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I nod at him. I don’t say the darkness doesn’t scare me. I don’t say I stay in the darkness most of the time since my mom always locks me inside the closet to pray.
“Your family would worry about you,” I protest, even though I’d like to watch fireworks with him.
“I’m a big boy, Nikki. They don’t worry about me,” he says, sitting next to me.
“How old are you?”
“I’m twelve. You?”
“I’m ten,” I answer.
“See? You’re too young to be outside alone.” He grins. I don’t protest. I like spending time with him. He’s nice and funny.
“Wait here. I’m coming back,” he says and runs back to his house.
When he comes back, he lays down on the grass.
“I brought chocolate.” He gives me a piece of it.
We can’t spend much time together, but whenever I can sneak out of the house, he brings me chocolate.
“You’ll make me fat,” I say, taking a big bite of my favorite sweet.
“You’re thin. You won’t be fat.”
I shrug and enjoy my chocolate.
“My parents will send me to a summer camp tomorrow,” he says.
“Oh.” I turn to face him, suddenly not so interested in the fireworks. “How long you’ll be there?”
“Two weeks. I wish you could come, too. It’d be so much fun.”
“You sound excited.”
“I am,” he says.
“I’m sure you’ll have fun,” I say, but can’t help adding, “Will I see you when you come back?”
“Of course, I’ll tell you everything that happened there, so you’ll feel like you were there with me.”
I like this idea. “Okay.”
Turning my head back up to the sky I watch as colors explode in the darkness.
***
There is no firework when I open my eyes. The sky is still dark, but it’s getting lighter. I’ve fallen asleep. I turn around on the hard ground only to face with Nick. My eyes widen in surprise. He’s still sleeping, and there is a small smile playing on his lips even as he sleeps.
Looking at my house, I softly shake him.
“Nick. Nick, wake up,” I whisper.
He stirs in his sleep and slowly opens his eyes. “Hi, Nikki,” he murmurs.
“We fell asleep. You need to go, and I need to get inside,” I whisper-shout at him.
After stretching, he gets up to his feet and pulls me up with him. I quickly walk under my window. He follows me. “Let me help you up,” he says.
