So sorry I haven't up dated in a while…I've had so much going on in my life lately. It's been craziness! Though not as crazy as what Sonny and Chad go through in this chapter. So sit back, get compfy, and enjoy chapter 4 of perfectly imperfect !:)
Everything came back to me. When he told me I had pretty hair, the time we danced together at prom…his tongue across my cheek. Everything.
And his face was so close…so insanely close to mine. The heat; so intense, I was gasping and choking for air. Or, at least I would've been if I could breathe at all.
But I couldn't. The air was crammed inside my chest, ready to burst…but I didn't release it.
I held it. Just as strongly as he held me.
I held it as his lips slowly came closer to mine. As if they weren't already close enough. And then he paused. Hesitating. Uneven breath rushing against my skin.
A semi's horn blared from the freeway as it passed by, and headlights flashed across the shiny metal of the jeep. The jeep we were against.
Chad stepped away.
But I didn't put my arm down, or loosen my grip on the fist full of mud that oozed between my fingers. I was frozen.
Scared, in a such a way I'd never been scared before.
Scared breathless.
I lifted my eyes slowly, as the rain fell so hard, it was as though it vibrated the soil beneath my shoes. But maybe it was just my heartbeat in my toes.
Chad's silhouette was hardly visible through the wall of water, though I could tell one thing—he wouldn't look at me.
"Chad?" I squeeked. My lips barely separated to say his name.
"Mmm?"
"The roof's still down in the jeep." I began to shiver, and my eyes stung. Don't cry…Don't cry…
"So?"
I drew in a sharp breath. "So, I need h-help putting it up."
It sounded as though Chad was talking through a glass door when he spoke through the rain. And after what he said, I kinda wish I had one to slam in his face. "You have two hands. Why don't you try using them?"
"What is wrong with you?" I screeched. I hurled the mud in my hand to the churned-up earth at my feet, and flew at him. "One minute you're throwing mud at me, and the next you won't even look at me!"
Chad looked up at me so ubruptly, I couldn't help but gasp. Rain fell off of his eye lids, and dripped down his face, as he glared at me. "Sonny…I just...it's getting dark."
My whole body shook in fury. "Dark?" I spat. "What does that have to do with anything—"
He grabbed me so fast, I wasn't prepared for the hot shivers breaking on the surface of my skin. His touch, though it was if he was trying to wake me from a deep sleep, was intriguing. Like I wanted to know more about it.
Chad's eyes, appearing an inky-blue color in the moonlight, melted into mine. He wanted me to understand him. "Do you have a tent?"
"A tent?" I repeated back to him, not sure if I had heard correctly.
"Yes, Sonny. A tent! You know…those things you sleep in out in the woods?"
"Yeah, yeah. I have one in the trunk of my jeep…"
Before I finished my sentence, he was already on his way toward the car to retrieve it, and I wasn't far behind him.
"There's no way in hell I'm sleeping in a tent with you!"
"Oh, I think you misunderstood me." Chad pulled the green tent bag from the trunk, and closed it with a thump. "You're sleeping in the tent, and I'm freezing my ass off in the rain."
I laughed involuntarily. "That's all I'm saying."
Chad smiled. "You're just gonna have to endure sleeping next to me."
Don't smile…don't smile…
"Help me put the roof up," I said, keeping my eyes low. If I looked at him, I'd smile for sure. He wasn't going to know I wasn't mad at him anymore, even if it was true.
"Maybe I'll sleep in the jeep," I decided.
"I don't know…it gets pretty cold at night…"
"Meaning?"
"You should stay in the tent."
"And that'll be warmer?"
"If we're both in there."
I shook my hair in front of my face, so it stuck to my cheeks. I refused to let him see my blush. We latched the roof into place, and I'd gone back to the trunk to look for some dry clothes.
Geez. Five minutes later, and my heart was still pounding from that comment.
"Made up your mind yet?" he asked.
"Well, it depends. I'm not sleeping near you if you're all muddy, so go change," I giggled, shoving dry clothes at him. "And I don't care if they're girl's clothes."
"Yeah, but I might," he grinned.
"Don't complain, or I'll give you the one with the butterfly," I threatened him, waving it in his face.
"Too bad that's the one I want to wear." He snatched it from me, and hugged it against him. "How do I look?"
"Mmm…" I analyzed how his feminine clothing preference fit his manly body shape. Not well, let me tell you. But it was adorable. "I'd say you've never looked better!"
He pulled the shirt down, looking disappointed. "Aww…come on. I look hot. Admit it."
"I'm not a liar," I laughed. "Go change."
It was getting late. I was starting to think maybe Chad was attacked by a bear or something when he hadn't come back in half an hour. I sat with my eyes to the heavens, fire cracking at my feat, and tent pitched behind me with both sleeping bags laid out inside. The hum of the highway traffic was still ceasing to fade, though it was past midnight. A lonely howl of a coyote droned from somewhere close by.
"Chad?" I called into the darkness.
No answer.
I stood up. When the coyote's howl sounded closer, I began running into the woods.
"Chad!" I screamed, sounding like a little girl, but I didn't stop. I breathlessly called his name as I felt my own breath stab at my lungs. When I stopped running, I held my breath.
Counted my heartbeats.
Didn't dare make a sound.
What I saw was more terrifying than a coyote. I stood so still as I saw him, dressed in only boxers.