Chapter 3: Feelin' Good In The Neighborhood

                I had so much more fun with Ashley than I ever would’ve imagined. She was unlike anyone I had ever met; Chicago isn’t exactly known for its quantity of down-to-earth people. She had bleach-blonde hair, pulled back into a ponytail save for a few bangs, with a red ribbon to hold it back. She had very elegant facial features and a pearly white smile to die for. She easily had the looks to be stuck up thinking she was ‘God’s gift to the world’, but she wasn’t like that. She dressed modestly, wearing a tight black hoodie and usually either jeans or a skirt. I had just met her and already she was the one of the most interesting people I had ever met.

                As we walked away from my driveway, I was trying not to show how close I was to freaking out.

“Oh, sorry.” She muttered as she realized she was still holding my hand. She blushed and pushed her hair behind her ear with the hand she had just let go of mine with.

                “No, it’s alright.” I replied with a smile.

                “So, where are you guys from again?” she asked.

                “Chicago, Illinois.”

                “Ever been out in the middle of nowhere like this, city-boy?” she teased with a giggle.

                “Ha, only once. My dad took me camping one time when I was a little kid.”

                “Well, don’t worry, city-boy, you’ve got me.” She teased once more.

                “Lucky me.” I said sarcastically while throwing her a wink.

                “Jerk.” She said as she shoved me, but her smile let me know she didn’t mind.

                Ashley showed me all kinds of places. I saw Sheriff Raditz’ two-cell jail, the Jenkin’s Tailory, we walked passed the grocery store, and the dinner my mother would start working at.

                “Hungry?” she asked.

                “I could eat.” I replied.

                “Wilson’s Dinner has the best food on the planet, c’mon!” she exclaimed. I was overjoyed as she grabbed my hand again and pulled me inside. We sat down at a booth and looked over the menu.  After a few minutes and still no service, Ashley responded to the funny look on my face. “Why do you think old Mr. Wilson hired your mom? You just gotta yell what you want back to the kitchen for now.” She told me.

                “C-can I get a cheeseburger and fries?” I yelled back to the kitchen, which had been completely silent until now.

                “Ooo, make that two!” Ashley squealed.

                “Make that two!” I added.

                “Okie dokie!” I heard from the back. It seemed like almost instantly Mr. Wilson came out with his grease-stained ‘kiss the cook’ apron and set our food down. “On the house, sonny.”

                “Wow, thanks, Mr. Wilson!” I cheered. As Ashley and I dug into what really was the best food on the planet, we got to talking.

                “So, Isaac, tell me about yourself.”

                “Hmm, what’s to tell? You go first.”

                “Okay, well…I’ve here my entire life and I’ve never been to a big city but have always wanted to go. I know the woods around here like the back of my hand. I’ve never had a boyfriend,” I could tell she was embarrassed as her cheeks turned rosy again, “and I’m pretty much the most awesome person you’ll ever meet.” She boasted.

                “Haha, oh really?” I questioned.

                “Yes, sir.” She retorted with a chuckle. “Your turn.”

                “Well, my mom and my brother and I pretty much moved here to get away from my father. Ummm, well, I’ll most likely only be here for a few months, after high school I have to move back to Chicago if I'm going to be a graphic designer.”

                “Did you say graphic designer?”

                “Yes, ma’am.” I said, voice full of pride.

                “That’s so awesome. I’ve always wanted to get into that, but it’s not exactly an option around here.”

                “Really?” I asked, finally getting some confidence back.

                “How about this? If you show me some of your designs I’ll take you to my favorite spot at the lake tonight.” She said with a determined grin.

                “Hmm, I don’t know, I don’t usually show my artwork to people.” I teased.

                “Well, if you don’t, I suppose I’ll grace your presence as I make you go with me anyway, but I'd prefer that you show me.”

                “Deal.” I smiled.

                “Let’s go back to your house!” she said. I nodded, thanked Mr. Wilson again, and we were off. “Hey, let’s race. Loser has to skinny-dip!” she said as she lightly shoved me and took off towards my house.

                “No fair!” I called after her as I started to give chase. I was fast, which made it pretty easy for me to catch up to her. Truth be told though, it was so foggy sometimes I didn’t know if she was behind me or in front. Regardless, as I approached my house I slowed down. As my porch came into focus through the fog, there Ashley was, sitting and waiting for me. As I walked up to her and sat down, I didn’t hear the thunderous shout of victory I had expected; instead she scooted up next to me and gave me a peck on the cheek.

                “Jerk.” She whispered, obviously aware that I let her win. I normally would’ve denied it, played it off as a fluke, but it was different with Ashley. I knew that she understood that I let her win because I'm nice, not because I didn’t think she could beat me. We sat in silence for a moment then she hopped up and faced me.

                “Oh snap! It’s getting dark already. You’ll have to show me your designs later, we’d better get going if we’re going to find the lake.”

                “The lake?”

                “You didn’t forget our deal did you?” she smiled.

                “Y-you were serious?!” I half-heartedly joked.

                “I don’t mess around, I beat you, now I want my reward.” She said as she grabbed my arm and flung me forward, giving me a small spank as she walked passed me. “Let’s get going, city-boy.”

                “Yes, ma’am!” I hollered. “…you said ‘find’ the lake?” I asked.

                “Yeah, it’s a good three miles or so and it’s impossible to follow the trail at night. Don’t worry though, you’ve got me.” She replied. “C’mon, through here.” She whispered as we approached a small trail leading off from the end of our street.

                “So, this is where you’re gonna kill me in the middle of the woods, isn’t it?” I joked.

                “Nah, I wouldn’t want to get my shoes all bloody.” She whipped back without missing a beat.

                “Oh, is that the only reason?”

