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“We’re going to stay up all night.” I grin.
“I’ve never done that before. I don’t know if I can,” she admits, biting the side of her lip.
“Me neither. But I wanna try. I want it to be with you,” I say, shoving my hands into the pockets of my jeans. I’m already dressed for our move. One less thing that will take any more time away from Lily.
She smiles sweetly. “Okay.”
We move to the middle of her big backyard. Far enough from the tree, so we have an open view of the night sky.
She helps me lay the big blanket on the grass, then we sit down on it, covering ourselves up with the smaller blankets.
“I would have brought pillows but Mom would have noticed if they were missing,” I say, leaning back.
“It’s okay. It’ll make it easier to stay awake,” she says, lying down, too.
Her words make me smile as we settle in.
We lay there for a little while, just watching the stars and taking in the nighttime sounds.
“It’s so peaceful this time of the night,” she finally whispers, breaking the silence.
“That’s because the latest we’ve ever stayed up is eleven. And even then, it was the Fourth of July, so it was noisy all night,” I say, resting my head in my hands.
“That’s true. What time is it now?”
“Three, I think. I had to make sure Mom and Dad were in bed before I came over. They were up late packing.”
“Oh.” She doesn’t say anything else, but I can hear in her voice that she’s sad. I made her sad by bringing up the move again.
Great move, London. Real, good.
I clear my throat and roll over, propping myself up on my elbow.
“My dad said once there was a radio broadcast about the Martian invasion. It was before the internet and people started freaking out over it,” I whisper, watching her expression shift.
“Really?” Lily says, rolling over to face me. Her eyes are lit up now. I love they way they do that.
I nod. “Yeah. It was just a story. They didn’t know that, though. It’s funny now, but I guess people were really scared. They thought the Martians were actually attacking.”
“That’s crazy,” Lily breathes, then a devilish grin appears on her face. “I wish we would have heard it.”
“You would have loved it.”
Her expression turns quizzical. “How do you know?”
“Because I know you, silly.” I roll my eyes. “Why do you think I brought it up?”
Another sad smile rises and she lays back down. “Thank you.”
“For what?”
“This. I’m going to miss you so much.” Her voice cracks and when I turn to look at her, tears are welling up in her eyes.
“Lily, don’t cry. Please. I didn’t want to make you cry.”
She wipes the tears away with the back of her hand. “You didn’t.”
“It sure seems like I did.” I frown.
