by Lacey Silks
“It’s not that high.”
“But I’d get in trouble. I don’t want your father to think that I wasn’t looking out for you.”
“He wouldn’t.”
He shook his head in disapproval, as if he were my father. Sometimes I didn’t understand boys, but other times I wanted to, a lot.
Nick’s mom was baking us special cakes, the way she did every year. We gathered our knapsacks and hurried through the woods. Miraculously, Daisy’s sprained ankle was feeling much better. I bet she didn’t want her perfect hair to get wet, and so she managed to hurry along with us.
Once we hit the road, the thunderstorm had passed to the south. The few drops that caught us were barely a teasing sprinkle, and I wished it had rained more so that I could have seen Daisy’s hairdo frizzle up. Her curls and rain didn’t exactly mesh.
On the way back home, Nick draped his arm around me. No one else, except for Daisy and Carter, seemed to notice or care, yet the gesture still made me feel very special. For the first time since we left our house, I felt like we were ourselves again, or at least I was. I just didn’t feel complete without Nick. He was my best friend and my partner in crime. We stayed a few good feet behind the group, and I knew that they were out of earshot.
“So, how does it feel to be thirteen?”
“The same way as it felt to be twelve.” I shrugged his arm off my shoulder.
“You’re upset.”
“Am not.”
“Why are you upset?”
“I always thought that having our birthdays together was special. This was supposed to be our day, and Daisy ruined it. But you know what the worst part is? That you didn’t do anything to stop it.”
“Jo, I have no clue what you’re talking about.”
“At the movies. Why didn’t you ask her to move? She clearly wanted to separate us.”
“Because it would have been rude?”
“So it was better to be rude to me?”
“How was I rude to you?”
“You didn’t sit beside me.”
I wasn’t sure why that made me so angry today. We often went out with our friends, and I never cared who Nick talked to or sat beside at the movies. But today was different, and I was pretty sure that I would have preferred to have gone to the movies just with him.
“Jo, it wasn’t my fault. And I thought you were rude too, but I didn’t want to ruin your birthday by mentioning it.”
“What did I do?”
“You couldn’t stop talking to Carter about the movie.”
“So?”
“So, we always talk about it together, on the rooftop.”
“But Carter was right there, and when we were hiking, you were with Daisy.” I rolled my eyes. He hated when I did that, but at this moment, I didn’t care. “You’re being weird about Carter.”
“Well, you’re being weird about Daisy.”
“So we’re both being weird?”
“I guess.” He paused for a moment, staring at the ground. “I’m sorry if it bothered you. Next time I’ll ask her to move.”
“Thank you. You know it’s because you’re my best friend, and our birthdays are special.”
“I know.”
By the time we finished our conversation, our friends had reached the bakery and were waiting for us on the front steps.
“Ready?” Molly asked, stepping from one foot to the other. Having our cakes revealed was always the best part of our birthday, and I wondered about the theme Marge had chosen to decorate the cakes with this year.
When we entered the bakery, my dad was there, smiling, and everyone started singing “Happy Birthday.” I took Nick’s hand without a thought and held it for the entire song. As they finished and I looked on the table: there was only one cake, and it must have been Nick’s because it was in the shape of a yellow Camaro.
Bumblebee, I thought.
Nick let go of my hand, saying, “Wait here.” A moment later he rolled out a cart with a box on top and a big red bow.
“I thought you said no gifts. We’re saving money for the high school camping trip.”
“This only cost me my time, and I really wanted to do this for you.”
I sighed, pulling out the square box from my backpack before he got a chance to call me a hypocrite. “Happy birthday, Nick. I hope you like it.”
“What is this?”
“Open it.”
He tore the wrapping paper wrap and gasped when he saw the rock in his hand. I had carved in the letter “N” on its flat surface.
“Joelle, where did you find this?”
He didn’t call me by my full name unless he wanted my attention.
“Pebble Beach. Do you like it?”
“You know you’ll never win against this, don’t you?”
“I know. But I’d rather see you skip it and beat your own record.”
He threw his arms around me and said, “Thank you so much.”
“You’re welcome.”
“Now open yours.”
Excited, I pulled on the red bow, lifted the square box cover off, and there it was: an absolutely beautiful cake. I pulled in a sniffle and covered my mouth with one hand while pointing with the other.
“It’s us.” I finally lowered my hand. “Skipping stones on the lake. Nick, this is beautiful. You did this?”
He nodded.
“Thank you. It’s the best gift ever!” I hugged him tightly.
We cut the cakes and shared them with our parents, friends, and a few of Mrs. Tuscan’s customers who happened to stop by. And everything between me and Nick was well again. He had surprised me with a birthday gift that was as thoughtful as it was lovely, and that was how I knew that our friendship was forever.
Chapter 3
Three years later
“Hey, Jo.” Carter’s voice echoed through the forest as he jogged toward me. “Wanna go get more wood for tonight?”
There it was: that signature I wanna show you I like you look on his face. I scanned the forest clearing for Nick, who usually managed to save me from Carter’s advances, but he was nowhere to be found. It wasn’t that I didn’t like Carter; he was not only a good friend but also a very handsome and buff young man, and all the girls squealed when he walked into the room. I just wasn’t interested. He’d always be just a friend.
