Hello, Honeybee

by Caity H.

  “I’m fine,” he muttered, choking back tears. His face was bright red, and his eyes blazed.

  “Everything okay up here?” Mr. Diamond’s head appeared in the doorway. He saw the two of us on the floor and frowned. “I’m gone for five minutes and something bad happens.”

  Daddy glanced at Mr. Diamond a moment before turning his attention back to Lex. “Are you sure you’re alright?” Why was he so concerned for Lex? Shouldn’t he be angry? Lex was swearing and wanted his dog to eat all the other puppies! That was bad! Daddy turned back to me, a frown on his face. “Olivia, you don’t push your friends.”

  Milk slid down the wall where it had splashed, and the cookies lay broken on the ground. I frowned. “I’m sorry.”

  “She’s lying!” Lex pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. “She hates me!”

  I gasped, tears springing to my eyes. “No I don’t!” I fell back against the floor and hid my face against my knees.

  “Whoa, what is going on?” Mr. Diamond came into the tree house, moving over to Lex.

  “She pushed me! She hates me!” He shrieked, curling into a ball.

  “I don’t hate you,” I whimpered. Daddy came back over and pulled my face up to look at him. I wiped at the tears.

  “Olivia, I know you don’t hate him,” he murmured.

  “Yeah, you two are best friends,” Mr. Diamond added, picking Lex up. “How could she hate you?”

  “I’m bad,” he muttered quietly. Mr. Diamond laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah I am.”

  “No you’re not,” I whispered, tearing my eyes from Daddy’s to look at Lex. His cheeks were red from rubbing them, and his eyes shimmered. “You’re my best friend. I couldn’t hate you.”

  “You mean it?” he sniffled, wiping his nose on the back of his sleeve. I nodded eagerly.

  “See?” Daddy smiled. “Friends like you two can’t stay mad at each other.” Lex and I smiled at each other, and ran to meet each other in a hug. He would always be my best friend. And if I ever forgot that, my daddy would always be there to remind me.

  My mind drifted back to the present. Tears stung my eyes, but I blinked them back. The conversation had seemingly gone on without me, everyone jabbering about the coming week and our summer plans.

  “Honeybee,” Lex whispered, glancing down at me.

  “Hmm?”

  “You, me, and the tree house. Tonight, eleven P.M., bring snacks and bedding. We’re going to have a camp out,” he said softly, smiling. I bit my lip, glancing up at him. “Come on, it’ll be like old times.”

  “Okay.” I nodded.

  His whole face lit up. “Awesome.”

  He turned back to his food, watching and laughing at the appropriate times. Slowly, I followed his lead and let myself fall back into the glee they were all sporting on their faces and in their hearts.

  Making a mental note, I reminded myself to go to the cemetery the next day and visit Dad’s grave. It had been too long, and after graduating and going through so much without him, I wanted to spend a little time with him before summer left me with no free time.

  “Olivia, remember when…” Mom went off on another story. I smiled and readied myself to listen to a night full of memories.

  Chapter Twenty Two – You, Me, and the Tree House

  I was in the process of changing into sweats and a t-shirt when something knocked against my window. I jolted, nearly falling over.

  “Honeybee!” The familiar voice chimed from outside. I pulled the t-shirt over my head, moving to the window. Lex was standing on the ground below, a sleeping bag and pillow tucked under his arm. A smile spread across his soft lips.

  Sighing, I opened the window. “What?”

  “You’ve got five minutes before I come and get you,” he warned, jerking his head toward the tree house.

  “I’ll be there in four,” I promised, shutting the window. Heading downstairs, I went to grab some popcorn and cookies from the kitchen. Mom was sitting at the counter, staring into a bowl of tomato soup. “You okay?”

  She looked up, her spoon clattering to the table top as it slipped from her fingers. “Olivia!” she gasped. “You startled me.”

  “Sorry.” I stood next to her, my waist leaning against the edge of the counter. “Are you okay?” I questioned again. She didn’t seem like herself, it was like something was off. I tilted my head to the side. “Mom?”

