By the Light of a Blue Moon (1,231 views)

Cliff nodded at the idea for a code.

”How about uhhh.... I’ll say something like, ‘let’s get ice cream’ if he says yes and ‘let’s get French fries’ if it’s no or something dumb like that. I dunno. My mom won’t be suspicious if she sees, I talk about food a lot.” Cliff’s grin fell with Cleo’s as she remembered her mother and how she had to butter her up. The idea that they’d have to lie about his age made Cliff grin.

”Aw, sweet! Can I be 18? I want to be 18 and a totally licensed driver.” He said. ”I can totally pass for 18! Right?”

He tried to strike as ‘manly’ a pose as he possibly could. The end result was odd -- a pose like 'the thinker' statue with an expression that looked like he just smelt a fart.

Cliff huffed at that and didn’t know how to – or exactly want to – tell Cleo he didn’t really grown facial hair. Of course every morning he waited for it, looked for it, and though he had a few hairs here and there it was nothing like a beard! Nothing like his fathers was. Cliff hated that and wanted it to grow out! It would definitely help them out here... but if he couldn’t grow a beard in the allotted time before their mission... how could he make himself look older?

”I mean, I could do this,” Cliff said, reached behind him to curl the long strands of brown hair up into a ponytail. Older guys did that, right? With his hair pulled away from his face and his expression blank, he aged a few years. Shortly after he tried that Cleo slipped into her dress again in the tent and Cliff started to clean up the food he’d cooked.

When Cleo called for his help, Cliff blinked and slipped back into the tent... greeted with the sight of Cleo’s back between the slips of zipper that needed to be connected. He swallowed a lump in his throat and reached forward, lifting the zipper up to close up the dress. That got his heart racing, which he hated, and he totally tried to hide the flush on his cheeks. ”Maybe you could, uh, tell your mom something good about me so like... she already likes me before we steal her car,” was steal the right word? Well... yes. Cliff didn’t seem to care, though – the thought excited him more than scared him.

Oh, man! That giggle after he finished zipping up her dress was really distracting and Cliff had to practically tear his hands away from her as soon as he was done zipping her up. There was nothing weird about this! There was nothing odd about him helping her or them spending the night together camping or... or Cleo in general!

But he couldn’t deny that he found her pretty. It was distracting, and he wondered if she felt the same way. Well, not that he was pretty – he hoped not – but that she thought maybe he was cool. It was easy to talk to her, which was something that was good since after what happened with Pippa, Cliff had a hard time talking to girls.

He blinked when she said he was already liked – and the idea made him grin.

”Walk you home? Okay, uh, I should probably... do you have a hair tie? To uh... look not... 15.” He asked, turning towards his backpack and beginning to pack things away. ”Everything can fit in this one bag, believe it or not, so just hand me stuff and I’ll fit it in.”

Cliff took the hair tie – unhappy that it was pink, but then, he didn’t have much choice here – and pulled his hair back into a ponytail. It held pretty firm and with his hair pulled back he aged a few years. When he finally started to grow facial hair, he’d be able to look even older still. But, for now, this was all he had.

When Cleo commented on his bag and began to hand him object, Cliff snorted as he began to fold up things carefully and put them in their places. To its credit, the backpack was large, with many pockets and dangling clasps. ”It’s a bag built for camping. I got it at Wal-Mart a few months ago. It’s really useful—“ obviously. Everything Cleo gave him had a place, and the last thing he did was the tent, folded up into a small square and inserted into his bag. The poles, too, retracted and shrank and had their own side pocket on the bag.

Cliff swung the backpack over his shoulder and looked over at Cleo, walking back with her. They slowly emerged from the woods and he could see the houses of High Schoolers attending Metric glittering in the sunlight. He let Cleo lead the way towards her house. He was glad to see that she wasn’t sad anymore – she was laughing and smiling and that was all that really mattered.

”So, how much farther until we reach your house?” Cliff asked, as they exited Metric grounds and began to approach the neighborhoods.

Cliff agreed that this backpack would certainly need to come with them on their journey! It would be more useful especially if they refused to stay at any motels, like he remembered doing on the way down! He didn’t mind walking beside Cleo – it was peaceful, the birds were chirping, and he got to nibble a few berries here and there with her. That also reminded him – she’d never shown him how to make jam – but he could always ask another time! Maybe during their trip!

As they came back to wifi, Cliff opened his phone and popped a quick ‘hey’ to Robin. He pocketed the phone and when they were close to her house, he grinned. Okay! Okay, so... so they needed a plan.

