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"Fine, fine, I'll leave it. Just one last question, though." He cautiously looks at me from the side of his eyes. "Pleeease?" I add, giving him my puppy dog eyes and the cheesiest smile.
Clearly unable to resist, he gives in. "Fine. What do you want to know?"
"Well, it's been puzzling me for a while. How come you always seem to know when Pops leaves? He wants to meet you. He’s been keeping an eye out as he leaves, hoping he’d run into you, but never does."
"Because I wait until he’s gone."
"But how do you know when he’s gone? I've started keeping a lookout myself, yet neither of us ever sees you coming."
"That's because I hide. I come early and hide in those bushes over there," he adds, lifting his head and motioning to a patch of overgrown bushes not far away.
"Why?" I add, puzzled.
"So they don't see me," he points out matter-of-factly, before laying his head back down and continuing to stare at the sky.
His confession completely messes with my head. Part of me wants to laugh, imagining him hiding in a bush like some sort of ninja. In the same breath, my heart is breaking, acknowledging that, for some reason, he feels compelled to hide away. It’s gotten to the point that I’m pretty sure my cousins think I’m either making up our friendship or I’ve secretly befriended Casper. Despite all the fun stories I tell them every day, no one but me seems to have seen him.
"Why don't you just come over and say hello?" I ask finally.
"Because I don't want them to see me and decide I'm not good enough to be your friend," he admits, looking down at the ground and kicking up dirt.
"They'd never say that!" I gasp, but that doesn't seem to change his mind.
Nathaniel stands up and begins pacing, so I stand up to join him. "What's up?" I question as I reach out to place my hand on his shoulder to stop him.
"What if I never get to see you again?" Nathaniel whines. "I've finally found a friend, and now you're leaving me forever."
Dramatic much? "I’ll be back soon. I come here every single vacation. I feel like I'm here more than I'm at home," I explain, hoping it will calm Nathaniel.
"But that's so long away, and what if you don't come here again? You've already told me you usually stay with your Nana."
"We don't live that far away. Maybe ten minutes in the car."
"But I don't have a car," Nathaniel interrupts.
Rolling my eyes, I take a breath before continuing, "I know, but my pops does, and he works here, remember?"
"Oh yeah," Nathaniel admits, finally letting a small smile form on his solemn face.
"But how will I know when you're back again?"
"Hmm, good point."
I scratch my chin and think, wondering how we're going to keep our friendship going when we are apart, when an idea hits me. Jumping up, I explain, "So, my school has a pen pal program where we write to kids from other countries. My class has a friend named Natalia who lives in Mexico. And the class next to mine talks to a boy named Jinn from Japan…" When I’ve finally finished, although Nathaniel’s never heard of it before, we agree to be pen pals.
"And I'll write to you every day, I promise. All I need is your address."
With that, his smile drops, his posture becomes rigid, and he refuses to make eye contact.Why is he always so odd whenever I try to see where he lives? Or get to know his family? Is he ashamed of me? Does he think they won't like me? Or maybe it's that I won't like them?
"Or I can speak to my grandparents; see if I can just send them here?" I suggest.
"Really?" Nathaniel exclaims with a small smile. "You think they would let you?"
"Probably. I'll have to ask, but I'm sure Pops won't mind. He has to come here most days for work anyway, so I'm sure it'll be okay." Before I even have time to finish my sentence, Nathaniel is pulling me into a tight hug.
"I'm so happy I found you, Bella."
CHAPTER THREE