  “I’m just letting the past twelve hours settle in.” She smiled warmly, picking up the spoon. She stirred the soup, sending ripples through the hot liquid. “When you were born, and my mind wandered to the future, I never once thought I would be going through this alone. Your dad was always next to me, holding me as our little girl grew up.”

  I bit my lip, not knowing what to say. I missed my dad, but Mom missed her husband. She missed the man she fell in love with, the man she had a child with. I couldn’t imagine the heartbreak she must’ve felt.

  “He would’ve been so proud of you,” she murmured, looking up at me. A weak smile flittered to my face. “And I’m very proud of you.”

  “Thanks, Mom.” I pushed my glasses back up on my nose. The daze seemed to pass from her eyes, and I knew she wasn’t in the past anymore, or thinking so carefully about Dad, and the life we all missed out on when that drunk driver took him away. I sighed, pushing the memories from my mind. “Lex is waiting for me to come outside.”

  She nodded, having been informed on the way home that he was coming over. “Are you sure you’re alright with that?”

  “Yeah.” I nodded, not totally confident in my answer. “It’ll be fine. Besides, it’s not like either of us have anything else to do tonight. So it’ll be nice to just hang out and stuff.” Glancing at the clock, I noted that I was running out of time. “He gave me five minutes before he’s coming to get me. So I’m going to go outside,” I told her, picking up the snacks and kissing her cheek.

  She chuckled. “Alright. Well, just be smart. I might come up there or spy on you, so be careful what you two do,” she warned. I gulped, nodding. “Good. Have fun.”

  With the snacks, and an extra sweatshirt in my arms, I headed outside. Just as I opened the door, Lex appeared on the front porch, his hand poised to knock. I smiled triumphantly. “Ha.”

  He followed after me, taking the cookies from my hands and opening the package. “You’re lucky I didn’t have the patience to count and just guessed when the five minutes was up.” He popped a cookie into his mouth, chomping obnoxiously.

  “You’re lucky I’m letting you come over at all, you’re such an unpleasant eater.” I threw the sweater around my neck, clutching the bag of popcorn tightly as I started up the ladder. If taking snacks up to the tree house wasn’t a regular thing, I would’ve been afraid of falling flat on my back and breaking a limb or two.

  Lex scoffed, probably spitting cookie crumbs all over the yard. “I am not.”

  When I stepped onto the floor of the tree house, I saw Lex had already made himself comfortable. The sleeping bag and blow up mattress I’d set up earlier had been shoved aside, making room for the small living room he’d brought up with him. He had his iPod and a small set of speakers, along with his laptop and a few movies. The air mattress I’d inflated and left for myself, was littered with his stuff. My sleeping bag seemed to have disappeared, and his covered the whole mattress.

  “Lex,” I grumbled, turning to look as he stood beside me.

  “What? I’m just making it fair. You took up the whole mattress. I’m not sleeping on the floor.” He set the cookies down.

  “You took the whole mattress!” I hissed, glaring at him.

  “I don’t recall you being this selfish when we were younger,” he sighed, like he was disappointed in me.

  “I was naïve. Don’t hold it against me,” I muttered, sitting down on his sleeping bag, the mattress dipping with the added weight.

  “You’re still naïve,” he chuckled, shaking his hair out of his eyes. “Now! What do you want to do? We obviously c
an’t go to sleep for a while, because that’s just lame.” He sat down next to me, our knees touching in the close proximity.

  “We could talk about our feelings, or watch movies, or stuff our faces with fattening foods,” I offered up, looking around the tree house. “I’m up for whatever.”

  He waggled his eyes suggestively. “You need to be careful what you say.” I slapped his arm, causing him to laugh. “I was kidding. How about we do a combination of all three? Eat food, purge emotion, and zone out in front of a screen?”

  “Sounds like an excellent plan,” I answered, opening the popcorn and taking a handful.

  “Of course it’s an excellent plan. I came up with it,” he boasted, oozing of confidence.

