Leap | CWBC

This article is part of the ChristianWriters.com Blog Chain for February. The subject this month is ‘Leap’, dedicated in part to the fact that 2012 is a leap year for February. It is an intriguing idea, and I couldn’t wait to get to it on both of my sites. Since NonaKing.com is based on my Spirit Driven Fiction, I thought I would post a scene not yet in a book which portrays my thoughts on the word. My characters chosen? Originally I chose an “edgy romance” scene between Marshal and Sally from an alternate reality spin-off of my Military Sci-Fi series, Bookworms and… Booya!

But then the main characters from my YA fiction series, Changing Scenes, protested at being passed over. So, after comparing the scenes I decided that I agreed with them. Not only is The Question of Spooky Doom shorter, but it is even more appropriate for this month’s subject.

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 The Question of Spooky Doom

Wil tapped his thumb against the steering wheel of the Chevelle Malibu as he stared at the large white house. Davis, you can’t put it off any more. If you don’t ask, he probably will! Clearing his throat, he gave the steering wheel a brief grip before getting out. He straightened his letterman jacket and crossed the street, green eyes again focused on the wide front door of the Modine house. But his steps halted at the foot of the brickwork path. Come on, Davis. Wil gave a curt nod and continued forward up the walk, reaching out to press the doorbell just as the door opened and Vicki stepped out.

“Oh. Hi, Wil.” Her smile sparkled in her blue eyes. How did a girl do that? “ I didn’t know you were coming by today.”

Wil gulped and forced an easy tilt to his lips. Drama class came in handy. “Needed to talk about something. You have a minute?”

“Sure. Is everything okay? Cora’s not having nightmare’s again, is she?”

“Nah.” He gestured down the path with a tilt of his head, still smiling in hopes it would coax away the concerned darkness to those eyes. “Come on. Let’s walk.”

“O-Okay.” She peeked her head back inside. “Mom! Wil and I are going to walk around.” She shot him a smaller, less certain smile when she pulled the door closed a second time.

He nudged her arm. “Chill, Kiki. Nothing’s wrong. I just need to ask you something real quick.”

“I know. The past few months have made me a little paranoid, I guess.”

Wil studied her profile as she studied the ground beneath their steps. She worried the bottom of her sweatshirt with her fingers. Between being the new kid ridiculed by his ex-girlfriend, finding out her sister was adopted, and then helping him become a Christian after his sister was raped …. “Yeah. No kidding.”

He gave her a gentle squeeze about the shoulders. “Don’t sweat this. It really isn’t bad.” At least, he hoped it wasn’t.

She smiled up at him. “Okay. Now you’ve got me all curious.”

Wil’s stomach felt like he’d just survived a whole day of football drills. He motioned to the park bench in the soccer field across the way. “Let’s sit over there.”

Vicki peeked at him several times as they crossed the street to the bench. Then, instead of meeting his gaze, she picked at her sweatshirt.

Great going, Davis. “Vicki… I, uh…” He scrubbed at his neck as he sat beside her. Was there a non-idiotic way to ask this particular question? “Vicki, I was wondering if… well…” He felt her glance but didn’t lift his stare from his hands gripping his knees. What he wouldn’t give for a football. “I was wondering if you’d be okay with being,” Here it comes, ”my girl-friend,” and it still sounds stupid. Wil almost sighed. “You know. Exclusive?” He shot her a look. She blinked at him. No smile. No frown. She just blinked. Aw crap.

Vicki cleared her throat. “I’m sorry… what did you just say?”

I’ve got to say it again? Geez… Wil gulped. “I wondered if… um… Well, I want to, us, to date.” That’s it. There is just no ‘cool’ way to ask. Wil shrugged out of his letterman jacket – Westriver High’s green and gold – and offered it to her. Vicki blinked at it without moving a single finger. “You’ve been a great friend, awesome, but I… erm… I want to be more than… that, so… Will you be my girl-friend?”

