Page 13 of When October Starts

“Winter? What’s nice about winter?”

“The snow. The lights. The coziness when you’re inside, cuddled up with your favorite blanket and a hot chocolate in your hands,” she replied.

“That’s so cliché,” I mocked.

She laughed. “But it’s the truth. Summer’s too hot. I don’t like the sun. I get sunburnt easily, and I have to put on tons of sunscreen before leaving the house. You start to sweat the second you open the front door and sleeping at night is horrible when you can’t even open the window because you’ll get bitten by freaking mosquitoes.”

“Right,” I muttered, puckering my lips and trying to bite back a grin.

“What’s your favorite season?” she asked.

“I’m starting to like fall a lot,” I told her, turning my head to look at her again.

“Starting to like? What’s making you change your mind?”

“You,” I said bluntly. Her eyes widened, and then that infamous frown appeared between her brows again.

“Why?”

“Because you remind me of it. Your natural dark, copper hair matches the leaves, your eyes look like dark blue, stormy skies, and then there’s your whole aura…” I hoped I didn’t sound like a total creep, but I couldn’t hold it in any longer. She was beautiful, and I wanted her to know.

“My aura? How does my aura match a whole season?”

“When you’re around it feels like a breath of fresh air. It’s like a storm coming up, but in a good way.”

She couldn’t find words. Instead, she kept her eyes on me while her face relaxed and the frown finally turned into a smile.

Juno reached out her hand and hooked it around my arm, and while it slid down to my wrist, I pulled my hand out of the pocket to take hers into mine. Our fingers locked, and in that moment, everything felt right.

We kept walking with our fingers intertwined, and after a minute of silence, she broke it. “Why did your ex leave you?”

I never talked about Olivia, but I didn’t want to keep my past relationship a secret. Talking about it might even help to get over it. “I left her,” I said, brushing my thumb along hers and holding her hand tightly in mine.

“We fought too much. She’s very work-oriented, and prioritized her job. Not that that’s a bad trait, but the second she came home she let all her frustration out on me. I tried to push it aside in the beginning, but she soon started to use her hands to let out her anger. Again, I took it for the first few months and hoped that she would calm down eventually. But she never did.” I sighed, running my other hand through my hair.

“I wasn’t happy anymore, and we started fighting over the most senseless shit. I worked at St. Floyd’s High School back then, and she wasn’t the only one who had stressful days at work. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I told her to leave.”

Juno’s hand squeezed mine and she leaned in closer to put her head against my upper arm. “Sorry to hear. You’re a great guy, Ezra. I hope you know that.”

Instead of bringing Olivia up, she chose her words carefully, saying only positive and uplifting things. That’s one way to cheer someone up, and she did it successfully. I smiled at her, kissing her head before looking back into her eyes.

“You’ve got a beautiful soul, you know that? It’s like an old, wise woman is stuck inside of you. That’s incredibly fascinating. You’re only seventeen, but I’ve had better conversations with you than with most adults I know.”

As we kept walking along the creek, her smile wasn’t the only thing that grew. My heart was full, and for the first time since we met, I didn’t feel as if we were risking anything at all.

Chapter Thirteen

Juno

We reached the car after almost an hour of walking around in the forest and talking. Our conversations were seamless, and I had a few laughs thanks to Ezra. He wasn’t just an extremely nice guy, but he was fun to be around.

We didn’t let go of each other’s hands, but as we stopped next to the car door, Ezra put both his hands on my waist. He pushed me up against the car, and I put my hands on his chest to not let them hang awkwardly by my sides.

“I had a good time with you,” he told me, and I smiled at his words.

“Me too. Maybe we should come here more often,” I suggested, but he shook his head.

“I wanna explore more places with you. I’ll take you wherever you want to go, as long as I can get you home before your moms start to wonder where you are.” His hands gripped my waist tighter, and he leaned in to kiss my forehead.

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