Chapter 8

The four- wheeler roars to life underneath us and we speed off. I almost fall off the back of it. I scream and throw my arms around Bill's waist. He turns to look at me, a smile on his face.

"You okay?" I lift my head up from where it was buried between his shoulder blades and look at the sky. I grab the bar behind me and lean back. The wind whips my loose hair out of my ponytail. The wind is cold as it dances across my face.

"I'm alive," I sing from Flyleaf's "All Around Me". "Good," Bill says back. I want to wrap my arms around Bill's waist again. It felt so good to hold him like that. But I don't want to seem obvious about it. Bill makes to turn into the woods and I see my chance. Just as he makes the turn I feign falling off.

"Ahh," I scream and Bill takes one hand off the handlebars. He grabs my arm and wraps it around his waist. I happily follow suit and put my other arm around him.

"Don't let go of me." I smile and watch the trees fly by. Bill slows down.

"It is so beautiful back here." I see him nod his head.

"It is. Hey are you hungry? It is almost noon." He turns his head to get my answer and I nod. "Then hold on." I grab the bar behind me. "Hold onto me Leanah." I blush and obey.

Bill presses on the gas and we speed off. After what seems like an hour we arrive in a little clearing. I can see a picnic laid out. Bill stops the four-wheeler and we get off. I walk up to the picnic and look at it. The basket is on a simple blue and white-checkered tablecloth. There are two white plates with gold trim and two glasses. The simplicity of the lay out just makes it all the more beautiful. I notice a small cooler next to the basket. Bill sits down and pats the ground next to him.

"Come sit," he commands and I plop myself onto the ground.

"You did all this Bill? Its incredible." Bill turns his head and blushes.

"Thanks. But I only set it up. My mom did the cooking." Bill opens the basket and pulls out two sandwiches. "Well she did the sandwich making. I hope you like PB &J." He hands me a sandwich.

"Yes. Peanut butter and jelly is way fine with me." I take a bite of my sandwich. Bill passes me a coke from the cooler. I take a sip.

"So how are you liking Germany so far?"

"It's beautiful. I have a hard time understanding everyone though. Thanks for translating your notes, by the way."

"No problem. Hold on a second." Bill gets up and runs to the edge of the clearing. Then he jogs back, his hand behind his back.

"A beautiful flower for and even more beautiful girl," he says as he hands me the flower. I can feel my blood rushing to my cheeks. I stare at the ground, my face probably getting redder by the second.

"Pink looks good on you. You should wear it more often." I smile at the compliment. Bill stares at me for what feels like ages.

Suddenly it's pouring. "Heilig scheisse." Bill grabs the picnic stuff and attaches it to the four-wheeler. He gets on and so do I. As soon as my arms are securely around him we take off.

Both of us are dripping wet by the time we get back to the barn. I feel like I'll never be properly dry again. We both run for my car and I drive as close to Bill's house as I can. "See you Monday Leanah," Bill says before dashing to his house. I pull away and start to drive home.

I pull off my hat as soon as I am safe under my porch. Leanah drives slowly down my driveway. I watch her until she is out of sight. Today was overall a fun day. I open the door and walk inside. Water drips off of me and I slip and fall to the ground, hitting my tailbone hard.

"Oww!" I yell out. Slowly I crawl to the stairs and go to my room. I pull on my blue with green-stripes sweatpants and a gray shirt. Then I plop onto my bed, my tailbone throbbing. I hear a knock on my door.

"Come in." Tom walks into my room and plops onto the end of my bed. He is grinning.

"Get a bit wet, did we? So how was today? Did you have fun? Did you unravel the mystery that is Leanah?" Tom laughs.

"No I didn't."

"Wait. You didn't have fun or you didn't unravel the mystery?

" I didn't unravel the mystery. Leanah confuses me so much. I can normally read people well, but with her it's like I've become retarded and can't read anymore. The letters are all jumbled up and backwards." I sigh and sit cross-legged. Frustrated I punch a pillow. Tom laughs and is instantly silenced by my icy glare.

"Well maybe you aren't supposed to read Leanah. Maybe you have to unravel the mystery piece by piece. You know. Take baby steps." Now it is my laugh. I so rarely get a reply like that from Tom. He sits there looking at me. "What?" he says. I shake my head and water goes flying everywhere. Now we both burst into fits of laughter. Tom holds his stomach.

"You know Bill, you're lucky." I stop laughing and look at Tom, puzzled.

"What do you mean?" my eyebrows come together as I wait for a reply.

"You're lucky that you have Leanah." I snort.

"I don't have Leanah. She is just a friend." I sigh, knowing that deep down I want to be more than a friend for Leanah. I blink furiously.

"Bill are you blind? Mein Gott. Don't you see how she looks at you?" Tom shakes his head.

"How does she look at me?" I ask, voice barely above a whisper. Tom massages his temples.

"With longing. With hope. Love. Sadness. So many different emotions show in her eyes when she looks at you. And you're oblivious." Tom angrily jumps up and pushes me back onto the floor.

"Shit Tom! What the hell's your problem?" I yell. I get up in his face and push him back with all my might. Unexpected, Tom stumbles back a bit. He recovers and runs into my stomach. I crash into the wall, hitting my head on the windowpane. I gasp for air and clutch my stomach. I can't breathe. I reach up to hold the throbbing pain on my head and feel something wet and sticky. I look at my hand and see blood on my fingertips.

"Tom!" Tom was lying the floor and looks up. When he sees the blood on my fingers his eyes widen.

"Oh mein Gott. I'm so sorry Bill." I roll my eyes. "Don't just stand there you idiot. Help me" Tom pulls me up and helps me walk into the bathroom. I feel dizzy. My feet stumble as I try to walk. I fall to the ground. Tom hands me a wet washcloth and I hold to my head.

"Stay here Bill. I'll be back." I laugh to myself at how quickly Tom flew into concerned brother mode. Seconds later Tom bursts through the door with our mom, Simone, and Gordon, our stepfather, in tow.

"Bill sweetie, are you alright?" I nod in response and it sends a sharp pain through my head, I grimace.

"Alright. Lets get him up. He needs to be taken to the hospital." Gordon grabs me underneath my elbow and pulls me up. He outs my arm around my shoulder and Tom puts my other arm around his. We slowly make our way to the car. Once inside, Gordon drives like a maniac to the hospital.