Maybe it wasn’t important?
Maybe it had something to do with that Hemingway book?
That made me even more curious. Nonchalantly whistling, I pretended to accidentally open the back cover. It was a blank page. I fanned through the pages, but nothing popped out. I was about to consider it unimportant when a few pages in the middle caught my attention.
A beauty delicate like the dewfall and hidden at first.
Awakens my heart, unveiling the worst.
I snuck a glance back at the house, hoping he didn’t see me reading his book. With no sign of him, I had to see more.
Gone are the walks on the beach at night.
Gone is the laughter under the moon's white light.
Your smile disappears from my sight,
Taking with it all my delight.
Our journey together must end,
But our memories will forever ascend.
My breath locked in my chest, and my eyes fled back to the beginning. I reread it, letting the words linger on my tongue, feeling every word deep in the pockets of my soul. This guy had barely been able to talk, but boy, did he know how to write. Hiswords were beautiful, and intelligent—everything I would have never guessed him to be. I fanned through the rest of the book and noted dozens of poems and even a few short stories.
My heart wrenched at the imagery that flashed in my mind. With his notebook cradled in my arms, I tossed one final look at the house and with no one in sight, I walked home wondering, who was this guy?
two
Elinora
The following morning, I sat at my parents’ table, chomping on cold cereal and chugging my morning Cherry coke—drink of champions—when a knock sounded on the door. I wasn’t expecting company, and I continued to munch, fully looking like a spicy disaster. My mom called from the foyer, “Elinora, you have a visitor.”
With the sassy attitude of a teenage girl, I licked the last soggy remnants of my breakfast from the bowl and dragged my feet to the front door.
The new boy stood next to my dad’s baby moose.
As if someone forgot to tell him Florida never gets cold, he wore another fleece shirt and long denim jeans. Was he hiding something under those long sleeves? His dark hair ruffled down past his ears, framing his face in a wild curtain of tousled strands.
“This is our neighbor, Bertha’s grandson.” Mom gestured to him. “He’s from Oregon, but he is here for the summer, helpingto take care of her. I mentioned to Bertha last night that you two might enjoy meeting each other. I told her to send him over.”
I flicked my hand in a wave while I cowered by the wall. My mom continued to chatter, unaware that we had already met. “I’m sorry, but what did you say your name was?” She leaned closer to him even though she had perfect hearing.
“Graham.” He shook his hair out of his face with a flick of his head, revealing his piercing blue eyes while he held his hands politely clasped behind his back and stared forward as if he were in a police lineup.
Watching my mom facilitate this weird setup was a total cringe, as if we were two-year-olds on a forced playdate. “It’s nice to meet you, Graham. Please come in. My name is Sharron, and this is Elinora.” Mom sidestepped, clearing the space between Graham and me. “I’ll let you two get to know each other.” She wandered out of the foyer as if she wasn’t quite sure where she was going.
Graham wasn’t the first boy to come to our house. Riley had stopped over before, but I could tell the whole boy thing made Mom uneasy, because she would never leave me alone with one. She’d find random excuses to loiter nearby, dusting a lamp we never used or pretending to be distracted, while looking out a nearby window. I couldn’t blame her, though, because although it was awkward to have her hover, I’d never wanted to be alone with Riley. It wasn’t that I hadn’t liked him…I did. However, even at sixteen, I wasn’t so sure about the rest of the dating stuff I heard gossip about at school.
Graham’s eyes slid to the moose that nearly towered over him in the grand foyer. He seemed to be trying to be polite by not asking about it, so I willingly filled him in. “That’s Moses. He’s a moose.”
“I see that.” His eyes twinkled at Moses as they bounced from the top to the bottom. “Can I ask why he’s in your house?”
“My dad does taxidermy.” I reached out to Moses, stroking his fur. “He was too big to put anywhere else, so he lives here.”
His expression was steeped in bewilderment. It was cute the way he scrunched his nose like that. Then he showed me his sapphires again. “Are you going to the park today?”
Caught off guard, I played defense. “I didn’t realize you could talk so much.”
