Hazy Darknes (Chapters 7 & ^)

                                                    Hazy

            “How can we live in this house without a legal adult around?” I asked for my first question.
            “Kishi owns the house, but he knows teenagers need their space so he lives in Bellefonte with his wife in their own house,” Cloud answered.
            “Am I going to get to meet Kishi?” I asked.
            “Yes, you will get to meet Kishi and his wife.”
            Cloud had gotten a blow up raft and we were on opposite sides of it spinning in a circle in the deep end. We were on the sides that were closer together, so our faces were within a foot of each other.
            “How long has everyone lived here?”
            “I came here in sixth grade. I was living here by myself for about a week and then Levon came. About a month after that Nisha came. Two months later Nevada came and a month after him Autumn. Then you came.”
            “Do you have a job?” I asked.
            “Yes,” he said and chuckled to himself.
            “What is it?”
            “Different things. I work for Kishi and whatever he says I do.”
            I let go of the raft and went down eight feet underwater to sit on the bottom of the pool. I came up a little while later. “Sorry, a fish has got to breath,” I said jokingly.
            Cloud laughed. I loved his laugh; it made me feel light as air. We had been in the swimming pool for awhile and I was starting to get tired. I yawned involuntarily.
            “Ready to go inside?” He asked.
            “Yeah, I think I better before I fall asleep out here,” I responded. We swam to the shallow end and got out. Cloud took the raft and put in on the lower porch. We went up the steps and wrapped ourselves in our towels.
            I dried off as best I could and then hung my towel over the banister by Cloud’s. He opened the door for me and I walked inside saying a thank-you as I went.
            “You know, you look cute in your swimming suit,” he said suddenly.
            I looked at him like he was crazy. “Did Autumn tell you to say that?” I asked.
            “She told me you were having issues adjusting to wearing a bikini,” he said with a smile, “but that doesn’t mean I don’t think you look cute. You really do.”
            “Thanks,” I muttered looking away embarrassed and more self conscience than ever. I opened the door to the kitchen and went to my room. I shut my door and changed into my pajamas. They were multi colored stripes on my pants and a solid blue tank top.
            I came out of my room and followed Cloud back outside again. He had dark blue and green checkered pants and a solid green muscle shirt. We hung our swimming suits over our towels and then walked back into the living room- locking all the breezeway doors on our way back in.
            We then went back inside and Cloud headed to the downstairs bathroom to take a shower. He told me I could use the upstairs one. I got my shower stuff ready and went into the bathroom. The shower felt nice, but I really didn’t want to stay in it too long.
            I got out and sat down on the middle seat of the couch Indian style. Cloud was out of the shower, too so he sat on my right instead of taking the recliner. I didn’t object to it one bit. “Now what?” I asked breaking the silence.
            “Hmmm, what do you want to do?” He asked.
            “No way, I picked the last activity!” I said smiling. I brought my knees up to my chin and wrapped my arms around them, waiting for him to answer.
            “Bye guys,” I heard Autumn say. She and Nevada looked like they were dressed to go out to a night club.
            “Where are you going?” I asked.
            “We are going to Figgie’s Night Club,” Nevada answered.
            “Okay have fun,” Cloud said. They practically ran out the door.
            “Aren’t they a little young to go clubbing?” I asked.
            “Figgie’s is a teenage night club. No alcohol and no strippers,” Cloud responded. I yawned again and shook my head, as if to try to stop it. “Your tired, let’s go to bed,” he said parental like.
            “No, I’m fine,” I lied.
            “Don’t make me force you to go to bed,” he warned.
            “I’m fine and I’m not moving,” I said stubbornly. I was suddenly in the air. I looked up to see Cloud’s face looking back the hallway. He had me cradled like a baby. We were walking towards my bedroom. “Put me down!” I demanded. We were in my bed room. He managed to turn on the light, pull the covers and sheet back, and lay me down facing the wall. I turned and grabbed his hand. I looked at him violently. “Why did you do that?” I asked.
            “Your tired and you need your sleep,” he told me.