  “Of course,” I muttered under my breath.

  Lex moved to his computer, slipping a movie into it and then pressing play. He sat next to me again. The snack he’d brought consisted of crackers, Poptarts, and a box of soda cans. Ever since we were younger, we’d grown to have similar taste in snack food.

  “What movie?” I asked, consuming more buttery popcorn.

  “It’s my favorite mov–”

  “Peter Pan.” I smiled at his look of annoyance.

  “How did you know?”

  “I do know you pretty well,” I reminded him. “We pretty much grew up together, remember?”

  “I didn’t think you would remember,” he sighed, leaning on his knees.

  “Yee of little faith,” I chided.

  “We haven’t watched it together for so long, I figured you’d think I had moved on to something more masculine.”

  “You? Never.” I shook my head. “No movie will ever mean as much to you as this one does. Even though you have some ill-conceived hatred for Peter, you love Tinker Bell, and for some reason you can sympathize with Hook, which I don’t get because he hurts her.”

  “I’m impressed, Bee,” he said, looking back as the opening credits started. “I thought you would forget things about me.”

  “I’m a good friend,” I chided.

  “You are,” he agreed, nudging my shoulder. “So, you purge your emotions first. I saw the look on your face tonight when they were talking about your dad.” He looked over at me, concern welling in his irises. “Are you okay?”

  I gave a humorless laugh, a sad smile pulling at my lips. “No.” I pulled my knees up to my chest. “I miss him.” I bit my lip. It ached from how many times I’d used it to avoid tears in the past six hours. “He was my dad. He was supposed to be there tonight and intimidate the first guy brave enough to ask me out. I feel like half my childhood is missing.” I sniffled. “There were so many families there tonight, complete and happy families. But mine wasn’t one of them. There’s this hole in my heart, and I’ll never be able to fill it.”

  Lex’s hand found mine, clasping our fingers together. “There’s nothing I can say that will make you feel better, Honeybee.”

  I know.

  “But, that doesn’t mean I won’t try.”

  I met his gaze. I could feel myself falling into his atmosphere, being pulled closer by his gravity. My eyes closed when his forehead leaned against mine. His warm breath cascaded over my face, sending chills down my back.

  “Honeybee,” he murmured, his fingers gently touching my face, caressing my skin.

  My heart pounded against my chest, trying to beat its way out and cuddle up next to his. “Yes?”

  “I think–”

  “Lex!” A loud voice hollered. We broke apart, looking wildly for the responsible party. “Lex!” The voice came again.

  He stood, taking his warmth away, and moved to the door. “Dad?” he groaned, glancing back at me for a moment. “What is it?” he asked.

  “I need your help. There’s a leak in the garage. Don’t take too much time. That’s your car sitting in the garage,” he warned. I heard his footsteps move away.

  Lex muttered under his breath before turning back to me. “I better go help him before he gets mad.” He looked torn. “I’ll try to hurry and be back soon.”

  “Okay,” I mumbled, pulling the sleeping bag around me. It was then I noticed he’d laid my sleeping bag down, unzipping it all the way and covering the mattress like a sheet, using his sleeping bag to act like a comforter. “Want me to pause the movie?”

  He shook his head, pulling his shoes on. “No, that’s fine. You keep watching it.”

  I rolled my eyes, inhaling the lingering scent on his sleeping bag. “Yeah right. I’m not watching your favorite movie without you. That’s practically a crime.” He smirked. “Go help your dad, I’ll wait up.”

  He sighed. “Fine,” he surrendered. “Drink some soda to try and stay awake.”

  I saluted. “Yes sir.”

  He grinned once more before disappearing down the ladder, leaving me alone with my thoughts.

  Soon enough, my mind grew weary of running through the moment we had been having before Steve had interrupted us. No matter how many times I ran through it in my head, I couldn’t help but feel he was about to say something important. We weren’t friends in that moment, we were something more, something he was about to define. I could feel it in my soul. But chance ruined the moment.

