Page 12 of Craved

But he wasn’t older, and all he could do was stay on the porch and hope he saw her again. He wanted—no, he needed—to know she was okay.

He stayed there for the rest of the afternoon and well past dinner time. It was summer, so it was past his bedtime by the time it got dark, but he’d begged his aunt to let him stay out, and she’d agreed. But the girl hadn’t shown up again.

He’d finally gone inside about midnight, but he barely slept for worrying about her. He didn’t understand why it was bugging him so much. He’d never even seen her before.

He knew the family had moved into the house only recently, but unlike the chatty and friendly families in their little neighborhood, the people in the house across the street never talked to anyone. Maxim didn’t even know their names. Except for her.

Camilla. He smiled, then whispered it to himself. He liked the sound of it.

The next morning, he was on the porch before dawn. He waited, hoping to see the girl, but weirdly afraid that she’d been taken away. From the porch, he could see the driveway that ran along the side of her house, but not the garage. He heard when the car started, though, and he watched it pull out, then disappear down their street with Camilla’s father behind the wheel.

For a moment he feared that she’d been in the car, too, and he just hadn’t seen her. Then he saw the front door open, and the girl stepped out. She looked down the street, as if making sure the car was gone. Then she moved back to the sidewalk, picked up the chalk she’d left the night before, and continued with her drawing.

On his porch, Maxim rocked from foot to foot, not sure what he should do. Finally, he scrambled down the steps, looked both ways, then crossed the street.

She looked up at him, her brown eyes wide. “I don’t know you,” she said. “I’m not supposed to talk to strangers.”

“I’m Maxim. I live across the street. That’s my aunt’s house. And you’re Camilla. See? We know each other”

“I’m Cami,” she said. “Only Daddy calls me Camilla.”

He nodded. “Okay. I like that. Can you play? Do you have to ask your mom?”

Cami shook her head. “She’s on the couch. Daddy says she’s resting, and I’m not supposed to disturb her.”

“Can you come to my house? It’s just across the street.” He pointed. “I can show you my castle.”

Her eyes went wide. “You have a castle?”

He grinned, then held out his hand to help her up. He didn’t know why he wanted to play with this girl. She was younger than him, and he usually played with the older boys. But there was something about her. Something sad and a little lost that made him want to make her smile.

“Of course, I have a castle. Don’t you?”

She giggled and shook her head.

“Then you can share mine. You can be the princess.”

“Really?” There was something in her tone that made him feel like the best boy in the world for making her happy. He was pretty sure this girl wasn’t happy very often.

He held out his hand, and when she took it, he led her across the street to his castle under the porch. As soon as they got there, he started to worry. What if she thought make-believe was stupid?

But all he had to do was look at her face to know that she saw it, too. “It’s amazing. It has towers and everything. And I can really be the princess?”

“Sure. Why not?”

She shrugged. “Where’s your daddy?”

“He had to go. “

“I saw him leave in a taxi. When is he coming back?”

Maxim just shrugged again.

“Do you have brothers or sisters?”

He shook his head. “Do you?”

“No.”