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“Okay. Then I’ll hate him with you.” A genuine smile blinks on his face for a moment. “Let’s watch a movie at my house. You can borrow some of Garrett’s clothes.”
“Thanks.”
After I find him a pair of my brother’s shorts and a tee shirt, he pauses at the bathroom door. “Would you mind calling my house and letting Mom know where I am? I don’t want to talk to her, but I also don’t want her reporting me as a runaway.”
“Sure, okay.”
It’s an uncomfortable call to make, but Mrs. Stokes tells me it’s fine for Alden to stay and watch movies. We end up on the couch in the living room, eating the beef taco dip and nachos mom left for dinner, then watching two of our favorite movies. He doesn’t talk anymore about what happened, and I don’t bring it up.
By the time the second movie is over, he’s asleep.
It isn’t out of the ordinary for any of us to have sleepovers. It’s not like I haven’t seen him sleep before, but something about the sight of his slack face this time keeps drawing my eyes back to him. Maybe it’s because he looks peaceful after such a rampage of emotions. The Stokes’ boys are cute. No doubt about it. But until this moment, I’ve never noticed so much. We’re friends. The cute guys I get crushes on are older, like Sawyer.
His lips sit slightly apart and for the first time, I wonder what it’d be like to kiss him. I’ve never kissed a boy.
I’m pulled out of my thoughts when Garrett walks in. Before he can wake him, I put my finger to my lips and point to the kitchen. He follows me out of the living room, and I fill him in on everything that happened. We make a quick agreement not to tell Mom and Dad about me being in the woods at night, then he retreats up to his room.
About half an hour later, Mrs. Stokes taps on the door. She looks awful, like she’s cried every tear she had in her body, but she gives me a wan smile.
“Hey, come in,” I tell her. “Alden’s asleep in the living room.”
“I’m awake.” Alden’s voice from behind me makes me jump, and he cracks a grin. “See you tomorrow, El.”
He accompanies his mother back across the street, and I stare after them for a minute, hoping they’ll be okay.
* * *
If there’s one thing I learn over the next year, it’s that okay can be relative. Physically, the Stokes family seem to be doing fine. Mrs. Stokes gets a job as a bartender, and while she probably isn’t making as much money as her husband was, they aren’t starving. They also don’t have to move. It means the boys are left on their own a lot, especially at night, but at fourteen, that isn’t illegal or out of the ordinary.
Oliver seems a bit withdrawn, but he’s always been the quiet one. The biggest change has been in Alden. He gets in trouble a lot at school and at home. He hangs out with some older kids, cuts classes, and sneaks out of his house to meet up with them. He’s nice to me when he sees me, but he doesn’t spend much time with our group of friends anymore. Not even at the treehouse.
I wonder if he’ll show up tonight. My parents are throwing a bonfire party for the neighborhood. They’ve done it for the last few years in the fall, just to get everyone together before it gets too cold outside to enjoy it.
It’s usually fun. Even the younger kids get to stay up late, run around, and play. Tori’s stepdad brings over his grill to set up alongside Dad’s and there’s always a ton of food. And alcohol for the adults.
“Ella!” Tori squeals, plopping down in the seat beside me on the school bus. “Girl, what are you thinking about so hard?”
“Oh, uh, the bonfire tonight, I guess. I was zoned out. Did you say something?”
“You’re not going to believe this! Jake asked me to go to the dance!”
The seventh grade dance was last month and neither of us went. Seventh graders are allowed at the eighth grade dance but only if they’re invited to be the date of an eighth grader. The whole seventh grade is abuzz about it, hoping to go. Tori has had a massive crush on Jake Young for months and her eyes are bright with excitement.
“He did? That’s great! He’s so cute!”
“I know! I’m super excited!” She bites her bottom lip for a moment. “He also asked me to sit by him on the ride home. You don’t mind if I bail on you, do you?”
“Of course not! Get back there!”
Giggling, she hugs me and darts to the back of the bus to sit with Jake. Alden and Oliver are the last two to get on the bus. Oliver grins at me and is clearly planning to take Tori’s seat, but Alden beats him to it.
“Your partner in crime stole my seat so you’re stuck with me,” he says with a grin. I swear, the twins only get better looking. Even in what my mom calls the awkward phase, they’re too cute for their own good.
“Oh, hi, do I know you?”
“Sure you do. I’m the guy you’re going to marry someday, remember?”
Rolling my eyes, I bite back a smile. “Decided to go to school today?”
