CHAPTER FIVE
why he wants to fly



If Winnie found out that Dwayne wanted to become a pilot because she wanted to travel, he would evaporate on the spot. He wanted to take her everywhere she dreamed of going. . .but she wasn't supposed to know that.

So instead, when she had asked the real reason he wanted to fly, he panicked. He wrote, they just look cool, on the page that had nothing but drawings of jellyfish scattered around.

They were sat in a tree, their tree, the one that Winnie found when she had tried to run away from home in the 7th grade ( that made Dwayne buy her that notebook she always wrote in ). It was out of pure impulsive acts yet it was surprising how well she thought it out in the span of 30 minutes.

She was sad. . .well she still was, just like he was angry with the world. The two relied on each other so they wouldn't snap. So they wouldn't scream or run away ( again ) or sob uncontrollably to the point their cheeks burned and their chests ached.

How was dinner?

He wrote, to try and change the subject as quickly as possible yet she just tried to brushed it off.

Why did they take me to dinner in the middle of the day?

He looked at the page and then back at her. He didnt even notice that they ate dinner at around noon.

Did you do anything else?

She shook her head no. All they did was go to a diner, eat in quiet and then went home. Her parents watched a movie on the couch. . .a movie she wasn't allowed to watch, so she stayed in her room doing sit ups for no particular reason.

Her core hurt every time she bent over and she was glad she didnt allow herself to laugh. That would be torture.

She thought her parents would at least tell her why they took the day off or at least try and see how everything was but nothing really changed and their motives weren't her business.

At least they wouldn't let her know what they did in their free time. It was fine really, she didnt really care anyway. And it was quite obvious her parents didnt care about her free time either.

It was a mutual thing.

She began swinging her legs that dangled from the thick branch of the tree they both sat on and looked up. There were still tons of tree left since they had only stopped in the middle and she couldn't help but get curious.

Have you ever climbed to the top?

He began swinging his legs to match hers as he wrote. His cheeks heated up when she laid her head on his shoulder to watch him write and he couldn't help but feel his heart pound against its rib cage. How embarrassing.

This is the highest I've gone.

Winnie took a deep inhale as she closed her eyes. There was a small breeze that felt like practically nothing and Dwaynes shoulder felt oddly comfortable. She could fall asleep then and there.  She adored being in his presence.

So, she allowed her body to become limp and relaxed, not realizing she was slowly leaning backwards.

Dwayne felt her move and when she almost fell backwards he wrapped his arm around her out of instinct. He looked at her worried as she lifted up her head and opened her eyes. She didnt move away.

You almost fell.

It took Dwayne a while to write those three simple words due to holding her in his dominant arm.

He looked at her again to see if she read his words and it seemed as though her face moved closer to his. She had really nice eyelashes.

Her heart pounded in her chest and she gulped as she scanned his face. The air became tense and she couldn't deal.

Moving quickly out of his slight embrace she backed away and grabbed onto a nearby branch. She sent him a daring smile as if she wanted him to follow her and began climbing.

Small branches scrapped against her bare legs since she wore a pair of shorts and she felt blood trickle down her leg yet she didn't pay any mind. Instead she looked down, hoping he was following her.

When he was, happiness burst in her chest and she continued climbing. Her arms felt sore and weak the more spread out the branches got because she had to carry her weight like it was rock climbing.

She finally stopped when they had a view of everything around them and the branches became so thin it would not be able to hold them up. She stood on a sturdy one, that hopefully wouldn't break from under her as they were a ton a ways off the ground, and watched as Dwayne got himself settled.

The two looked at each other for quite awhile before Winnie hugged the tree and looked around. She could see houses and birds nests and clouds that looked like smoke from a cigarette.

She could write about this.

About how the view looked jaw dropped and how he made her chest feel and how pretty he looked as the sun kissed his skin. Her heart wouldn't stop pounding, she was sure he could hear it.

It's nice here.

She read Dwaynes words and nodded in agreement. He looked as though he wanted to say something. Like it was nagging at him on the inside.

Truth be told it was more than one thing.

You look pretty, he began to write on the notepad that laid on his lap, but immediately crossed out the words as best as he could. That would have to be for another day. So as Winnie watched him frantically scribble with curious eyes, he thought of the other thing nagging at him and wrote it down immediately after.

My mom is picking up my uncle today. He's going to live with us.

Winnies eyebrows raised in interest as she read the words. It was like she momentarily forgot other people existed from the shock she felt when he was mentioned. She reached forward to grab the notepad and quickly wrote before handing it back to him. She was surprised how she didnt fall.

Why?

He tried to kill himself.

Uh oh, she thought to herself as she bit her lip and tried to think as she took the notepad back.

Im sorry.

It was the only thing she thought of. It made her sick.

There's no reason to be.

She felt sadness tug at her stomach for the boy in front of her and his family. She didnt know what else to say. They weren't the best at comforting each other.

How do you feel about it?

He just shrugged because in all honesty he didnt even really know what to feel.

Do you want to meet him?

She scanned his face for her answer. He looked as though he wanted her to go, maybe for support or just because, so with no hesitation she nodded her head.

Sure.

( note. )

hello im halfway done ( I think ) this is a very short book and I think I might add more or something when I edit

also, I put a suicide / self harm warning at the beginning bc I did not want to spoil certain chapters if I put it at the beginning so please if that triggers you stop reading now :) I think it gets uh more detailed from here idk