Page 90 of My Life with the Walter Boys
“Can we talk?” he asked, gesturing behind him with a nod.
“I’m getting beers for Alex and myself,” I told him.
“This is important.”
“That’s nice, but I’m in the middle of an interesting conversation,” I lied, glancing back at the table where Alex and his friends were sitting.
“With whom? The Dungeons and Dragons freaks?”
“Do you always have to be so mean?”
“Do you always have to be so stubborn?”
“I am not.”
“I just need ten minutes. Is that really so much of your time?”
I thought about Malcolm, who would be waiting at the table when I returned. “Five,” I said, grumbling.
“That works,” Cole said, grabbing the beers out of my hands and tossing them to the ground. “Let’s go.”
“Hey!” I complained, glancing down at the now-empty cups. “I stood in line for those.”
But Cole wasn’t listening. He was tugging me through the undergrowth, pushing tree branches out of the way as he went.
“What’s so important that we need to trudge through half a jungle just to talk about it?” I demanded as we quickly moved deeper into the forest.
Ignoring me, he continued to plow through the vegetation until we broke through into a small clearing.
“Wow.” It was all I could mutter.
The moonlight poured over the tops of the trees and onto the small expanse of grass, bathing the area in beautiful white light. However, it wasn’t the moonlight that made me catch my breath. There were hundreds of little white flowers growing everywhere. I could feel Cole watching me as I took in the sight around me.
“Dicentraspectabilis,” he said.
“What?”
“The flowers.” He gestured with his head. “The common name is ‘bleeding hearts.’”
“They’re beautiful,” I said as I cradled one in my palm. They really did look like hearts.
“Most are normally pink,” he told me, grabbing my hand and directing me to a boulder in the middle of the clearing. “But some types are white.”
“Do they always bloom at night?” I asked, tucking my legs in as I sat down.
Cole shook his head. “They like shade, so they normally open near the end of the day. These guys just haven’t closed up yet.”
“Since when did you become a flower expert?” I asked.
“I know lots of random facts about plants. My mom loves gardening. Just wait until she starts working on her flower beds this summer.” He was smiling at me, trying to scoot closer.
“So what did you need to talk to me about?” I asked then, realizing that the five minutes I’d given him were already up. He was quiet at this, looking away as I tried to catch his eye. “Cole, why did you bring me here?” I demanded. I didn’t want to play any of his games.
“Jackie…” He scraped his hair back, the look in his eyes regretful, and I knew he was trying to apologize for the night we went TPing.
“No,” I said and took a step back from him. “No, no. You can’t do this, Cole. You don’t get to do this.”
“Will you just listen to me?”
