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CHAPTER 7: Best Friend
A few weeks later…
I made my way over to the Hoover's residence this Friday afternoon but unlike usual I was nervous.
Today at lunch when I sat down next to Dwayne, he passed over his notepad to me. I took it gingerly, not expecting him to have something to say to me. I read what he had written:
Come over tonight
I have something to show you
I nodded in response, and we went back to our shared silence again.
I couldn't possibly believe that Dwayne actually wanted to show me something. Yes, we were friends and we spent time together but I never thought he would have something secret that he would want to share with me of all people. I'm only an outsider imposing on the lives of the Hoovers.
I had trouble figuring Dwayne out so this made me anxious around him half the time. The rest of the time I felt completely comfortable when I was in his presence. This was all just starting to get too complex.
Dwayne opened the door almost immediately after I knocked. Instead of inviting me in, he shut the door behind him and motioned for me to follow him. This was getting more strange by the minute.
We walked through the empty streets of our neighbourhood in silence until we reached the edge of it.
There were multiple sets of old, unused train tracks with a large, overgrown field on the other side. We crossed over the train tracks and entered the field.
After only a few minutes of walking, we reached an area where the tall grass had been cleared away and Dwayne flopped down on the ground. I guessed I was supposed to do the same, so I sat down carefully on the ground. I gazed around.
There was a perfect view of the vast field stretching out in front of us, and the mountains off behind that in the distance. Even so, we were still obscured from the houses at the end of the neighbourhood and any passersby. After a long while, I finally voiced my thoughts:
"So what is this place?"
Dwayne slipped his notepad out of his pocket and fumbled with it until he started scribbling his response to me.
I come here every now and then
It's my spot to get away when I really need to
…
I thought you'd like it...
I paused for a bit before saying anything. I was too overcome by a range of emotions. I was dumbfounded for one then confused and touched as well. But they all lead to one question: Why did Dwayne want to or care to show me this place?
"I actually love it," I replied cautiously, looking him directly in the eyes. He nodded back, his way of saying "I thought you would".
We sat together side by side in total silence, in the cool early summer breeze watching the sun set on the horizon. The only noise to interfere was the occasional birdcall and the subtle chirp of crickets. Once the sun was nearly set, we both got up and headed for home again.
When we returned back to our houses but instead of heading home I went to the Hoovers' since it wasn't late yet. Dwayne and I trekked into his room and made our selves comfortable on the floor.
I rummaged through my small leather satchel that I had brought with me, for my notebook and coloured pencils. I had already done a couple drawings of the sunset but I had wanted to try and capture the beautiful view from this evening while the image was still fresh in my mind. Dwayne was reading one of his Nietzsche books so I didn't feel rude doing this.
A while later I got up to get a glass of water, offering Dwayne as well though he declined. While in the kitchen, I got distracted by Olive who was sitting at the table eating a bowl of ice cream.
"What were you and Dwayne up to?" she questioned me.
"Oh nothing. We just went for a walk," I covered. I had a feeling that Dwayne wouldn't want to her to know about his hide out even though he still really cared for his younger sister. It seemed too private and personal that he would bother to share it with her.
"Are you and Dwayne best friends?"
I was a bit taken back by the question. I knew he was my friend and a close friend at that, because I had shared my fair amount of personal matters with him. I never took the time though to think about whether he was my new best friend here or if it was one of my many friends from school. Considering this though, the relationship between Dwayne and I was much more complicated than the simple definition of the term of best friends. Trying to avoid the question as much as I could, I gave Olive a relatively vague answer.
"You'll have to ask Dwayne that."
Wanting to get away from the uncomfortable questions that a young child can easily ask, I dashed into the kitchen to grab my glass of water. I went back down the hallway to Dwayne's door and nudged it open. After softly closing it behind me, I noticed Dwayne looking at a book that wasn't his philosophy one. Realizing in horror that it was my sketchbook, I put my glass of water down before I lunged forward to snatch it out of his hands.
I had never really shown anyone my drawings before and never intended on doing so in the future either. I enjoyed drawing but never thought my work was exceptional or deemed it good enough for other eyes to look at.
I attempted to wrestle the small black book out of his grasp but Dwayne was quite strong for such a lanky person. He was gentle with the book though and was only teasing me with his reluctance to hand it over. Finally I pulled it from his hands, causing me to loose my balance and fall forwards onto Dwayne who was sitting up against his bed.
My head was lying against his strong and firm chest, I giggled into it still caught up in the moment. His head came to rest on top of mine and we stayed like that for a second before we both jumped apart like we had been electrocuted.
We looked away from each other, though I could see that his cheeks were beginning to go pink just like my own.
We sat down again in our usual way with our backs leaning against his bed, though this time we were farther apart than usual. After about fifteen minutes or so Dwayne wrote something in his notepad for me.
Your drawings are amazing Emily
You have talent
I just shook my head.
"I'm able to catch the right colours sometimes but they really aren't any good."
He looked at me, shocked by my words and just shook his head back at me. I sighed and gave up. I was getting tired and didn't feel like trying to argue my case. I picked up one of Dwayne's philosophy books by Nietzsche and tried to read but I only succeeded with looking occupied, or at least attempted too. My brain couldn't process a single word I was reading. My brain was overwhelmed with thoughts and exhaustion.
Finally Sheryl came in to say it was getting late and that I should probably head home, though I was more than welcome to sleep over for the night as well. I smiled warmly at her. The Hoovers were such a warm and welcoming family, well except for Richard.
After Dwayne's mother left the room he quickly wrote something out for me to read.
Come back tomorrow morning
I have an idea
At home that night in bed, I tried to figure out what happened between Dwayne and I. Before I could get anywhere though exhaustion took over me and I fell asleep.
Thank you for reading! I hope you liked this chapter! Please let me know in a review or PM or whatever, I would LOVE to hear your opinions
The story is starting to pick up more so this chapter was lengthier and next one will probably be even longer! Anyways, thanks again and I hope to have the next chapter up either tomorrow or the day after :)