            “It’s only ten thirty and I’m not two. I don’t have a bed time,” I said.
            “Yes, but when your tired in this house, you sleep. Trust me you won’t miss a thing,” he assured me.
            “Fine,” I said. I rolled over and put the sheet over my head. I must have looked like a two year old then.
            I felt the sheet come down to my chin. I turned my head to see Cloud. I quickly shut my eyes and turned my head back to the wall. “I’m not happy about this,” I stated angrily.
            He was bent over me so he didn’t have to speak loud. “Good night,” he whispered. “Get some sleep,” he said and then kissed my cheek. My eyes flew open, but my light was already off and him gone. My anger had faded away. I sat up in bed and looked around for any sign of him. I smiled and then laid back down. I got into a comfortable spot, but couldn’t fall asleep. I kept thinking about Cloud and how amazing and perfect he was. I finally fell into a light sleep and dreamed about him.
            I awoke very early in the morning. I sat up in bed and stretched. I looked at my alarm clock. It was four thirty. “Perfect,” I said softly to myself smiling. It was Sunday so I had to cook breakfast for everyone. I got out of bed and went out to the kitchen. To think that yesterday I was trying to leave this place. It seemed so long ago.
            I found the flour, sugar, eggs, butter, baking powder, and milk and started to make the pancakes. Once the batter was mixed up I started to cook them. I had about half the batter cooked when I head someone come out into the kitchen. It was four fifty five.  I tuned to see who it was.
            It was Nevada. He was smiling at me and gave me two thumbs up. I smiled back at him. “How early were you up?” He asked.
            “Four thirty,” I replied. “What time did you get home last night?” I asked smiling.
            “Late, well I guess it was early,” he said laughing. I finished cooking the last pancake when everyone started to get up. “Do you want me to set the table and get the drinks?” He asked politely.
            “Would you?” I said smiling. He was so considerate.
            “Sure,” he answered and started to set the breezeway table.
            Everyone was sitting at the table when I brought out the big stack of pancakes. I was exceptionally happy today, thanks to Cloud last night. Autumn seemed to pick up on my mood.
            “You’re awfully happy today,” she said smiling. “I like it!”
            “Just what we need, another over cheerful, sassy person in the house,” Nevada said jokingly. Autumn and I laughed at this.
            “Did someone have a good night last night?” Autumn asked raising her eyebrows and smiling.
            “Someone got forced to go to bed early,” I said and stuck my tongue out at Cloud. He took it with a smile. He knew the real reason.
            We went through breakfast with everyone discussing what they did last night. When it was Cloud’s and my turn, he simply said we ate pizza and went swimming. Autumn and Nevada were dancing until early this morning, when they decided to come home. Nisha and Levon went out to dinner and then went to the park for awhile. Then they came home.
            We were finished with breakfast and Nevada started to clean up. “You clean up tomorrow,” he whispered. I decided to watch him so I’d know what to do. He took the plates, forks, and cups and put them in the sink. He then unloaded the clean dishes from it before taking the dirty dishes from the sink and loading them in the dishwasher.
            Levon stood up and stretched. “So what are the plans for today? Anything special planned?” He asked Cloud.
            “Nothing I can think of,” Cloud responded.
            “So we’re free to do whatever we want?” He asked.
            “Yes, just remember to be back by curfew,” he warned.
            “Okay,” he said and he and Nisha left the table.
            “I want to go shopping today,” Autumn said. My mouth dropped and I stared at her in disbelief. “Well I’m going to be up town anyways, shopping for groceries, so why not?” She asked smiling.
            “I’m out of it,” I said and started to leave the table. I heard Autumn giggle behind me, but I walked out of the room to my bedroom.
            I shut my door and started to change. Today I was wearing Bermuda jean shorts and a low cut blue shirt with a pink under shirt, under it. I then took a look around the room. Everything was exactly as I had it in my room. There were some exceptions because the rooms weren’t built exactly the same. The candy bar was still on my dresser from a few days before.
