Page 10 of Monsters

“Does it get any better than this?”

I turned to Lucas whose face was coated with a pink glow.

“No, it doesn’t,” I replied. “This is our slice of heaven.”

“Our nirvana.” He turned to me, a smile on his lips. “I have something for you.”

I returned his smile. “You do?”

I watched as he reached into his pocket and pulled free the item. I couldn’t see it until he took my wrist and slid on a leather bracelet with a metal face. My heart swelled and I ran a finger over the glimmering metal.

“It’s engraved?”

In the darkness, he nodded. “It says ‘Love.’”

Leaning over, I kissed Lucas on the cheek. “And I love it,” I said, unable to stop touching it.

We lay down staring at the darkening sky, our hooked pinkies our only connection. Our chests rose and fell in unison, the grass beneath us turning cold as the night set in. My eyes grew heavy, and my breath had slowed when I heard him speak again.

“Happy Birthday, Gem.”

“Happy Birthday, Luc.”

~

A familiar voice cut through my dreams.

It was urgent. Demanding.

Consciousness dawned, and I shivered from the night’s chill, dew dampening my skin.

“Gem, wake up,” Lucas sounded again, my body shaking. “We need to get home.”

We need to get home.

Shit!

When my eyes shot open, darkness greeted me. I bolted upright colliding with something hard, an agonizing blow above my brow flattening me once more. I cried out in pain, clutching my head.

“Ow… Jesus! What the hell… was…”

Beside me, Lucas grumbled, his hand rubbing his forehead where mine had collided with his. My eyes had now adjusted… moments too late.

“Shit, Luc. I’m sorry. What time is it?” I asked, wincing through an instant headache.

“I don’t know, we fell asleep.” Over the neighborhood’s sparkling lights in the distance, an ash-colored banana-shaped moon hung in the sky barely casting any light. Surrounding us, merry crickets chimed in sequence, and the wind rustled the tree canopy.

We both scrambled to our feet knowing we had some explaining to do back home.

“Can you walk?” I asked as Lucas tested his pain threshold.

“Yes, it was just a jar.”

Half an hour later we were on the other side of the woods and back on our bikes. My long loose hair whipped behind me as we sailed down the hill in the darkness. Despite knowing we had to get home, we were filled with the overwhelming sense of freedom and joy that only two small-town teens trapped within our own imaginations could feel. With one hand on the handlebars, the other holding Lucas’s, we navigated our way to the base of the hill.

Thirty minutes after that, we pulled into our street on Dangerfield Drive and cruised past the line of houses all with their lights still on, until we reached our own.

Our joyous reverie was shattered when we heard his voice.

---