  It had been almost an hour. I was beginning to worry that something was seriously wrong. Occasionally, I would hear one of them shout something, but it was never clear enough to know what they were talking about. It was making me nervous. They were already walking on a brittle relationship. If either of them pushed too hard things could shatter.

  Sighing, I slipped under the top sleeping bag, snuggling into the warmth. Yawning became more frequent, and my eyelids grew heavy. No amount of pinching my arms could wake me, though I continued to pinch myself every time I almost nodded off, anyways.

  Another yell across the street confirmed they were still dealing with whatever had happened, and he likely wouldn’t be back anytime soon.

  “Sorry, Lex.” My eyelids closed, and I let out a deep sigh, moving the pillow to support my head better. The flickering lights on the laptop were dull, fading into the darkness as sleep beckoned me.

  As I drifted off, my thoughts centered on the boy I was in love with. The way he’d laughed and smiled, enjoying his time around me. The way he’d touched my hand, and promised to never stop trying. His words had been spoken in gentle love.

  Ever since the camping trip, things had changed so dramatically. The idea of Lex and I being friends again was so far from a reality, that it never even crossed my mind as a possibility. But now, we were friends again. There was trust. I’d never found the idea of us becoming more than friends so realistic. Maybe not all Honeybees died after the first sting. Perhaps there were some that endured, and didn’t give up hope even when there was nothing to hold onto.

  The sound of someone coming up the ladder made my heart beat faster. My nerves kicked in, worrying that it wasn’t Lex, but someone who was going to kill me and then bury my body in six different states.

  “Honeybee, did you go to sleep?” Lex whispered, bringing ease to my fears.

  “Almost,” I whispered, too weary to turn over and look at him. “Everything okay?”

  “Yeah,” he murmured. The mattress moved as he slid on next to me. The cold night air held onto his skin. I shivered when he moved a little too close. “Want to keep watching the movie?”

  “I’m going to fall asleep,” I told him, my words barely above a whisper.

  “Slacker,” he laughed. He poked my shoulder. When I didn’t move, he slid up right next to me, his body cold against mine. “Why are you so sleepy?”

  “It’s been a long day,” I answered, sighing and turning to face him. We were inches apart.

  “No excuse.” His eyes twinkled. “You said you would stay up with me and watch the movie. That’s what we’re going to do.”

  “I’m going to fall asleep,” I repeated, yawning through my words. My eyelids closed. I jerked when a cold hand pressed against my neck, his thumb brushed along my jaw. “Lex
!”

  “Come on, this is our first night as high school graduates. We can’t waste it sleeping.”

  “I can.” I pulled the top sleeping bag closer to me, trying to ward off some of his chill.

  “Please?” he whispered. When my eyes blinked open, I saw the puppy dog look on his face, his lip jutting out in a pout. I didn’t know how he could make that look attractive, but he did.

  “Fine,” I sighed, trying to sit up more. He smiled brightly and pushed play, sitting close to me. I leaned against his shoulder, trying to stay awake. He pulled the sleeping bag around us, his head resting against mine. A small smile found its way to my face. “Is this a better way to celebrate?”

  “Of course,” he replied brightly. “And this isn’t a onetime deal. Prepare yourself, Honeybee.” His eyes danced with excitement, transferring the giddy feeling to me.

  “Prepare myself?” Butterflies danced in my stomach.

  He nodded, running his fingers up my arm, twisting the ends of my hair around. “Yes, prepare.”

  “Why?” I asked, breathlessly.

  Lex let his eyes trail over my face, seemingly taking in as many details as he could. Slowly, a playful smile stretched across the lips I couldn’t get out of my head.

  “The summer is just beginning.”

  The End

  About the author

  Caity’s love of writing started in the eighth grade. From there she has continued to write more and try to better her skills. Hello, Honeybee was the first work that she completed. It also became a top rated story on Inkpop.com. This achievement came with a review from Harper Collins.

  Caity has finished two more books since Hello, Honeybee, and plans to publish them.

  Lex and Honeybee will be back soon, in

  “Hello, Handsome”