Getting Closer - 1 (The River)

Zeke spoke after a little while and asked, "What is in your garden?"

So Mýa showed him her garden and the different plants. "I have Squash, Zucchini, Tomatoes, Peppers, Snap Peas, Corn, Watermelon, Cantaloupe, Strawberries, and a bunch of different herbs and spices." Mýa said to sum up her garden.

"Wow," Zeke said, "We had a garden at the old house but we only had Squash, Tomatoes, Lettuce, and Peppers. What else do you do other than gardening and shutting people up with sharp words?" He teased.

Mýa laughed, "I also have some animals I take care of, I play softball, play keyboard and sing, hang out with friends, and like to fish and explore."

After she finished Zeke said, "Wow that's a lot. I can just picture you climbing a tree like a monkey and throwing acorns down at people."

"Hey! If I have ever done that they deserve it." Mýa retorted. She then asked, "What do you do?"

"I also like to fish, I have a boat, I play Football and Baseball, and like chilling with my friends." Zeke answered.

"Well, trust me you will fit in around here really well. 'Any guy who is anybody' plays football and I bet almost every guy in this town hunts or fishes or has a boat." Mýa said while showing quotation marks with her fingers at the 'Any guyy who is anybody'.

Zeke laughed, "Good to know."

They continued talking for another few minutes before Mýa said that she should go. They both went to their house with a smile on their face and Zeke was glad that she was really willing to start over.

•~~~•~~~•~~~•~~~•~~~•~~~•~~~•~~~

Two Weeks Later

Mýa and Zeke had slowly gotten closer and the first impressions of Zeke were completely ignored. They saw each other a few times a week and had many conversations. Mýa now thought of Zeke as a friend. Riley also loved being with Mýa and the two got along very well. Whenever Mýa wasn't busy she would babysit Riley if Ms. Elly needed, but that wasn't too often because Zeke watched Riley most of the time Ms. Elly was busy. So everyone was getting closer, but Zeke and Mýa's relationship had improved the most.

One afternoon Mýa decided to go fishing. So she got her fishing gear ready, told her dad, and went back to the river. The river was deeper into the woods about half a mile back from Mýa's house and her family had a dock on their property. Mýa decided to walk on the path to the river so she started walking.

When she got close enough that the dock was in her sights she noticed two unfamiliar people fishing on the dock near an unfamiliar boat, and an unfamiliar car. She stopped at the opening of the path and asked, "Who are you?"

They turned around, looked at her, and instead of answering her one asked, "Who are you?"

Before Mýa said that she lived in the woods and that her family owned the dock Zeke walked out from another trail and into the clearing. When he noticed Mýa looking at him confused he said, "Hey Mýa, I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner, but these are my friends Nate and Dan. We are going to go out on my boat."

"Oh" Mýa said, "Ok. I was just coming back here to fish. I will wait till you guys push off."

Zeke was about to say something but Nate said something before he did. "You came back here to fish?"

Mýa laughed and walked to the foot of the dock. "No I just walked here with fishing poles and bait for the exercise, because I'm not already fit." She joked which made Dan and Zeke laugh.

Nate didn't like being made fun off so he quickly said, "Oh, you just didn't look like someone who would fish."

Mýa stopped smiling, "I don't know what someone who 'would' fish looks like if I don't look like I'd fish. But I do know that you have a fish on your bobber and are about to lose it. It's also a miracle you have a fish because you are over the channel with a bobber."

Everyone looked at Nate's line and sure enough his bobber was underwater. He quickly reeled in and pulled up a small 3 inch white perch. When Mýa saw the fish she grinned and said genuinely, "Aww it's cute, nice catch."

Nate, however, was embarrassed and went silent. Zeke chuckled and asked Mýa if she wanted to go out on the boat with them but she turned down the offer because she wanted to fish at the dock. Instead she helped them push off and then waved goodbye.

She had been fishing for a little while over an hour when they came back to the dock. Mýa was surprised that they came back so soon and waited for them to all be on the dock before she asked, "How did the trip go?"

Dan answered and said, "It went pretty well we caught some blue gill, white perch, and some catfish, but Zeke didn't know his way around the river because he is new here and we didn't want to get lost so we didn't go too far. Nate and I need to go home anyway."

"That makes sense. I guess the river can be confusing when you haven't grown up here. I'm glad you caught some fish and if was nice meeting you!" Mýa said.

Dan and Nate both said goodbye and climbed in the car while Zeke turned towards Mýa. "Sorry I didn't tell you about my friends and me using the dock sooner. Your dad gave me permission to use it and I didn't think about us alarming you. Maybe another time you can come out with us." He said.

Mýa smiled, "It's fine. I was just surprised, and yeah maybe sometime I can hang with you guys. I can be the navigator." She joked.

Zeke smiled and nodded. Mýa noticed that Dan and Nate were already settled in the car so she told Zeke, "You should go. Your friends are waiting for you."

Zeke looked at the car and said, "Yeah. I'll see you later then. Bye."

"Bye." Mýa said as she watched them drive away.