Chapter 43 #4
By the time we had reached the western bank and were crawling up it in tandem, the rain was barely a mist and the thunder that rolled through the sky sounded like it was coming from a million miles away.
When we reached solid ground again, out of breath, but still laughing, Auggie and I plopped down on the muddy bank of Susurrus Creek, our legs dangling over.
When our laughter finally died off, and both of us were catching our breath, soaked like drowned rats, I turned to look at him.
Auggie was already turned to meet my eyes.
“You’re brilliant,” I said, though I’d had no idea what I was going to say until that moment. “You’re absolutely brilliant. That’s what I think. And I’m not embarrassed of you.”
Auggie started to look away, but stopped himself. His eyes came back to mine.
“And I know what I want,” I said. “It just…took me a while.”
“Jordan—”
“I’m not like you,” I said. “I’m not always so sure of myself. But when I figure things out, I don’t change my mind.”
Auggie stared into my eyes, a small smile on his face.
“I guess I’d never thought that I’d feel this way about a boy, but—”
“You know,” Auggie said, chewing at his lip, “I’m not a boy.”
I stared at him for a second.
“You’re not a girl,” I said, stupidly.
“Exactly,” Auggie’s smile broadened a bit.
For a few moments, we stared into each other’s eyes. The rain stopped and thunder sounded a final time in the distance.
“I can work with that,” I grinned goofily at them.
“You’re not weirded out by that?” they asked, though they didn’t avert their eyes. “You’re not going to call me weird?”
“Of course, you’re weird,” I nudged them. “But that’s not the reason.”
Auggie glowered at me for a moment, then they were smiling and nudging me back.
They started to say something to me, but as soon as they opened their mouth, a hollow whistling sound whispered down Susurrus Creek from the north. Just like on the night of the Fourth of July. I turned to look up the creek, then I spun my head back around to Auggie.
“Reed whistles,” they said, simply. “Years ago—not sure exactly when—some of the kids in town carved whistles into reeds. When the wind blows right—hits them just right—they make that noise.”
I grinned at them.
“Some things have a simple explanation around here,” they shrugged.
“Just some things?”
“Not everything is simple,” they said with a shrug, their smile faltering.
Before they could say anything, or get inside their own head, I reached out and laid a hand on their cheek.
Auggie’s eyes stayed on mine as I leaned over and placed my lips against theirs.
I knew I should have asked if it was okay, but something told me it was.
When my lips touched theirs, I waited a second, making sure they wouldn’t pull away or push me off of them.
When their hands came up to cup my face, I let my arm fall down and leaned into the kiss they were returning.
By the time they pulled away from me, the rain, thunder, and lightning were all but a distant memory.
Only the protesting grasshoppers and the no longer mysterious reed whistles kept all of Possibly from being as silent as a tomb.
As we stared into each other’s eyes, Auggie kept their hands on my face, as if examining something.
“I wrote the Shirlene letters,” they said.
I smiled, but I didn’t respond.
“Love’s not easy to come by,” they continued at my silence.
“I never thought…I’ve always felt that wasn’t a thing that would happen to me.
So…I decided to write to a love I had convinced myself didn’t exist, but desperately hoped did.
It was just a thing to make me feel better at first. But then everyone began to expect them.
Everyone was excited for a new Shirlene letter each day.
So, I kept writing them. I had plenty to say anyhow. ”
I grinned at them in silence for a few moments longer.
“Why ‘Shirlene’, though?” I asked.
They shrugged. “It’s a grown-up, old-timey name. No one would expect a teenager to use it.”
“Clever.”
“I’m brilliant.”
“You are.”
“It taught me to sneak around at night. So,” Auggie grinned sheepishly, “hanging up the lights and playing the song the other night wasn’t that difficult to manage.”
“I kind of figured,” I chuckled as Auggie’s hands hesitantly slid from my face, though we didn’t move to part.
“Really?”
I nodded. “No.”
Auggie laughed loudly.
To let me know that I hadn’t overstepped, Auggie leaned closer and pressed their lips against mine. It didn’t last nearly as long as our first kiss, but it was just as perfect.
“So,” I asked, licking my lips slowly as Auggie pulled away, “the ghosts. How’d you pull that off? Who was under the sheets?”
Auggie slowly shook their head with a grin.
“I had nothing to do with that.”
“Right,” I rolled my eyes with a laugh. “I’m sure.”
“I didn’t,” they said with a playful nudge at my arm.
“How can I be sure you’re not lying?”
“There’s only one way to find out,” they said playfully.
I chuckled as I stared into their eyes, nearly made blue by the moon that was now peeking out from behind the clouds.
“It’s a date,” I said.
Auggie’s happiness at my statement was apparent in their expression.
“Auggie,” I asked, “why haven’t I met your parents?”
They looked into my eyes.
“They’ll be around one day,” they said. “You’ll meet them if you stick around long enough.”
After enough time in Possibly, that made perfect sense.