She blinked, her lashes brushing her cheeks. Then she focused those eyes on him and he almost forgot what he just asked. Did any girl have eyes that… awesome? She lifted a solitary finger and pointed at him “You…” and then herself “…m-me…?”

Wil couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah. You and me.”

Vicki’s gaze retreated to the letterman jacket now in her lap. Her one hand had begun a steady stroke of the green fabric. “I—” Her hand froze, and this time her blue eyes glimmered when they met his.

“Aw man.” Wil rested a hand on her shoulder. “Don’t cry. You only have to say ‘yes’ or ‘no’. There’s no crying. Jocks don’t do crying.”

Vicki choked out a laugh.

Wil smiled again. “Whew. That’s better.” She didn’t look away, and Wil couldn’t shift his stare from the tears that made her eyes as dark as midnight.

She finally trilled a giggle and smoothed the wrinkles from the back of his jacket. A smile teased the corners of her mouth, and Wil had a hard time not imagining what it would be like to kiss her, right now. Vicki shifted and slipped into the jacket, snuggling down into its bulk to breath deep, eyes closed.

Wil could feel embarrassment set his face aflame, but he couldn’t help but watch her. Whoa… No girl had ever done that before. Well, not exactly like that.

Then Vicki opened her eyes and met his, smiling before saying, “Yes,” in a voice so quiet he almost thought he didn’t hear. He would have humiliated himself and asked ‘Really?’, but he didn’t get a chance. She faced forward and moved closer, pushing her hand out of the too-long sleeve to gather up his and once more say “Yes,” a little louder.

Wil stared down at their hands for a full minute before it really sunk in. Then he smiled and gave her hand a squeeze as he also faced forward, just sitting there as they had since he first met her. He hadn’t ever ‘just sat’ with a girlfriend before. But with Vicki he did a lot of things he’d never done. Like be who he was.

Once again focusing on their joined hands, still smiling, he said, “Cool.”

Vicki giggled.

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I considered posting their first kiss as the ‘leap’ subject, but this was just too cute from Wil’s point of view that I decided to go with it. On the 23rd of this month, I will be posting another ‘Leap’ article, but on my blog WordObsession.net.

The ChristianWriters.com Blog Chain:

• 2/1: Chris Henderson, TheWriteChris
• 2/2: Lynn Mosher, Heading Home
• 2/3: Bill Jones, I Was Thinking the Other Day About
• 2/4: Scott Fields, Dead Man Writing
• 2/5: Nona King, Spirit Driven Fiction
• 2/6: Jacky Brown, JayBees Blog
• 2/7: Tracy Krauss, Expression Express
• 2/8: Terrie Thorpe, Light for the Journey
• 2/9: Chris Vonada, I’m Just Thinkin’
• 2/10: Debra Ann Elliott, Words are Timeless
• 2/11: Deborah K. Anderson, Faith, Fiction, and Unvarnished Truth
• 2/12: Pegg Thomas, The Sheepish Scribe
• 2/13: Cindee Snider Re, Breathe Deeply
• 2/14: Suzette, Beautiful You
• 2/15: Steve Olar, Snickerdoodles
• 2/16: Edward Lewis, Sowing the Seeds
• 2/17: Tanya Dennis, In the Dailies
• 2/18: Traci Bonney, Tracings
• 2/19: Mike Johnson, The College Field Manual
• 2/20: Michael Galloway, Horizons
• 2/22: Carol Peterson, From Carol’s Quill
• 2/23: Nona King, Word Obsession
• 2/24: Joseph Lalonde
• 2/25: Adam Collings, The Collings Zone
• 2/25: Pauline Creeden, Hosanna’s Christian Reader
• 2/26: Marilyn, Life 101: Understanding It All
• 2/27: Israel Ikhinmwin, Education Made Simple
• 2/28: CH Dyer, Thoughts and Visions
• 2/29: Victor Travison, Lightwalker’s View