Butterfly Weeds Read Online Free PDF Page A

want to grow old and wrinkly with me?” I asked.
     
                  “Maybe old, but not wrinkly,” he said back. I could tell he was smiling.
     
                  I wore my best half-smile and squinted my eyes up at him.
     
                  “Oh, that’s right. I was blessed with the good genes, so that means, you’ll have to grow wrinkly on your own,” I retaliated as I gently pinched his side.
     
                  Laughing, he squirmed slightly and then pulled me closer to him. And for a moment, neither of us said anything.
     
                  Then, I breathed in the subtle smell of wild flowers as I slowly leaned back against the windshield again. Thousands of fireflies flickered in the deep ebony, open fields around us, while what seemed like a billion stars extended from the highest point of the night sky to th e tip of the shadowy tree line.
     
                  “Do you remember the first time we officially met?” Will asked, breaking the peaceful silence.
     
                  I thought hard, staring up into the endless sky, almost as if s earching for the answer there.
     
                  “Was it the first day of school?” I asked finally.
     
                  “Yes,” he said confidently.
     
                  “Do you remember what you were doing?” he asked.
     
                  “Umm…no, I don’t think I do,” I replied, shaking my head.
     
                  “You were trying to get your duffle bag into your locker, and you were struggling so much that a book fell from your arms and hit your bare toes,” he said.
     
                  “You were watching me?” I asked with a surprised smile lighting up my face.
     
                  “I noticed you,” he said. “I don’t know how I couldn’t have. You were making such a fuss.”
     
                  I laughed. “Why didn’t you offer to help?”
     
                  “You looked too cute to interfere,” he said. “Your nose was all scrunched up and your eyes were closed so tight.”
     
                  “Oh gosh,” I groaned. “That was your first impression of me?”
     
                  “Yes, and it was then I knew I wanted you,” he said, smiling softly.
     
                  “Right,” I said. “I’m sure that was the defining moment.”
     
                  “It was,” he confessed.
     
                  “You really are beautiful, you know,” he said next, as his eyes returne d to the heavens’ sea of stars.
     
                  I smiled wider, surrendering to another warm breeze gently pushing across my face.
     
                  “You’re not so bad yourself,” I teased as I glanced up at him again before refocusing my attention too on the night’s sky.
     
                  Moments went by before either of us spoke again. It was I who finally, yet reluctantly, punctured the quiet with my find.
     
                  “Look, a shooting star,” I exclaimed, pointing to the vast west sky above, unable to control my excitement.
     
                  “Make a wish,” I said as I quickly shut my eyes, causing my nose to rumple and forcing a happy grin to my face yet again.
     
                  Then, I peeked out of one eye for a second to see Will following my lead. His eyes were closed tightly also. I was happy he had played along. He wasn’t exactly the make-a-wish-on-a-star type, like I had been raised to be.
     
                  I held my eyes clinched together until I recited a wish in my head and then looked back at Will. He was just opening his eyelids as well.
     
                  “What did you wish for?” I asked.
     
                  Will turned on his side and faced