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“I’m trying to get this stupid blanket tied up here, but I can’t get it over the top of the thing.” She emphasizes the last word as she jumps up again, failing to throw it over the beam above.
I smile at her. She looks really pretty today.
“Want some help?”
“Yes, please.”
I grip the wood boards nailed into the trunk of the tree like ladder rungs as I climb toward the trap door in the fort’s wood floor. The hatch is stiff, but I push it open and hoist myself up.
Bridget is almost seven years old, I’m eight and am a little taller than her but not by much.
“Here,” she says as she hands me the blanket and some string.
“What are we hanging a blanket up for?”
“To decorate, it’s curtains.” She sighs as she looks around. “When I grow up, I’m going to live in this tree fort.”
“You can’t live here, where would you go to the bathroom?” I grunt as I jump up and throw the rope over the beam.
“I’ll have my husband build a bathroom, right”—she crosses the floor and spins around, pointing at an imaginary spot she deems acceptable—“here.”
“What husband?” I ask with a laugh, but my face heats a little. I’ve always liked Birdie. She’s funny, she’s not afraid of bugs—’cept for ladybugs—her rock collection is awesome, and she’s one of the prettiest girls I’ve ever seen. Especially her eyes, her gray eyes look like this marble I got at the fair last year. Sometimes I wonder if she likes me too, but I’m too afraid to ask. Plus, I wouldn’t want Jack to know. He’d probably make fun of us. I can hear him already,Lonan and Birdie sittin’ in a tree...
“I don’t know who he is... but when I meet him someday, he’s going to be the most perfect man in the whole wide world,” she says with her arms out wide. “He’s going to say nice things to me and build lots of cool stuff for the fort, like a bathroom, a skylight so we can watch the stars, and a garden outside so we can grow vegetables. But only the good vegetables, not the gross ones.”
“What about me? What if I want to live here too? This isn’t just your fort, you know.”
“Do you know how to build things?”
“I can build things. I built a birdhouse with your dad, remember? It’s just like that, only bigger.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” She grins. “Okay. You can be my husband.”
“Just like that? Cool.”
“Well, we have to be boyfriend-girlfriend before we get married. And we have to do nice stuff for each other; like you have to take me out for cotton candy ice cream, and I have to bake you snickerdoodle cookies because they’re your favorite.”
How does she know snickerdoodles are my favorite? I can do those things; I love those cookies.
“And we have to kiss.”
She’s looking down at her hands, chipping away at her light pink nail polish.Uh... I don’t know how to kiss.She peers up from her nails and cocks her head to the side. “Do you like-like me, Lonan?
I stare. What if she doesn’t like-like me back? I don’t know what I’m supposed to say, but I better say something soon, because it looks like she might cry. I open my mouth but close it again. Should I tell her the truth? I’ve never told a girl I like-like her before. But this is Birdie I’m talking to, I can’t lie to her.
“Yeah, Bridg. I like-like you.” She looks at me with those gray eyes of hers, and I’m a goner.
“Me too. I mean, I like-like you too.”
We can’t stop looking at each other. I don’t want to make the first move, but I don’t think she will either. It’s now or never.
“So, uh... can I kiss you now?” My voice shakes as I say it, and I hope she didn’t notice.
“Yeah, you can kiss me.” She blushes.
Wait, now I actually have to do it. Crap, I don’t know how to kiss a girl! Am I supposed to turn my head like they do on TV? What if I have bad breath? What did I have for lunch today? Oh yeah, I ate whatever was left in that can of fruit cocktail in the fridge. Sure, it tasted a little like pennies but was fine otherwise. And fruit smells good, right? I wonder if Birdie likes the smell of fruit cocktail...
She’s blushing, so she must be nervous too. Thank God I’m not the only one.