”Yeah! Maybe uh... just say you ran into the woods and bumped into my campsite? And uhh... I totally talked you out of running away forever. That will totally make her not think you’re gonna take the car to Maine cause I’m so responsible.” Cliff said, nodding along with his words, as he wondered if they’d been seen yet. ”Does that sound OK?”

That was definitely an image that he liked – him being a valiant hero who defended Cleo against some evil, monstrous bird and ate it! But he felt like her mother might not like to hear there was an evil bird... didn’t moms not like evil birds?

When Claudia ran over to Cleo, Cliff felt slightly awkward and stood there on shifting feet, waiting for acknowledgement. They just had to go to plan! It wasn’t a lie. It would be easy! He hoped he didn’t stutter or sound too... juvenile when he spoke. Was his voice too high pitched still? He didn’t think so but who knew, right? The success of their road trip depended on this interaction right here!

But he couldn’t deny the twinge of... something... annoyance, maybe, when Cleo’s mother mentioned a mechanic. Cleo knew a mechanic? Who? Not Fletcher, right? What would she know Fletcher for? The only reasons that popped to Cliff’s mind weren’t good ones. He could probably ask Cleo about that later, when they weren’t on thin ice.

Cliff smiled over at Claudia nervously, scratching the back of his neck.

”Heya! Uh, yeah, hi! I was camping out in the woods last night – I do that a lot on weekends – and I saw Cleo was lost so I told her I’d help her find her way back home. We were really deep in the woods and it was really dark when I found her so I didn’t want to risk running into any animals,” That sounded mature and responsible, right? ”And so first thing, I made us some food and uh, we came here to find you.”

”Thanks! I uh, try my best.” Cliff said in response to Claudia. Good! He had her support! Now, he knew he’d be losing that support soon, but that was fine. Because they’d be going to Maine! When she hugged him he returned the gesture, caught off-guard by how tight the hug was. It almost made him feel bad about their plan, especially when she already seemed to have such a high opinion of him. What would she think after, he wondered?

Cliff watched as Cleo’s mother had to leave for work and, when he was invited inside of Cleo’s home, he was a little caught off-guard. ”Oh – uh – ok.” he said, grinning over at his friend. ”I can come in I guess – if you don’t mind. Maybe we can wait for the text from Robin – I messaged him earlier but he hasn’t replied yet.”

It was off to be in Cleo’s house – odder than it was to be in a fellow student’s dormitory house. This was just... odd, because he and Cleo were friends but at the same time there was something he didn’t know about Cleo that just made him want to know more. He was curious how she lived and existed when he wasn’t around. Which was pretty often – they didn’t interact that frequently. They had lives outside of one another.

Cliff looked from the foyer to the kitchen, taking in the sites of pictures and homely décor around before Cleo led the way upstairs and he followed her, looking to the right before he mimicked Cleo’s motion and went left. When he was told where the bathroom was, Cliff said ”okay” as a response, not deterring in the process of following her. The enthusiasm she seemed to have for him seeing the Robin Hood costume surprised him – he’d nearly forgotten about that promise for next Halloween!

”It’s okay, my room’s messier,” He said, his eyes darting across the light décor of the door to the desk and then over to her bed. She probably slept on that bed almost every night. He could imagine her like she’d looked this morning, all curled up and sleepy nestled comfortably in the sheets. Before he could stop himself, he wondered what else she might do on the bed and his cheeks flushed pink before she mentioned something about changing and looking at the clothes. She probably normally changed in here, too, and took off her dresses and pants and underwear right where he was standing...

He tried to shake the thoughts away, no! He wasn’t creepy! He hated the way his mind was taking his thoughts. He took the tunic and hat that she’d told him about and examined them. They really did look like Robin Hood’s garb! And it looked like they would fit him, too! He admired her handiwork, then looked at the sewing machine on the desk. She had done this herself? Woah... that was better than any costume he’d ever seen on e-bay!

He continued to admire the handiwork until she returned, and looked over towards the door when he saw it opening, a grin across his lips. ”This is so cool! You can make this stuff yourself? All I ever did was buy stuff on e-bay.”

Cliff looked at Cleo as she entered the room, looking her once-over in her new dress. Seeing her all cleaned up suddenly reminded him how dirty he was. He was faring better than Cleo had in his outfit designated for hunting, but his boots were probably rancid and stinky, not to mention, littered with dirt and filth. He debated taking his shoes off to refrain from leaving footprints on her floor but feared his socks weren’t much better – no doubt were they disgustingly smelly and sticky. He needed a shower, but he wasn’t about to take one here! Heck no!

When she explained the concept of the costume with enthusiasm, Cliff nodded along and looked at the drawing, tilting his head to the side as she explained it part by part. He noticed she mentioned something about leggings and he scrunched up his nose. Leggings? Weren’t those for girls? He wasn’t a girl! Nor did he want to wear leggings. He was about to say that but Cleo looked so eager he couldn’t bear to just spit it out.

