Under the Dusty Sky (Holloway Farms)

it. I crawl onto the window seat and push back the curtains to see Ben standing in the middle of the dirt drive, a flashlight pointing at the ground. He’s looking at me, but I can’t really see him in the shadows. Even three stories, a glass window, and the fact that I can’t see his eyes don’t stop me from getting the Ben Feeling. Pushing the emotion down, I resolve I’m not meeting him. He’s right. He’s an asshole, and I don’t know why I ever thought to waste my time on him.
    Ben turns away and starts walking to my barn. I feel the pull. Like he’s taking me with him. He always takes me with him as if part of me is trapped inside him. That part of me doesn’t want him to let me go. I have to meet him, even if just for curiosity’s sake.
    It takes less than a second to pick my most perfect dress, and I slide it on before quietly pulling open my door.
    Sitting outside are my shoes, a flashlight and, a sweater. He really does think of everything. A smile happens before I can stop it, and I reach down to scoop up the sweater and flashlight and slip the shoes on my feet.
    It’s 11:57.
    ***
    Something about the barn looks different. It seems softer somehow. Brighter. Even in the black night sky that swallows the world.
    The rock is out of the way, so I push aside the board and can swear there is light from inside, not just my flashlight. I push myself through the opening, sliding it closed once I’m inside.
    “ You’re late,” Bentley states, and I turn to argue that I don’t know what late is but I can’t.
    All that comes out is “I, uh–” with some strange gasping noise as my eyes adjust to what he’s done to my barn. Candles. Everywhere candles, imitating that soft light I saw. Shadows dance on the walls as the flames flicker from, I swear, at least a hundred candles. They’re lined along the edge of the loft, on the floor, on the old stable gates. It makes everything look soft and beautiful, but I can’t stop myself from thinking about how this is the most flammable building on the farm.
    Ben sits on top of a long workbench that runs parallel with the edge of the loft above. He’s leaning forward, his hands under his thighs and his hair shadowing his face. He’s wearing dark jeans and his blazer over a dark button-down shirt. For the first time since I met him, he actually looks L.A.
    I try to make sense of what’s happening, but I can’t stop gawking. This doesn’t happen to normal people. Guys don’t do stuff like this. Cheesy romantic things. Things I’ve always secretly wished for.
    “ Bentley?” I finally breathe out. “What is this?”
    He slides off the bench, holding out his hand, and I place my shaking hand inside his. He curls my fingers as he pulls me closer to him and presses his lips to the flat spot right above my knuckles. The feel of his skin on mine shocks me back to reality, and the Ben Feeling takes over big time as I stand almost nose to nose with him.
    Fifteen minutes ago, I was sleeping.
    “ Happy sixteenth birthday, Graceland Marie Holloway.” He kisses my cheek and turns my hand over in his, placing a small box in my palm.
    I look down at the little box and back at his smiling face several times before he nods at it.
    “ Are you going to open it?” he asks.
    There are a million things running through my mind about this, about him. Mostly about this. This whole...I don’t know what it is.
    Out of everything I could say, what comes out is, “It’s not my birthday until 2:42. Technically.”
    Ben laughs, and my cheeks burn. I distract myself by focusing on the little box. It’s small. Like a ring box. This does not make me happy fluttery; it makes me feel like I’m going to barf.
    Shakily, I pull the ribbon and lift the lid. The shiny metal is the first thing I notice, and my heart seizes before I realize what I’m looking at. A key. A shiny silver key attached to a little keychain with a charm in the shape of a guitar.
    “ I, uh—,” This is the second time I’ve said that.
    “ Your car. It’s done. I finished it for you. The keychain. That’s what I got you for your birthday.”
    My lungs tighten and crush out the air. “Oh my god, I thought you got me a car.”
    Ben laughs, and it makes me smile. It’s a full, rolling, boiling laugh.
    “ Are you crazy?” he asks.
    “ I thought you were for a second,” I reply, smiling wider and laughing with him. My fingers run over the little silver key chain, and I pull it from the box.
    “