.

“
Thank you for coming,” he
said moments later.

“
I wish I had a birthday
present for you.”

“
It’s fine,
really
.”

We laid there quiet for some time. I
now felt a strange sense of groggy alertness. If I weren’t with
Bryan, I’m sure I would have slept, but now that I had rested,
being with him pumped just enough adrenaline through my system that
I didn’t know if I would be able to fall back asleep.

“
I don’t want to go,” I
said, finally breaking the silence, not even sure if he was still
awake or if I was now talking to myself.