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I was biding my time.
It was Saturday night and way past our bedtime.
I was focused on my tree house.
Last summer, Callie would sneak up into my treehouse every Saturday night. Most nights I would go out and say hi to her. Sometimes I’d stay, but most of the time I’d just take her a sandwich and leave her be. I didn’t want to make her uncomfortable. She’d stopped coming as soon as the cold weather snapped into place, which was near Halloween of last year.
She hasn’t been back since.
The school year flew by, winter came. Spring passed, and now summer had arrived.
Tonight, the music from down the road echoed through our open windows, along with the laughing and revving engines. My family found a way to ignore it, but to me it was an anthem, a call to go outside and see if my friend had come.
“I’m not a sore loser, I’m just tired,” I said, pushing away from the table. I was lying, but I’d do anything to get him off my back.
“See if Jake wants a go.”
Dustin stood and stretched his arms above his head. He was thirteen now, three years older than me, and two years younger than Jake.
“Nah, I want to go watch TV now that Mom and Dad went to bed.”
Our parents were strict, and religious. Any chance of freedom we found, we grabbed hold of it. Watching television after hours was one of our favorite things about summer, but it still didn’t hold a candle to my possible guest arriving tonight.
The house was quiet as I gathered two sleeping bags, two pillows, and my backpack. Thankfully, no one was watching. If they had been, there would be a lot of questions.
I made sure the screen door didn’t slam as I exited and walked down the porch. Tonight, the moon was bright, and the crickets weren’t as loud, but my insides seemed jumpier than normal.
Once I cleared the top of the treehouse, I began to roll out the sleep sacks, trying not to let my hopes get too high. As I waited, thoughts began to expand in my head.
What if she didn’t come? What if she never came back and I never saw her again?
I must have drifted off to sleep at some point because I woke with a jolt as I heard the sound of the hatch opening.
“Wes?” Callie whispered, and hearing her voice again made sparks prance under my skin.
I sat up quickly and tried to adjust my vision to the dark.
“Callie?”
She crawled all the way inside and lowered the wooden door.
“Yeah, it’s me.”
I sat cross-legged, still wearing the shorts and T-shirt I had on earlier.
“I didn’t know if you would come again,” I finally said after the silence stretched too long.
She carefully situated the pillow on the sleeping bag.
“You brought this for me?”
I nodded, but then wasn’t sure if she could see me.
“Figured we could leave it up here for you…in case you need it and I’m not out here.”
“Are you going somewhere this summer?” she asked, tugging the backpack I had brought open.
I didn’t want to go anywhere for the summer, but it was too late to change any of it. “Camp, in a week or so, then my grandparents’ house for a bit. How about you?”