            “Should have given this to him last night,” I thought. “Maybe he would have let me stay up longer.” I wasn’t complaining, I mean last night was pretty amazing.
            I walked out of my room to find no one in sight. I went outside, onto the back porch, and still no one was there. I sat at the pick nick table, which was under Nisha’s upper porch. It was nice to be alone for a little bit. I wondered what we were going to do today.
            Autumn appeared out of the breezeway and looked around until she spotted me. “There you are,” she sounded relieved. “Do you have any specific requests for me to get while I’m shopping?” She asked.
            “I don’t suppose you’d get me a one piece swimming suit?” I asked.
            “Ha-ha,” she laughed, “nice try.” She then disappeared back into the house.
            I went over to the banister and put my hands on top of it. I was observing my surroundings. This was a nice place. It was woodsy, but open. It was fall so all trees were different colors. When the wind blew all the colors danced together in perfect harmony.
            Someone was behind me and pinned my hands to the banister. I felt them lean their head down so they could whisper in my ear. “What are you doing?” He whispered softly.
            “Just admiring the trees,” I answered.
            He picked up my hands, which were still in his and wrapped them around me. All I could think about was how he was holding me. I smiled shyly and bit my lower lip. We stood there a couple minutes without saying anything.
            “We have to go back to school tomorrow,” he said quietly.
            I sighed sadly. “I don’t want to go back,” I whispered.
            “We have to. If we don’t, someone will suspect something.”
            I turned in his arms so my head and hands were on his chest. I could hear his heart beating and I felt mine stop and then pick up to be in sync with his. I slid my hands under his arms and held him tightly. He pulled me closer and I felt the world was perfect.
            “And you talk about Nevada and I being gross?” Autumn asked jokingly.
            We quickly released each other and I looked down at the pool. I wasn’t embarrassed, though; I was smiling. “We weren’t making out and we weren’t around people. We were trying to have a moment of privacy, but of course Autumn the annoying had to interrupt us,” Cloud told her.
            “Sorry! Geez,” she said and started back into the house.
            “I thought you were going somewhere,” he called after her.
            “Yeah, I wanted to see if you wanted anything,” she responded.
            “Yes, can you get me a bar of chocolate?” He asked.
            Autumn and I looked at each other and busted out laughing. “Yeah, sure,” she said gasping for air and laughing. She walked inside still laughing.
            “What was that about?” Cloud asked me smiling.
            “It’s a girl thing,” I said and giggled.
            “Okay,” he said shifting his eyes.
            “So what are you doing today?” I asked casually.
            “We,” he emphasized the word, “are going to do whatever your heart desires.”
            I pondered what I wanted to do today, weighing the pros and cons of each option.
            “Well to start the day, why don’t we take a walk?” I said unsure if he’d like the idea.
            “Perfect! Let’s go get our shoes on,” he said as he walked towards the door.
            We got our shoes on and I happened to glance at the clock. It was already six thirty. Time really flew by in this house.
            We headed out the front door and around back towards the woods. We didn’t take the four wheeler path, but a smaller one off to the side. The path was big enough that Cloud and I could walk beside each other without hitting anything.
            “So where’s this lead to? The fountain of youth?” I inquired.
            He laughed and said, “No, but it does have a fantastic view at the end.”
            “What’s that mean?”
            “You see that mountain?” He asked pointing in front of us. It was about a hundred yards away. I nodded my head yes and he continued, “We will be walking up that. From the top of the mountain it feels like you can see forever.”
            “Sounds magical enough,” I said cheerfully. He laughed and grabbed my hand. My heart almost leapt out of my chest. It was like one of those scenes you see in a romance movie, except better because it was real.
            We started going up the mountain, which was more like a steep hill. It was grassy, not rocky, and it wasn’t an up and down hill. We were approaching the top and I was getting excited to see what was so special about the view. We finally came over the top and I was standing on the world.
            Cloud was right! You could see everything. I saw the school and my old house. I saw the pond and pick nick table. I could even see the gas station, which was miles from our house. I could see a plethora of colors from the fall leaves. It was like a painting of a far off place you wished you could visit.
