‘Come on,’ he said, after opening my door. I grabbed the drinks and got out of the car.
Noticing that I was carrying the drinks, he grabbed them from me. ‘Let me get those. It’s a bit of a walk though, is that all right with you?’
I gave a slow nod, still confused about where exactly he was bringing me.
The walk lasted for a while, and I noticed that we ended up passing the baseball stadium and were walking up a hill in the clearing behind it, towards a clump of trees.
Colton finally came to a stop at one of the trees at the edge of the grove, and I reached a few seconds later.
‘We’re here,’ he announced, setting down the drinks and his bag at the foot of a tree as he sat down on the grass.
Leaning against the trunk with his legs extended in front of him, he closed his eyes and took a deep breath, exhaling it slowly with a peaceful look on his face.
There was a sense of calmness in him at this very moment. From all the time we had spent together so far, Colton had never shied away from openly expressing himself, but this was the first time I had ever seen him truly relaxed.
I couldn’t stop staring at him. I wanted to capture this version of Colton in my head to hold on to when the semester was over, and there was no ASL class to practice for any more.
He must’ve felt my gaze on him, when he peeked one eye open to see me still standing in the same spot as before.
‘Come sit,’ he said, patting the spot next to him.
I hesitated for a moment. But since the afternoon weather gave way to a pleasant atmosphere, and the sun had beenshining brightly for the past few days, I figured the grass was dry.
Without further second-guessing my decision, I put down my bag and sat next to Colton, following his lead by stretching my legs out in front as I leaned against the tree.
We spent the next few minutes in silence: listening to the rustle of trees, and the sounds of birds singing.
I started closing my eyes as well and inhaled a deep breath, gently exhaling it.
Colton was the one to break the silence.
‘I discovered this spot during my freshman year,’ his voice was soft.
I opened my eyes and turned my face to him, and he turned his to mine.
‘How did you find it?’ I asked, urging him to continue.
‘It was the week before the first baseball team practice, and I thought I would stop by to get a feel of this place. I was pretty nervous about it, so I thought I would just take a jog. I didn’t know what came over me to jog this far, but I did, and stopped right here to catch my breath,’ he said pointing at the spot we were sitting on.
‘The next thing I know, I just sat here for the next twenty minutes, taking deep breaths and looking out at the baseball field, ’ his face turned to face the front, and there it was, the baseball field in all its glory.
‘And I just felt a lot calmer than I did, I was still nervous but less than before. So, if I ever feel like I need a moment to step back from anything, or when the idea of playing baseball seems a bit more daunting than usual, I always find myself coming back here. Just looking at the field. It helps me to remember why I love the sport so much and why I started it in the first place,’ he said.
I took a moment before saying anything, letting the story sink in. ‘And does it work?’
‘Most of the time.’ He shrugged, his voice slightly lowered as if he was embarrassed by what he had just told me.
I gave him a small smile. ‘Thank you for sharing this with me.’
My words hung in the air as the breeze passed through the tree. As his soft gaze met mine, I hoped he could sense how honoured I had felt for him to have brought me there.
A small smile found its way to his lips. ‘You’re welcome.’ We just looked at each other for a minute before his eyes narrowed in confusion.
‘What?’ I asked, sensing something wrong.
‘I just realized. You didn’t get flowers this week.’
I jolted my head back slightly in surprise. I didn’t even think he would notice, but he might have caught on to that, since he had been the one who saw me getting them every week.