My Butterfly

reached Jules, I took her hand and led her back to the front of the truck. Then, I put a hand on each side of her hips and squared up to her. I couldn’t really see her face—just its outline—but it didn’t stop me from trying. I held her like that for a second, soaking up the way her little hips felt in my hands and how it felt to have her body so near to mine. Then, before it could get awkward, I hoisted her up onto the hood in one, swift motion.
    She squealed again.
    “Will, what are you doing?” she asked. “Can I open my eyes yet?”
    “Not yet,” I said. “Now, don’t move.”
    I stepped to the side and hoisted myself onto the hood next to her. Then, I slid back and brought her hips back with me, until we were both resting our backs against the windshield, side by side.
    “Okay,” I whispered into her ear. “You can open them.”
    My eyes had readjusted, so I could see her face go from blank to wide-eyed in the seconds that it took her to soak up the scene in front of us—all around us. I watched as her lips turned up and her green eyes sparkled the way they did when she was excited about something.
    “Wow,” she exclaimed. “It’s beautiful.”
    Above and all around us, dashes of light danced against a black background littered with thousands of tiny stars and a sea of fireflies. It was like our own, little light show. And the crickets and tree frogs were our little, country symphony. I took in a deep breath of fresh air and then rested my head back against the windshield.
    “You like it?” I asked.
    Her eyes left the lights and found my stare.
    “I love it,” she said, resting her head on my shoulder.
    She was quiet then. I guessed she was watching the fireflies dance in the distance. I, on the other hand, was watching her and the way her fingers played with the edge of my tee shirt at my side and the way her long hair fell in pieces across her shoulders, which had already been tanned by the pre-summer sun.
    “So, you really never thought about singing?” she asked, while resting her head back against the windshield again.
    Her voice surprised me a little and helped to snap me out of my trance.
    “Singing?” I asked.
    I turned my face toward hers.
    “You know, as a career,” she said.
    I chuckled to myself and lowered my head.
    “Nah, it’s not for me,” I said.
    “Then, what would you like to be if you could be anything?” she asked.
    I sat there for a second and thought about it.
    “You know, I really don’t know,” I said. “I figure it’ll come to me someday, though.”
    She smiled.
    “It will,” she said, reassuring me.
    “What about you?” I asked. “I’m sure you’ve got plans to take over the world.”
    I noticed her smile. It seemed bashful.
    “I want to be a lawyer,” she said.
    “A lawyer?” I asked.
    I know I must have sounded a little surprised.
    “Yeah,” she said, smiling. “I’ve wanted to be the same thing since I was eight.”
    “That’s pretty young,” I said.
    “Yeah,” she said. “I guess so.”
    She paused before she continued.
    “There was just this guy who helped my dad a long time ago, and I guess I just decided right then and there that I wanted to be whatever he was and help someone else too.”
    Her eyes traveled off into the heavens somewhere. She seemed to be lost in another time.
    “You think it would have been the doctor, but I guess I never saw the doctor then,” she continued. “It was the lawyer that was there by the time I had gotten there.”
    My eyebrows instinctively furrowed.
    “What happened to your dad?” I asked.
    My words seemed to have snapped her back to the present because her eyes darted back to mine, and a soft smile returned to her face.
    “Why did you never ask me out when we were younger?” she asked.
    I paused but then smiled.
    “I did,” I said, “in my head, a thousand times.”
    “What?” she asked, starting to laugh.
    “It’s true,” I said.
    She lifted her head slightly from the windshield and caught my eye. Her lips were parted, but a smile lingered on them.
    “Let’s play a game,” she said.
    “Okay,” I said, smiling.
    “What’s your favorite sport?” she asked.
    I paused for a second.
    “Uh, basketball, I guess,” I said.
    “Okay. What’s your favorite food?” she continued, without missing a beat.
    “Umm, I don’t know. Uh…,” I stuttered.
    “Will,” she scolded through her laughter. “The game doesn’t work if you don’t answer the first thing that