            “Cloud, this is amazingly beautiful,” I said breathless.
            “It’s one of my favorite places to come,” he replied.
            Cloud sat down on the hill and, seeing how we were still holding hands, I sat beside him. I closed my eyes and breathed in the fresh mountain air. It was crisp and chilly, just the way I liked it.
            We sat in silence for awhile, until Cloud asked me, “Did you have a good night’s sleep last night?” He was nothing, but curious.
            “No, not really. I couldn’t sleep, you gave me too much to think about,” I answered turning my head to look at him.
            “What did you think about?” He asked sliding over next to me so that there was no space between us.
            “Why did you kiss my check and run away?” I asked.
            “Didn’t you like my good-night kiss?” He asked worriedly.
            “Yes, but-,” I started to say.
            He let go of my hand and put his arms around me. Pulling me into the most wonderful kiss. I placed my hands on the back of his neck and kissed him back. He pulled me closer than I thought I could ever be to someone. The kiss was over too quick, but I definitely wasn’t disappointed.
            “Good morning,” he said chuckling. I was still speechless from the kiss. I could do nothing, but smile.
            “I think I have a new favorite time of day,” I commented. We both laughed and Cloud stood up. He held out his hand to help me up and I accepted. He took it and helped me up, but didn’t let go of it. Our fingers intertwined and I could feel his pulse in his fingers.
            We headed back down the hill and soon reached the bottom. We started to walk back to the house. We asked each other a few simple questions like: What’s your favorite food? What’s your favorite color? When’s your birthday? He already knew the answer to that one.
            We got home and went into the house. It was eight o’ clock. I scowled at the clock for moving so fast. I didn’t want to go to school tomorrow. I was afraid Cloud would go back to ignoring me and I didn’t want that to happen. I was too afraid to ask him what we were going to do during school.
            “You pick what we do next,” I insisted.
            “I have something for you,” he said smiling.
            “I told you no more things for me,” I scolded.
            “It’s for both of us,” he reassured me.
            “Okay, as long as it wasn’t a lot of money,” I said as I eyed him suspiciously. He only laughed and lead me through the door and into the kitchen. “Let’s do this right, put this on.” He handed me a blind fold.
            “Do I really have to?” I complained.
            “For me, please?” He asked. That was all he had to say. The blindfold was on without another word. I did let a sigh, however, that said that the blindfold was completely unnecessary. He came up behind me and lead me somewhere.
            We stopped and then I felt myself being lifted in the air only to come down on something soft. It was a bed, but it wasn’t my bed. “Don’t move and don’t remove the blind fold,” he instructed. I heard him walk out of the room and then he came back in.
            I felt him sit on the bed beside me. I was curious as to what the surprise was. I felt a tongue lick my face. “Ewww, did you just lick me?” I asked disgusted. He removed the blind fold and I could see.
            In his hands was a black dog. It was a black lab and the cutest thing ever. She was completely black except for it had a white patch, that looked liked hazy heart, on her chest. You wouldn’t be able to see it when she was standing, but I could see it because Cloud was holding this adorable creature.
            “Really! She’s ours?” I asked excitedly.
            “Yes she is and you get to name her?” he asked just as excited as I was.
            “What do you think about Hazy?” I asked.
            “I like it, but why Hazy?” He said putting the dog into my hands.
            I turned the dog so he could see it’s chest. “The white looks like a hazy heart,” I said.
            “It’s the perfect name for her,” he reassured me. I stroked the dog’s fur. It was soft and silky.
            “Thank you, so much,” I said looking at the dog. “Not just for Hazy either, but for everything.”
            “You’re worth it all,” he said. I decided not to argue and ruin the moment. He started to stroke Hazy too.
            “Where will she sleep?” I asked.
            “With you, unless you don’t want her to sleep with you.”
            “No that’s fine, but don’t you want a night with her?”
            “If you have her then I can tuck you in every night so I can see her.”
            “Okay, she can sleep with me,” I said with a smile.