Beards - 8. Chapter Eight (Part #1)

My stomach was in knots. Like literally pulled from inside and tied into a pretty little bow. Ava’s voice echoed through my head on loop. “Don’t you have a date?” Replaying over and over like a crazy man’s mantra.

Rob: Be there soon. Mom needed to talk. Sorry!

That was an hour ago. An hour of changing my shirt every five minutes and messing with my hair until it was unrecognizable from the start. The whole idea of a date made me crazy. It’s not a date! I kept screaming in my head trying to block Ava’s voice out. Do people actually do this for fun? Do they enjoy this nauseating feeling in the pit of their stomachs?

“Bryan, dear. You have a visitor.” Mom’s voice traveled up the stairs, like a whisper on the wind. My outfit suddenly looked completely ridiculous. Like a deranged lunatic dressed me. At this point, I’m pretty sure I was one.

“Coming!” I took a final look in the mirror and darted down the stairs. “Hey Rob.” I nonchalantly smiled like we were too old bros. Which we were. Damnit Ava.

“Hey! You ready to go?” Mentally, I most certainly was not ready. Ugh. Rob patted me on the shoulder as my Mom watched from the kitchen acting like a secret government spy. Her head barely poked out from behind the wall. “Thanks Mrs. Falk for the drink, I really appreciate it.”

“You’re so sweet my dear. Maybe some of it will rub off on my son.” She gave me that motherly I’m-kidding-but-not-really look from the kitchen as she smiled warmly at Rob.

“Thanks, Mom. I’ll be home later, okay?” Rob wanted to say more as I practically pushed him out of the door. “Love you!”

“Love you too. Have fun guys!” It was warm outside, the sun shining brightly as we walked down the front path. No clouds in sight, just a radiant blue color stretched for miles. “So, what are we doing?”

Rob fidgeted with his keys, unlocking the car for us. “We’re gonna go on an adventure.”

I stared at Rob, waiting for clarification. His hair was pushed backed out of his eyes. Long, caramel colored strands tucked away behind his ears. “That’s it? No more details?”

Rob smiled mischievously. “Yep, that’s it. It’s a surprise.”

As we pulled out onto the main road, windows down, the cool air flooded the car. The radio blared a cheesy pop song as the world around us faded to blurs of color flying past at warp speed. Meadowbrook was a distant memory as hills rose up around us. “Can I get a hint please?”

Rob glanced in my direction as he continued his riveting performance of the song on the radio. Dance moves and all. Both radio and Rob finished before he spoke. “Alright, nosey. Remember fifth grade?”

“I mean, like yeah? What about fifth grade?” I didn’t know where he was going with this. What could fifth grade possibly have to do with anything right now?

“The trip? Remember going to Ridley’s Rock?” Rob watched as my brain pulled up my memories from back then. Our school did a special trip for the fifth graders before they moved on to the middle school. We went to Ridley’s Rock a huge rock formation upstate that had a water park close by.

“Yeah I remember the trip. Is that where we’re going?” Weird chose of an adventure. As cool as it was back then, now it all seemed pretty lame. Rob grinned like a fool beside me.

“Yes, sir.” Without a second thought, Rob started singing along to the new song on the radio. A country ballad this time. My hand danced against the wind as we continued down the road. Rob confused me.

Everything about him seemed like it was in contradiction to another part of him but somehow it all bundled together in this perfect little package. He was the most amazing person to come out of Meadowbrook. No one was as kind and caring as he was. I didn’t deserve a friend like him. None of us did.

“What are you thinking about over there?” Rob’s voice broke my chain of thoughts. He eagerly looked at me, with his concerned look. The one he saved for when I wasn’t actually speaking my mind.

“Sorry. Just got lost in my thoughts. I’m trying to figure things out. Angsty college kid, you know?” My faux laugh didn’t help throw Rob off.

“You’re a strange one, Bryan.” He shook his head as he watched me. One eye on the road and the other on me. “You always got something going on beneath the surface but never let it out.”

My blood pressure spiked, anxiety starting to creep into the car. “Nah, I just have an overactive imagination that takes control.” First thought that popped into my head. Maybe it would work.

“Sure you do, buddy.” Rob turned the radio up as an EDM banger started, the pulsing beats in rhythm with my breathing. One thing Meadowbrook had going for it, a killer radio station from the college.

My mind wondered again. Watching Rob from the corner of my eyes, like Mom watching us from the kitchen earlier. I really needed to get over my feelings for him. More harm than good could ever come from it. Maybe I just needed to be real with him. Screw the beards plan and just tell him who I was. If he didn’t like me anymore, I’d just have to accept it. Part of life. Things like that happen.

Nothing scared me more, though. My parents wouldn’t like it, I already was prepared for it. But Rob. Rob was something completely different.

I couldn’t lose him. I wouldn’t. Rob slowed down as he approached the entrance to Ridley’s Rock. Cars filled the parking lot as kids and their parents ran to the waterpark. Rob kept driving, parking in front of the state park trail sign. “No waterpark?”

Rob chuckled and smiled. “Not yet, bud. We’re gonna take a walk first.” The air felt warmer now. Sun was beating directly down on us. Kids could be heard splashing in water and howling like animals in the waterpark. Somehow I wished I was among them too. Waterparks are like the greatest creation ever, no matter what the age. Even though I thought it was lame, it mostly was an obligation as you got older to say you don’t like things you used to love.

As we walked down the trail, fewer and fewer people were around us. Families and older couples walked by, smiling warmly and nodding hellos. “If you’re trying to kill me I think we’ve gone far enough.”

Rob smiled and kept walking. “If I was going to kill you Bryan, you would have been gone a long time ago.” His soft laughter fluttered through the still air. Everything was quiet around us. No more noises from the park. Just nature.

Soon we were completely alone. Nothing but us and the towering rocks. The trail ended at the base of Ridley’s Rock. Towering rock formations. Each peak reached towards the sky, their gray fingers touching the blue. It was a magnificent sight. I felt so small among the grandiose of what nature offered. Rob watched as I took everything in. It was so much cooler than it was as a kid.