“Ahm, sure, I guess.”
I took one of the handles of the basket he’d brought while he gripped the other. We’d been waiting for our end-of-year high school trip ever since we found out that it existed, back in elementary school. Our class would stay away from home for three nights and four days. We had set up our tents about an hour before, girls on one side of the clearing and boys on the other, and now everyone was taking a break. There were only eighteen of us, for a total of four tents, plus two teachers: Mr. Simmons and Ms. Goodfield, who happened to be a married couple and would occupy the last two tents, smack in the middle.
We headed out into the woods, picking up dry sticks and twigs that would make perfect kindling for tonight and tossing them into the basket. As the sounds behind us quieted, shivers prickled up my arms. It was one thing to be out in the woods with a large group, and another to be just a pair, walking further and further out — especially with bears inhabiting these forests. We weren’t supposed to venture further than earshot, and I was beginning to have trouble hearing our classmates’ voices.
I stopped and asked, “Have you seen Nick?”
“I think Daisy was showing him a bird’s nest she found.” Carter pulled on the handle to continue, and I followed him.
Of course she was!
I liked Daisy. She was a good friend – one of my best friends, in fact – but she was just not right for Nick. I knew them both so well that I couldn’t see them as a couple. They wouldn’t mesh. I mean, she was a vegetarian, and Nick was a meat man. There. And that was just a pit stop on the No Way José highway.
Why wouldn’t she just stop trying? What bugged me even more was that he seemed to be enj
oying all the attention she was giving him and didn’t even try to ignore her. Why was he leading her on, when I knew that he’d never actually go out with her?
“So, what’s up with you and Nick?” Carter brought me out of my daze, and I stopped.
“What do you mean?”
“Are you two gonna date? Because everyone thinks you are.”
“Why would we date?” I shook my head. “No, that’d be weird. We’re just friends.”
Had I thought about dating? Yes, of course I had. But dating Nick? No! He was like a brother to me; though truthfully, I wasn’t interested in anyone else, either. I was too young and having way too much fun to be dating.
“So you’re saying that if Daisy asked him out, you’d be okay with it?”
“Why? Do you think she will?”
“That wasn’t my question.”
“Daisy can do whatever she wants.” I looked around the darkening forest. “I think we’ve gone too far.”
Carter stopped. Which way had we come from? It took one circular turn for me to get lost. The trees and shrubs all looked the same.
“Oh my—”
“Shh!”
“Can you hear them?” I asked.
“Barely. You need to stay quiet. That way.” He pointed in a direction I would have definitely not chosen. After a moment of walking, our classmates’ voices became clearer, and I let go of the breath I’d been holding.
“What if someone asked you out?” Carter asked.
“Like who?”
“Me.”
“Are you asking me out?”
“Only if you say yes.”
“I don’t know, Carter. My life’s pretty busy. I’ve been helping Marge with cookies and cupcakes, and my father’s bun requisitions are piling up. Dating means a commitment to go out and stuff. I don’t think I have time to date.”
“That’s not what dating should feel like, Jo. You date because you want to get to know that person better. Because you can’t stop thinking about them day and night.”
“Well, then it’s not for me, for sure. My mind and time are both filled with baking.”
“So, there’s no one you think about all the time?”
“I don’t know. I think about a lot of people. Doesn’t mean I’m dating them all.”
He laughed. “It’s because you’re already closer to Nick than you think. You two are dating without even knowing.”
“I don’t think so. I’ve known Nick my entire life, and we live next door to each other. That’s all there is to it.” I shrugged it off. Besides, if Nick were interested, he needed to be the one to make a move, not me. Wasn’t that how it was supposed to work? No, it wouldn’t work. I knew him too well and too intimately. For Pete’s sake, we used to swap our pacifiers and share a potty trainer.
“Okay, so how much time do you two spend together?”
“Well, we walk to school together, sit in the same class, walk back home, do our homework, bake, stock up the bakeries…”
His mouth was curving up higher the more I spoke. Was he trying to make a point? Good thing I didn’t tell him about our rooftop star gazing each evening the weather permitted. So what if we spent a lot of time together? Our houses were separated by only a foot, our parents had known each other forever, and Nick was a very good friend. How many times did I have to repeat it for people to stop asking whether we were an item?
“He’s your boyfriend.”
“I’d say more like a brother.”
“Hmm. If you say so.” He shook his head. “But there’s this theory I’d like to test.”
“What theory?”
He let go of the basket. My fingers gave out under the full weight, and the wood spilled to the forest floor. As I looked down at the mess of twigs, I felt Carter lift my chin with his fingers. The next thing I knew, I was in Carter’s arms as he pressed his lips to mine. Shocked, I froze and kept my eyes wide open and mouth tight as his lips tenderly kissed mine, and then I pulled away.
Okay, so I might have closed my eyes for a split second to enjoy the moment. Hey, YOLO, right? Besides, I’d never been kissed before, and practicing against my bedroom mirror was definitely not the same.
