Chapter Seven

Gary gave Juley a little tour of the area as they cycled. The sun was just bright enough, trees and flowers around were in full bloom and colour, and everyone they passed seemed to be in a good mood. All in all, it was a beautiful day. So beautiful that it even made Juley forget about her problems for a while.

It had been long since she had even had an outing of this sort. Her family members were always very busy and consumed with their own lives, and she had no friends to hang out with. Not like she hadn't tried making friends, but all of her attempts ended in failure.

She believed that was part of the reason why she had fallen so hard for Arnold. He was the first person who gave her attention of any kind, and the first boy to approach. She had never been popular with the other gender, and that had hurt her most times. She had seen several boys show up at their door under the pretence of just paying a casual visit meanwhile they were actually trying to get her elder sisters' attention or take them on dates, but that never happened to her. She didn't seem to be able to attract the attention of boys.

"Am I n-n-not pretty enough?" She once asked Molly, as she sat on her sister's bed.

Molly was in front of her mirror dressing up for a date, but she managed to look back at Juley. "No, don't you say that. You are pretty. I mean, it wrongs in the family, right?" She turned back to her mirror, glossing her lips.

But Juley was no fool. She knew she wasn't as pretty as her sisters. She could see that for herself, and had heard several people say so too.

Nora was tall and pretty, but stern so very few boys had the nerve to approach her. But it was no secret that she had a lot of admirers.

Molly was cute and curvy, and the sweetest of them all. She was very friendly and always had on a smile. Always caring and willing to help anyone in distress. She was literally a saint.

"I-I-I don't t-t-think you understand," Juley told her, and left the room.

Molly followed her to her own room and tried to comfort her with reassuring words as she lay in her bed, just staring at nothing in particular. She didn't even hear what Molly said to her as she was lost in her thoughts.

"J-j-just l-l-leave me alone," she told Molly when she had had enough of her rambling.

"I'm sorry I'm not able to help you," Molly said and gave her a kiss on her forehead before leaving her.

Juley remembered crying herself to sleep the moment Molly closed the door behind her.

"That is my favorite spot for relaxation," Gary said, bringing her back to earth.

It was then that she noticed that Gary had stopped his bicycle. He was pointing at a tree not too far off from where they were. She didn't notice anything too special about it, so she just gave Gary a questioning look.

"Don't give me that look," he said when he noticed her expression. "It doesn't look like much, but that's why I like it: very few people go there. I just sit under this tree, enjoy the silence, and do a lot of people watching. It's really very calming."

"R-r-really?" Juley half laughed at him.

Realizing that she wasn't taking him seriously, he took her hand in his, saying, "Come on then, I'll show you."

When Gary's hand met contact with hers, she couldn't explain the feeling she got. All she knew was that it felt nice. His palms were quite soft and smooth, but that wasn't it. There was something else there. She looked up to see if their hand holding affected him too, bt he seemed oblivious to it as he led her to the tree.

He forced her into a sitting position under the tree, and sat beside her.

"Is t-t-this really necessary?" Juley asked, still laughing.

"Of course it is. And I don't think it's funny that you seem to find everything that comes out of my mouth funny."

Juley just couldn't stop herself from laughing, as she stared at his slightly angry expression.

"You're - you're r-r-really cute w-w-when you try to act m-m-mad," she said in between her laughter.

"Oh please!" Gary tried to act indifferent, but he found himself joining in her laughter soon enough.

Once their laughter ended, silence prevailed. Juley didn't try to break it because Gary was trying to give her the full experience of his 'relaxing spot'.

It was so quiet here that Juley could hear the wind as it ruffled the leaves on the tree. Even the noise made by people passing by or children playing around seemed to be filtered so it sounded like it was coming from a hollow tunnel.

"Do you feel it?" Gary asked her as he watched her looking around.

"Yeah, I d-d-do now," she replied in barely a whisper. "I-i-it's amazing."

"I know right? But it's even better when you completely lay under the tree. You should try it."

Gary immediately laid in the grass under the tree, and she followed suit. Looking up, she watched the leaves as they swayed to the wind.

"It's like they're air dancing," she commented.

He chuckled. "You have a crazy imagination."

After a few minutes of silence, Gary put up his hand as though trying to reach for the leaves. "Sometimes, I like to pretend that I can catch them while they do their 'air dance' - as you call it. Other times, I just trace their outlines or try to count them."

Juley extended her hand too, and tried to trace the one's outline. But due to the wind, it was a more difficult task than she had imagined.

" It's quite cha-cha-challenging," she said playfully.

" Yeah, it is, "Gary agreed." But that also makes it very distracting."

They continued trying to trace the outlines, completely oblivious to what they must look like to onlookers. Suddenly, their fingers collided. Instead of drawing his away, Gary started tracing his finger down hers. He continued this till he reached her palm. He turned over on his shoulder so he was looking at her, and stared into her eyes as though seeking permission. When she didn't object, he continued the trail with his finger and halted for a moment at her elbow. He then continued and halted at her shoulder.

He then put her palm in his, and rested their entwined hands in the space in between them.

Juley's throat was dry for a moment as she was lost in thought. She knew what she was feeling right now, but wanted to fight it. She kept telling herself it wasn't right. She forced herself to think about Arnold. But before his face could even pop into her mind, it was shadowed by Gary's.

Juley quickly detached her hand from his and sat up. "W-w-we sh-sh-should get going." With those words, she was already on her feet and walking towards the spot where their bicycles were.

Gary stared at her retreating back with sad eyes, but shook away the feeling as he forced on a smile and followed her.