Hearts So Pure

The next morning, Garrett was up early. I sat up in bed, just waking up, to see him walking in, carrying two coffee cups in his hand. He handed me one, with a big smile on his face.

“Thanks,” I said, my voice still raspy from sleep.

“Okay so apparently John said there’s some corn maze in town. And we all kinda agreed it’s not fun just driving around. So we’re gonna go. Does that sound cool?” Garrett said cooly.

I thought that they only did those sort of things in the fall? Well, my town was pretty small anyway, so what did I know? Anyway, it sounded fun.

“Yeah that sounds great. When do we leave?” I asked him, still sitting in bed.

Garrett rubbed his head. “As soon as it gets dark I guess,”

I nodded, and suddenly felt gross. My hair was tangled from the sleep, and I was in desperate need of a shower. I got up and showered, then after everyone went out for breakfast at some little restaurant.

We spent the day walking around the small town, I didn’t really know where we were but I doubted anyone other than Kenny did. It was fun, though, being completely free to go wherever we wanted.

When it got dark, we all piled in the van. We pulled up to this huge farm, and it had some sign at the entrance about the corn maze.

As we drove up, Garrett grabbed my arm, whispering, “Have you been in one of these before?”

I nodded, remembering being really little on Halloween, being chased by this older boy from my school. He had been wearing a mask, and I had just ran in the dark, hoping to get away from him. I had stayed away from corn mazes ever since, but I had to get over my fear sometime, right?

“Well,” Garrett said slowly. “I’ll be right here, holding your hand the whole way.” as if he was reading my mind.

I smiled and squeezed his hand, thankful for his reassurance. It wasn’t even going to be scary, anyway.

We got down from the van and decided we’d split up. John, Nicole, and Pat chose to go one direction when we walked in. Kenny and Jared went another. Left alone at the entrance, me and Garrett just went the route no one had taken.

We had been given these little maps, so we kind of knew what we were doing. But it was dark, and mildly crowded. Me and Garrett followed what we thought was the right path for a while, and I wasn’t as scared anymore. He was holding my hand, and the people walking past and behind us seemed polite.

But we got to this fork, and I told Garrett we needed to go left. He said we should go straight.

“Come on,” I said. “It’s left.”

Garrett nodded, chuckling. “It’s straight, Leah. Look at the map.”

He shoved the map at me, annoyed. I let it fall. “Left,” I said.

“Okay, cool.” Garrett said sharply. “Go left, Leah.”

Garrett stormed off, walking in a straight direction. Annoyed, I went left, alone.

Only after a while did I realize that I had left the map on the ground. I kept making turns at random places, and after a while it seemed like I was getting lost.

As I walked on, I picked up speed. There were less and less people as I walked. Soon, I was all alone, in a quiet part of the maze.

It was late now, probably midnight. What time did they close?

I stopped, staying quiet. I tried to listen, but I didn’t hear the familiar hum of people talking. I stayed completely still, then heard rustling coming from behind me.

Without thinking, I sprinted forward. Suddenly, I could hear rustling all around me. I ran as fast as I could, which was probably the reason why I ended up tripping on a twig, sending myself flying forward, landing on the ground.

I sat up, and looked at my ankle. It was twisted in this weird spot, and I gasped out in pain. I looked around, I was completely alone.

“Shit!” I cried. “Help!” I yelled, hoping someone would hear me.

No one came after a good 5 minutes of yelling, so I just sat there and cried. This is probably the worst possible thing that could have happened.

Suddenly I heard running, coming towards me.

“Help!” I said, hoping they could hear me.

“Leah?” I heard, just around the corner.

“Kenny!” I yelled, as he came around a bend.

“Oh my God,” he said. “We met up a while back, and Garrett said you went off. We all went looking, and I heard you yelling, oh my God, what happened?”

I could feel the tears streaking down my face again. “I fell,” I said.

Kennedy looked down at my ankle. “Oh God, Leah,” he said. “I think it’s broken.”

I started to sob again. “I can’t get up,” I told him. I was sure he thought I looked pathetic, here on the floor of some corn maze in a town we didn’t even know.

But to my surprise he picked me up, and started to carry me off.

“Here,” he said. “We’ll get back and I’ll drive you to a hospital, okay?”

I sniffed, I could feel the pain in my ankle worsening. “Okay,” I said.

I wrapped my hands around his neck, and buried my head in his chest. “Thank you Kenny” I said.

“Yeah,” Kennedy said, and there was a hint of sadness in his voice.

We walked for a while, Kenny had a map, and he pulled his phone out. He dialed a number, then he started talking.

“Hey, John? Yeah I found her….. No, listen, I think she’s got a broken ankle, I’ve gotta drive her to the hospital… What? Yes. No, she’s okay. I just need to take her. Where are you?…. Look, she needs to get there now… Okay, yeah. Okay, get him on the phone.”

I looked up, and Kenny frowned at me, shrugging.

