Page 20 of A Twist in Fate
“Yeah. I'm sorry. What's up?” she asks.Her hair is moving away from waves and is much curlier each day, with golden streaks swirling throughout every spiral.
“First, don't apologise. I ran into you, which I am so sorry about by the way. Second, I have the day off and I'm pretty sure you do too, so I was wondering if you wanted to come into town with me.” She gives me an unsure look, so I add, “please.” She can't avoid me like this forever.
“Okay, but I need to grab some stuff from the nearest shop. You might actually be able to help me. I honestly have no idea where I'm going." I laugh and start walking with her, over to my car.
“Okay, but it's a Tuesday so Angie doesn't open up the store until after lunch because she works at the church in the morning.”
“Your town is so ridiculously cliche.” She laughs and all I want is to hear it again. I open the door on her side of my truck that used to be my dad’s. It's navy blue and muchlike my mom’s. She kept this one because she knew I would want it and while I don’t use it much in New York, I use it every time I come home.
“Thank you. You are such a gentleman.” Sarcasm rolls off her tongue, but I see the sincere smile and blush crossing her face. She's adorable.
“You are very welcome sunshine.”
I expected the car ride to be quiet and awkward, but Ivy seemed to get comfortable quickly. I look over at her rummaging through my glove box, her hair sweeping over her face. I instinctively move one hand off the steering wheel and use it to tuck her hair behind her ear, revealing her side profile. “Found what you're looking for there?” I ask.
“Sorry.” She blushes. “I just prefer music to silence.” I give her a knowing look, and she continues, “Fine. I was also being nosy, but I just wanted to look at your music taste. It's like the one way to read someone.”
“What about, I don't know, getting to know them?” She looks over at me and smiles beautifully.
“Nope. That takes too long. The only way to get to know someone in minutes is by their music taste. It is how I bonded with Bailey.”
I smile and hand her my phone. “Here you go. It's unlocked and connected to the car. Play anything you want." She offers me a small smile and takes it from my hand. Within seconds, she starts playing a song I don't recognise.
“I’m surprised. Your music taste is not too bad, Lucas. Your mum raised you well.”
“Thank you very much sunshine. Who's playing right now?” I ask, as she continues to scroll through my playlists.
“Don't call me that and it is Gracie Abrams. She's like my favourite artist ever. This song is called difficult. It's definitely one of my favourites. I got Bailey to start listening to her about a couple months ago,” she says with the brightest smile.
“I like it. Add some into my favourites. I'll listen to them later as long as you let me choose some music for you sometime.”
“Okay. Are you sure?” she asks.
“Of course, Ivy.” She shifts her focus back to the phone in front of her, an excited look on her face and my heart leaps for her. The rest of the car journey she plays me some more new music, and I do anything to make her laugh again.
We take a long narrow path off the main road and through the trees on the other side of Lake Sylva. After fifteen minutes, we come to a small clearing in the trees, where a path is formed. I hop out of the car and walk round to her side before she can open her own door.
“Thank you,” she says shyly, before taking my hand to help her to get out and I shut the door behind her.
“The walk is not too long don't worry, but it is uphill,” I say, as we start walking towards the path.
“You say that like I don't run every single day, Lucas. I bet I could race you up there and win,” she says, confidently, with a smug smile on her face.This is a different Ivy to the one I met a couple weeks ago. I like it.
“Oh yeah?” I walk closer to her.
“Yeah,” she says boldly, holding my eye contact, but I didn't miss the blush appearing across her cheeks or the slight breathy tone in her voice.
“Sunshine, you don't even know where we are going.” I look down at her and when she looks up at me it feels as though my heart does a somersault in my chest. Her brown eyes search mine for a moment, and I use it totake in how close we finally are. My hand brushes her arm, and she stands up on her tiptoes, her lips right near my ear.
My heart is beating so fast I almost don't hear her say, “I can still win.” All of a sudden, she slips away from me and darts down the path. I instantly start running after her, along the uphill pathway.
“Hey! That's cheating!” I yell after her. I can hear her laugh ahead of me and it stirs something inside me. I see flashes of her brown hair flowing around her as she continues to run far ahead of me, so I pick up my speed. All I can hear is the sound of her laughing and my own laughter that followed hers without even trying. Her smile, her laugh, it is all contagious. It warms me. It makes me happy. She turns round a sharp corner and when I follow her, I see her standing still at another clearing. Without a thought, I run up to her and slip both of my arms around her waist to lift her up, a few feet off the ground. “I got you, I won.” She's silent for a moment and I see the familiar scene in front of us.
The mud underneath our feet transports into little pebbles as they reach a small pool of water. This is where the highest point of the lake leads to the small waterfall that crashes into the pool. A tree drapes over the watercreating a small shadow where the sun is hitting the bright blue water. Around us, the wood is densely packed with trees which is reflected in the green tinge in the water. The bottom of the lake is filled with stones but right at the back its too deep to see them. This area has always looked untouched. This is my favourite place at home, and it was always walking distance from the camp. This is where I would run away to, when I was younger, to get away from it all. The sound of the water crashing is somehow still quiet and peaceful.
“Holy…” Ivy trails off and then suddenly spins round to me. “I won by the way.” I smile down at the proud look on her face, my hands still firmly planted on her waist. If I knew that she wants to, in this moment, I could kiss her. Just like I did a couple weeks ago but the next time she kisses me I want it to be because she knows I am what she wants. Not because of anything else. Not when there are a million reasons racing through her head not to.
“How do you know this is where I was taking you? Maybe, I was going to go in another direction.”