”Uhh... can I just wear pants?” He asked, which came out nicer than just blurting out that leggings were for girls. But if she wanted to make something for him, who was he to really tell her no? He cleared his throat and shrugged when she asked for some measurements. He didn’t know them! ”Uhh... what measurements do you need? I think my mom knows them but I don’t buy clothes a lot.”

He knew his sizes ran about medium or large, depending on the brand, but he wondered if Cleo needed to know more detail than that.

Cliff snorted when she hit him playfully on the arm, though he was thankful she wasn’t pouting or unhappy about him not wearing tights. They just wouldn’t fit right! They’d be all tight in weird places, places that Cliff definitely did not want to be tight, at all, ever. As she explained the measurements he nodded, still unsure, though apparently she needed to know more than medium or large. He tried not to think too much about her eyes on his body as she appraised him, but when she grabbed her roller thingie and told him to hold the tape, he hesitated for only a second.

No! Don’t make this weird! He mentally scolded himself as he held the tape in place and tried not to think about the way she walked around him and measured his waist. Don’t think about it... don’t think about it... he took a few breaths and when she got a measurement he figured that wasn’t so bad! It wasn’t until she knelt down and measured his leg that he felt his heart rate begin to pick up as he looked down at her, too close to his lower half for comfort. Fortunately it didn’t take her so long to get a number!

But then she told him to hold it to his hip and knelt down, again, and he took a deep breath before he held the tape.

”O...okay.” He said, obeying her instructions. He felt so odd, holding the tape measure, his eyes scanning the room he was in to try and get a sense of what Cleo was like and what it was, exactly, that Cleo did like in the first place. Obviously fashion... sewing... so much different than him, but at the same, so fascinating. He glanced down at Cleo and tilted his head to the side. ”I might grow even taller by next Halloween, you know.”

Cliff nodded when she said that she could just make them a little longer than she needed to – though when she told him not to grow too much he grinned and liked the mental image of being taller than her. His father was over six feet tall – so maybe he’d be over six feet tall, too! He’d definitely look older then, with his hair pulled back and broader shoulders and facial hair lining his chin.

”I’m going to be taller than you! I’m gonna be as tall as my dad was,” He promised, and watched her as she cut a ribbon and promised him an elastic waistband. He caught the fabric and stretched it, tilting his head to the side at the odd feeling. ”Seems stretchy to me,” he said, and when he was told to hold up the pants his obeyed and curiously looked down at the clothes. This was so odd to watch... almost like magic! ”Clothes are so weird. How can you tell if it’ll fit me without me putting it on?”

This was odd. Cliff waited for Cleo to finish her inspection of him, her eyes appraising his body for sizes and whatever very, very distracting. She said something about an inch and a half and giggled and for some reason he felt his cheeks redden – for no good reason whatsoever – and blinked over at him. When she grabbed the waist of the pants he was holding up and pulled them, he felt his cheeks darkening even more at the position of her hands. Why was she stretching the fabric like that?! Couldn’t she just take this away from him?

He let go of the fabric as she grabbed it, allowing it to bounce back into its shape. He looked at the fabric, then Cleo’s face. ”What are you gonna be for Halloween?” He asked her.

This was so... odd... they were close, too personal, and it was just – odd! She finally moved away from him and rustled through her closet, and he looked at the pretty dress she held out in front of her. It was definitely Cleo’s style – he could see her in it, too easily. It made him excited for next Halloween and – if she was Maid Marion – did that mean they’d go? Like, as a date? He felt that thought heat his cheeks. He looked over at Cleo’s face. No! She was just matching because uhm.... because?

”It looks good. Uhm, you have time, so it’s good,” He said, looking down at the bottom of the costume and then back up at Cleo’s face with his goofy grin back in place. ”You’re way good at making costumes – did you make that one too?”

”I couldn’t even do a project at 3 AM, let alone sew something,” Cliff said, his eyebrows rising when she mentioned that little tidbit about having to redo sleeves. He would have probably stabbed himself in the finger. Then again, he didn’t understand sewing at all. He was a little distracted by her light laugh and almost missed when she asked about Robin – but then he snapped back to attention and pulled his phone out.

He had a new message from Robin. He motioned for Cleo to come closer and unlocked the message, showing her the contents.

Robin’s message was short and simple – a yes that he lived in Springfield, and a why do you want to know? Cliff looked at Cleo with his breath beginning to pick up. ”So... want me to ask now? I don’t know how to explain it well though. And he might... might say no.”