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Her mom comes out a moment later in a colorful dress. Mismatched patterns look sewn together in a long, flowing fabric that falls to her toes. She has a smile on her face when she sees us in the doorway.
“Roman! I haven’t seen you in a couple of days. And this must be Nora. Your mom has told me so much about you!” Her smile lights up her face, her cheeks beaming a rosy pink. She smells like the sweet smell, and I rub my nose to stop the burning.
“They want to go to the park,” she says, her voice soft and melodic, and I frown when she stops talking.
“The park? That would be fun. Are you going to the one down the street?”
I nod at her.
Jane runs her fingers through Luna’s hair. I wonder how soft it feels. It slides right through her fingers like water, not snarly and messy at all like Nora’s gets after an hour of playing.
“If Harper goes with you, then I’m fine with it.”
Luna frowns.
“Who’s Harper?” I ask.
“My sister,” Luna grumbles.
“I’ll go ask her.” Her mom walks off, the dress floating behind her as her bare feet pad across the orange carpet. Luna steps out of the house, looking at me with her sharp gray eyes piercing my brown ones.
“You haven’t been outside.” She sounds hurt, like we had plans and I stood her up.
I shrug. “I didn’t feel like going outside.”
“Yes, you did.” Nora giggles, coming up beside Luna. “He looked outside every day. He watched you by the water.”
Luna stares at me, and she blinks in what feels like slow motion as a flush covers my cheeks. I’m embarrassed, and I want to give Nora a snakebite on her forearm for being a tattletale.
We get stuck in a bubble as we watch each other. A slight breeze picks up and blows her black hair across her face. It’s long, almost too long as it nearly reaches her waist.
The door opens, breaking our weird silent bubble with an awkward pop. Luna swipes the hair from her face, looking over her shoulder to the open door.
I glance up, seeing an older version of Luna staring at us. I swallow down the sudden lump in my throat at the sight of Harper. Her blackish hair has a slight wave to it, where Luna’s is pencil straight. Harper also has blue eyes, bright blue eyes that glimmer when she steps into the sun. She looks to be around eleven. She has on blue bell-bottom jeans that flare wide at the bottoms, and a tank top. She also has a strip of some type of hand-woven rope wrapped around her head.
Just like the hippies my parents told me about.
“Hi, I’m Harper.” Her voice is just as melodic as Luna’s, maybe a touch raspier.
“I’m Roman, and this is my sister, Nora.”
“Hi!” Nora exclaims, the shout coming from her making us all startle.
“Ready?” Harper asks Luna. Luna stares at me, and I look between the two of them.
Then I look back at Harper.
“Ready.”
I gravitate toward her, this girl that’s older and more experienced than me, even if it’s only by a few years. It’s like she’s almost a woman, even though I know internally that’s far from the case. She is tall, taller than Luna and taller than me.
I walk next to her, feeling the most grown up I’ve ever felt as I bring this new crew to the park. I’m the man of the group. It’s funny, five minutes ago I didn’t even want to go. Suddenly, I can’t think of anything I’d rather be doing.
Nora stands on my other side, with Luna standing next to her. Nora talks to her about playing, things they want to do later, and maybe having a sleepover this coming weekend. Suddenly, Luna stops, walks behind us, and butts right in between Harper and me.
Corn fields for days line our right side. It reminds me of that movie,The Wizard of Oz. I always feel like there should be a tornado in those cornfields, even if tornados are relatively rare here in Wisconsin.
We’re all barefoot, walking on the side of the empty road. Pebbles dig into our feet, but it doesn’t bother me. I’m used to hot, rocky pavement. I only wear shoes to school or if I’m going somewhere important, otherwise I’m usually barefoot.