                “Well, I guess I might miss that cute face a little bit.”

                “Oh, well good to know!” I replied, trying not to blush. I wasn’t used to girls being so forward, I was accustomed to girls playing hard to get and making me do all the work. “So, are we meeting any of your other friends down here?” I asked, trying to keep the conversation going.

                “Nope. Don’t have any other friends.” She said, acting as though she didn’t care, but her voice gave her away.

                “What?!? No way, you’re way too awesome, how could you not have any other friends?” I demanded.

                “I don’t know. Ever since mom, all of my old friends started ignoring me.” She replied solemnly. She wasn’t too upset, she actually sounded like she couldn’t care less, but still, it can’t feel good to lose all of your friends.

                “Well, it’s their loss then, right?” I smiled as I pushed her gently.

                “Yeah, but now I'm stuck with a city-boy like you.” She joked and pushed back.

                “Ouch.” I replied, but she gave me a look that said ‘Suck it up, ya girl.’

                As the light faded, it became increasingly more difficult to navigate through the thick trees.

                “Are we almost there?” I complained.

                “Yeah yeah, settle down. It’s just passed these rocks up here.” We finished the trail just as the sun completed setting.

                “Wow.” I stood in awe as I saw the reflection of the night sky on the water. You never realize how amazing the night sky is until you see every star in the sky. In Chicago, I was lucky to see one at all, but here, there were thousands.

                “What, you don’t have stars back in Chicago?” she said, wondering why I was so amazed.

                “Not really.” I replied, not taking my eyes of the sky.

                “Oh…maybe I don’t want to move to the city after all.” She joked. “…Okay, now stop stalling. Off.” She demanded with a drill sergeant’s tone. Nervous to comply, I pretended not to hear her.

                “I’ve never seen so many stars.” I replied, still gazing at the sky.

                “Yeah yeah yeah, stars. You’re not getting out of it.”

                “Hehe, fine.” I replied as I unzipped my hoodie and hung it on a low hanging tree branch. Next was the belt and jeans, and my socks and sneakers of course. It was weird, I was about to get naked in front of someone who was basically a total stranger, but I wasn’t nervous at all. Ashley was just so open, I didn’t have to fret over what she was thinking. I finished the job and quickly scurried into the water. Aside from the practically sub-zero water, it was pretty cool, I had never seen crystal clear water like this. The reflection on the lake from the stars was a sight I had never seen before.

                “Oh, I suppose I'll join you.” Ashley said as she started to undress as well. I tried not to watch, but how could I resist? She was so elegant, she neatly folded each article of clothing and laid it out on a large flat rock. She finished and scurried into the water as well. She swam up to me and we both just sort of treaded water in silence.

                “So…now what?” I asked.

                “I don’t know.” She replied.

                “Well, what do you usually do when you go skinny dipping?”

                “No idea, never done it before.”

                “You’re just full of surprises aren’t you? You act like a pro.” I joked.

                “I suppose so.” She grinned. ”Just compared to you, city-bo-“

                “Who’s out here?!?” we heard boom through the area. A bright flashlight shined about the lake and directly in our face and we couldn’t tell who was there.

                “S**t. C’mon.” Ashley said as she grabbed my hand and we swam off to one side. We huddled in a shallow cave made by a fallen tree.

                “Who is th-“I began to ask.

                “Shhh.” She shushed. Normally I'd be overjoyed to have a stunningly beautiful woman’s naked body pressed up against mine, but her skin was ice cold, and that on top of the freezing water was almost too much to bear.

                After a few minutes, the voice stopped yelling and the flashlight walked back towards town.

                “Whew, that was close.” I said as Ashley and I swam back to shore and got dressed.

                “Cute butt, by the way.” She mentioned as she zipped up her hoodie.

                “Thanks.” I replied, again trying not to blush.” And thanks for showing me around, I had a lot of fun.”

                “Me too.” She smiled. “Alright now let’s go, city-boy.” She said as she began walking back through the pitch black woods.

                “Shouldn’t we have brought a flashlight?”

                “Psh. C’mon, I could walk back through these woods in my sleep.” She taunted. After a few minutes and as we were getting farther and farther away from the light reflecting off of the lake, it was getting difficult to keep up with her. Just then, my foot caught a root sticking from a nearby tree. I nearly feel to the ground, but I regained my balance. When I looked up, however, Ashley was gone.

                “Ashley?” I called out, not even able to see my own hands in front of my face. No response. I figured we had to be at least half way by now, so I started to feel my way through and did my best to stay on the path. I was doing pretty well, feeling branch to branch with my hands and taking short steps to make sure I didn’t wander off of the path. Then, I stopped dead in my tracks. Someone was following me. At first, I thought it was my mind playing tricks on me, but now I was sure of it. Whoever it was was still slowly walking towards me, clearly attempting to be silent. I considered it being Ashley trying to pull a prank on me, but there was no way, these were heavy footsteps and she couldn’t have weighed more than a hundred pounds. I began to walk again, more quickly this time, trying to make some distance between us; as I did, the steps got louder and more frequent. It seemed like no matter how fast I went, the footsteps were getting closer. I worked my way up to a practically running pace just before I hit another root sticking along the trail. I fell, hard, onto my shoulder and quickly rolled onto my back. I was disoriented, but from what I could tell over the sound of my own heartbeat in my ears, the steps couldn’t have been more than a few yards away now. My shoulder cried out in pain, and I knew there was nothing I could do at this point. Unable to see and on my back, I closed my eyes and hoped for the best.

                KER-POOOOoooooww!!! My heart sank as I head the thunderclap of a gunshot echo through the air.

                “I gotcha, ‘city-boy.’” A grizzly man’s voice whispered just before I lost consciousness.