“Garrett?” he said to the phone. “No-yes, she’s okay. What? I found her on the ground, her ankle was all twisted, I think it’s broken… I don’t know. We’re close to the end. I have to take her to the hospital. Where are you?…. No, okay listen it would be better if I just took her and you met us back at the house tonight, okay? Yes, I’m sure… What? Yeah, okay.”

He pulled the phone away from his ear, handing it to me. “Garrett wants to talk to you,” he said softly.

I buried my head back in his chest, and said “No.”

Kennedy shrugged, saying, “Garrett, she can’t talk. Okay, I’ll tell her. Bye.”

He hung up the phone, then put it back in his pocket. “He said he loves you.”

I didn’t reply, and Kenny kept on walking. I knew he must’ve been tired by now, and I felt pretty guilty. Just my luck, to go running and twist my damn ankle.

Soon we were at the end of the maze, and Kennedy jogged to the parking lot. He got to the van, and put me in the front seat. He walked around, and got in the drivers seat. He turned the keys in, then looked at me. “Oh shit,” he said.

My ankle was hurting more and more every second. “What?” I said back to him.

“How is everyone else gonna get home?”

My eyes widened. Great, I was ruining every ones night. I could feel the tears swelling up in my eyes, I was always humiliating myself.

Kenny patted my shoulder. “Oh my God, Leah. It’s okay. I’ll take you to the hospital and stay with you a while, then I’ll take everyone back home. Then Garrett can drive to the hospital to see you and take you home, okay?”

I nodded. “Yes, okay.” I said.

Kenny drove off, and called Jared to tell him the plan. They were still lost in the maze, I guess Kennedy was the only one with a real sense of direction.

We pulled up to the emergency room and Kennedy signed me in. We sat on some stiff, smelly chairs. I rested my ankle over his leg, and we waited to be called in.

When we got inside, I was X-Rayed and guess what, it was broken.

No surprise there. The nurse said I’d be fine, I just needed a cast. She left to get the materials to wrap it, and Kennedy said, from the side of the hospital bed, “Leah, I’m gonna go now. Garrett will be back in like an hour, okay?”

I frowned, and reached out to grab his arm. The sudden move made my ankle throb, and I said, “No, Kenny, just take him back to the motel, please? Can you come back?” I said.

I thought I saw a tiny hint of a smile on Kennedy’s lips when he agreed. He left, promising to be back, and soon the nurse came back and bandaged me up.

They had more paperwork to fill out, I was gonna need some crutches, so I just sat back on the hospital bed and watched people run by.

I guess I fell asleep, because I woke up to Kenny whispering over my head, “Leah… Leah,”

I smiled, looking up at him. For a second I forgot where we were, and I remembered that night at his house last year, when I leaned over on the couch and kissed him.

“Good,” he said, standing up straight. “You’re awake. The nurse said you could go. She gave me your crutches.”

I sat up lazily, looking at Kenny. He looked tired, but he was still smiling.

“Kenny,” I said, half asleep. “I’m tired.”

It must have been, what? 3 AM? Kennedy bit his lip and smiled. Without a word he picked me up, just like he had earlier in the maze.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and clung tight, falling asleep in his arms.

I woke up and we were outside of the motel. Kenny was turning the van off. “I’ll help you out,” he said, leaning over to grab the crutches from the back seat.

I put my hand on his arm, stopping him. He looked up at me, slowly. I didn’t say a word, I just stared back at him. He bit his lip, and I pressed my face against his, kissing him roughly.

He kissed me back, tangling his fingers in my hair. I tried to scoot closer, but my ankle objected, sending pains up my leg.

“Shit!” I said, pulling away.

Kennedy sighed, then got out. He helped me out of the car and to the door of my room. I stopped at the door and turned to face him.

“Thanks,” I said. “For um, for everything.”

Kennedy nodded, smiling weakly. He turned away, to walk to his room. But then he stopped, and turned back around facing me. He quickly brought his hand up to my cheek, and our lips were touching.

I could feel my heart starting to race, and I placed on hand on his shoulder, trying to balance myself on one leg.

His hands slid down my back, sending chills down my spine. I pulled away from his lips, and began kissing his neck, biting occasionally. He let out a sharp exhale in response, and I heard someone clear their throat behind the door.

I pulled away from him immediately, and caught my balance on the crutches.

“I, um, I’ll see you tomorrow,” I stammered.

Kennedy nodded, then kissed me on the cheek before he walked back to his room.

I sighed. What the fuck was I doing?

I opened the door slowly, and saw Garrett lying on the bed.

I walked to the bed, not even bothering to change clothes. I got into bed, and under the covers.

I felt Garrett place his arms around me, pulling me closer to him.

“I’m sorry, Leah,” he whispered. He sounded sincere, but I pulled away.

“Yeah alright,” I said, as I turned over, my back to him. I fell asleep within seconds.