Immortals Of Byolla Bay

What have I ever done to get a guy with these celestial good looks to talk to me, much less walk me home? With the noises in the forest long forgotten, I started filling him in on the high school and all about our town in general. There wasn’t much to tell unfortunately. Any time I asked him about where he came from he was purposely vague and kept switching the subject back to me.

I told him about growing up here. The house I live in was my grandparents, who both died before I was born. One died from cancer, the other a car crash off a bridge. My grandmother’s body was never found. It was just mine and mom’s house now. I never knew my father. From what my mom told me they dated all through high school, but when she got pregnant with me he conveniently got a job a few states away and she never seen him again.

It crossed my mind that he could be asking all these questions to gather information about when our house is empty so he could rob it later or he could be a serial killer, but he just didn’t have that vibe. Besides, the biggest and most expensive houses are at the beginning of town and if he was a thief all he would have to do is glance at my house to see I have nothing worthy to offer him inside. The only people well off back this way is Meshella’s family.

He seemed generally interested in all I was telling him, which is a new thing for me. Those emerald eyes sparkled with sincerity the whole time I spoke which took my breath away. When I seen the willow tree on top of the hill, which marked the spot where my house was located, I got sad because I knew our time was over. I wasn’t going to push my luck by asking him inside, just in case he actually did have criminal intent. I was also sure he only had getting to know me on a friend level in mind, not like what it would have been if I were Meshella or even Analya.

Stopping at the beginning of the tiny walkway that led to our small brick two bedroom house, I looked it over for the first time in a while. My grandparents left this to my mom in their will. It’s not much, but it means the world to my mom and I. The roof leaks sometimes and the shutters are in serious need of repair, but there is nowhere else I would rather call home.

“Is this where you live?” His voice was music to my ears. I could hear this boy read a phone book and I would think it was the most beautiful piece of poetry in the universe. He looked at the woods behind him and back at my house, “If my coordinates are correct, I believe our houses are aligned. You are directly behind my home. Interesting.”

That threw me off, “Wow,” was the only word I could muster because I wasn’t quite sure how to respond to that. My lame response earned me another one of his gorgeous, gleaming smiles. Does he know how pretty he is?

“I’ll be joining your school tomorrow, along with my sister, Maggie. I hope we have some classes together. Also, I could walk you home if I’m not being too bold. That way you don’t have to walk through that forest alone.” He walked me home, has been intently listening to everything I have to say AND he wants to walk me home from school again tomorrow? I need to pinch myself.

“Okay. I’ll…see you then.” I stammered out and he gave a little wave as he turned to walk back down my road. I’m sure my face is about 3 shades of red right now.

“Kinsley I’m home baby girl. Hey! That’s the best thing I have ever smelled my whole life! What would I do without you?” My mom walked into the kitchen just as I was putting spaghetti sauce on her noodles in her plate. She always tells me it’s the best thing she has ever smelled in her whole life no matter what I cook, but I laugh and tell her thank you anyways.

I’m just glad I learned at age thirteen I could cook. A woman can’t live on peanut butter sandwiches forever although mom swears you can. She’s not a cook at all and only takes sandwiches or crackers to eat at work if I don’t pack a lunch for her the night before. Tonight I’ll make sure to put a plastic container of spaghetti in her lunchbox.

To the outside person I know it would seem my mom is irresponsible and her child has to take care of her, but it’s actually not like that at all. My mom makes sure this house is stocked up with all the food she can afford for me while she is away working. It became easier to stay stocked up when she got the second job on the weekends, where she gets discounts on food. A lot of times before that she did without more times than I could count, but always made sure I was never hungry. Now I am old enough to make sure my mom don’t go without ever again because she loves me so much that she made all those sacrifices just for me.

I made my plate and sat down at our warped beech wood kitchen table next to mom, who was greedily inhaling her spaghetti. “There is more where that came from, ya know? You don’t have to shovel it in like you’re on death row and this is your last meal.” I mused. She smiled at me in between mouthfuls, “Sorry dear, I’m starving. I didn’t get a lunch break today because our line at the factory was behind on production. The boss of course got his break, but his little worker ants had to go without.” That’s what mom calls her fellow employees, worker ants.

Her boss is a jerk though. The last time someone complained about him they were fired on the spot so mom has to keep her mouth shut. Another lady was pregnant and worked all the way through the pregnancy. Their boss wouldn’t give her maternity leave and she went into labor at work, which put her line behind because they were short a worker. The lovely boss told her she would be fired if she ever put production on hold ever again for her “personal problems”. I vowed to one day have a job that brings home enough money so she could tell her boss where to shove it.

After we were through eating mom stood up to start washing dishes, which I stopped her and told her to go rest. She reluctantly agreed and sat down in her chair in front of the TV. Within 10 minutes of watching the news, she was snoring lightly like usual. I always wake her up and tell her to go to bed after I get through cleaning the kitchen.

Mom hugged me before she settled in for the night as I went to my room to finish my algebra and world history homework. As I put on my pajamas, my ring started glowing again. I remember the cryptic words in my grandmother’s part of the will when this was given to me, “When it glows, you will know. The time will be right, when you see the light.” The stone stopped glowing after a few minutes so I took it off and placed it on my night stand, convinced this only happened when I got hot or something. I had enough spooky stuff happen today to last me a lifetime and the ring glowing yet again was my final straw for the night.

Looking out the window, my mind wandered back to the mysterious Rikki I met today. My heart skipped a beat as I thought about getting to see him tomorrow. I decided to just save my algebra homework for in the morning as I packed away my things and got ready for bed. Rikki was still on my mind as I turned out the light and crawled into bed, drifting to sleep picturing those emerald eyes.