I took a step back and touched my fingers to my lips. “Why did you do that?”
“Because I wanted to check if you felt anything. Well?”
Oh, I definitely felt something, but the thief of my first kiss would not know his power.
“You shouldn’t have done that!” I punched him in his arm.
“Why?” He rubbed the limb as if he’d been hit by an MMA fighter.
“Because it’s wrong, and you’re a friend, and… I don’t want to date.”
“You don’t want to date, or you don’t want to date anyone other than Nick?”
“Why does it matter to you?”
“Molly’s never gonna put out, and you’re involved with a guy who doesn’t even know it. And neither do you!”
“Carter, that’s mean!” I punched him in his arm again. He grasped my fist into his full hand, his fingers overlapping mine, and growled, causing my body to stiffen upright at the sound, ready for another one of his surprises.
What was happening to me?
“Why would you say that about Molly? She’s awesome.”
“And she’s wearing a chastity belt.”
“So? What’s wrong with waiting for the right guy?”
“Nothing. Just that the ‘right guy’ doesn’t exist. No matter who you date or whom you choose or end up with, no one will ever be right because you’re two different people. You’ll have issues with each other no matter what.”
“That’s called compromise. And acceptance of each other is part of the deal.”
His brows scrunched, and I knew that he knew that I was right.
“If you want to have a chance with Molly, then you’ll wait for her and give her as much time as she needs.” I crouched down and began collecting the spilled twigs back into the basket. Carter joined my effort.
“And you’ll respect her the way any girl should be because no one kisses a girl without her permission!” I felt my face heat with anger again. How dare he steal that kiss from me! It wasn’t his to take.
“You mean, I should have asked you first?”
“Yes, of course.”
“But you would have said no.”
“Exactly my point.”
The duh look on his face was beginning to shine some light on what it meant to fully respect a woman.
“Okay, I get it.”
We stood up, but neither one of us moved.
“I’m sorry, Jo. I didn’t meant to disrespect you.”
“Apology accepted. Now let’s get the wood back to the site before they wonder where we are.”
“Wait.” Carter bent down to the ground again and picked up a piece of broken glass. “Whoever was here before us is a pig. If the sun strikes it at the right angle, the grass could catch fire,” he explained. Being the Captain’s son came with the territory of knowing everything about fires. Carter’s father had been a firefighter our entire lives.
The basket was almost full, and the clearing where our tents had been set up was visible. As we approached, I stopped for a moment and said, “And if you truly have any respect for me whatsoever, you will not mention what happened back there to anyone. Got it?”
“You mean, our kiss?”
“Shh! I said, no mentioning it.”
“You just don’t want Nick to find out.”
“If you value having any future children, you will not say anything. If you do, I promise that Nick won’t be the one kicking you in your balls.”
He gave me a crooked grin as if I’d said something that intrigued him. We finally reached the campground and set the basket of wood near the fire pit in the center.
“Where have you been? I was worried.” Nick almost knocked me over when he ran to me from the boys’ side of the clearing where the tents had been set up.
“We were get
ting wood.”
“You went out far enough not to hear us, didn’t you?”
His fiery gaze flew from me to Carter and back. His hands rested on his hips, making his shoulders appear wider. What was wrong with him? Why was he fuming?
“Why are you being so weird, Nick? We didn’t get lost. I’m very capable of getting wood and not getting lost.”
“She got lost.” Carter coughed into his hand and I threw him a dirty look — the kind that could kill. Why wasn’t he falling down the way I imagined?
“I’ll leave you two lovebirds alone.” Carter chuckled and walked away.
“Why did he call us lovebirds?” I asked. “Did you say something to him? He was asking weird questions.”
“Because that’s what everyone calls us.” Nick had another weird look on his face. I would be very glad when this puberty thing with boys was over, because the continued testosterone war between the guys in our class was beginning to drive me crazy.
“Well, then you need to stop them.” I pulled on his arm to get him out of earshot.
“Why me?”
“Because you’re the man, and you have to protect my honor,” I whispered loudly.
“I think your father has been reading too many fairytales to you. That’s old-fashioned.”
“Maybe sometimes girls like it when you’re old-fashioned.”
This time it was Nick who pulled on my arm, lowering his voice to a whisper. “Did he try to kiss you?”
I made a grossed out face. “No, he didn’t. Why would you even ask that?”
If the ‘becoming a teacher’ dream didn’t work out, I could always be an actress. And the only reason teaching was a dream was because my first grade teacher had praised me for my patience and good habits. She’d said I would make an amazing teacher.
“Because Andrew said that Carter said he was going to try to kiss you on this camping trip. I tried to find you two, but you were gone.”
By this time we’d reached the outer edge of the campground and were slowly walking away. There was no way that I wanted anyone to hear one of our crazy conversations. Enough people already thought my relationship with Nick was odd because we lived adjacent to each other, and I didn’t need any new stares or rumors flying around our school. And there was no way that I wanted Carter to hear the word kissing out of my or Nick’s mouths for at least the remainder of our high school careers.