Childhood Lovers

Childhood Lovers. 23

Chase and Tyler came back, laughing. Wrapping his arm around her shoulders, Tyler led Carmen down the hallway.

“So I apologized to Tyler for acting so irrationally, and he totally understood, so we’re all better,” Chase said, smiling with satisfaction.

“That’s great!”

“Yeah, I’m really happy. And he said we are more than welcome to spend the night with them,” Chase said. “They’ve already got a room and everything.”

“Won’t that be . . . awkward?”

Chase cocked his head to the side, puzzled by my words.

“Because . . . I told Tyler I couldn’t be friends with him anymore,” I explained, sullenly.

“Oh that? Just because you were even willing to do that for me, shows that I can trust you,” Chase said, stroking my jaw line. “If you were able to cut off all connection with him, that must mean you have no feelings for him. Besides, Tyler seems into Carmen, so I’m not worried about him trying to steal you away.”

“So, does that mean I can be friends with him again?” I asked, trying to swallow my excitement.

“Of course,” Chase said, twisting his fingers in my jean belt loops, pulling me closer to him. “You know, I would have never actually made you end your friendship with him, but I’m glad you did it on your own, because it shows me you were willing to do anything to win my trust back.”

Gazing into his eyes, I stood on my tip toes so that my lips reached his. Delicately, our lips touched, sending an electric shock through my body.

“Come on,” Chase whispered, breaking the kiss. “We should probably tell our parents where we will be for the night.”

Slipping our arms around each other, we searched for our parents. We found them, huddled in a corner. My parents were chatting about the earthquake, while Rebecca was on the phone. I shot my mother a puzzled look.

“John,” she mouthed. From that, I tuned into Rebecca’s side of the conversation.

“Well, I’m glad to hear everything is okay over there . . .  no, we’re not sure how much damage is done, but I’m sure insurance will cover it . . . uh huh . . . okay, I’ll call them . . . yeah we’re all fine, the kids are here too . . . yeah one sec . . .” Rebecca took the phone off her ear, and covered the mouth piece with her hand. “Chase, he’s asking for you.”

With a deep breath, Chase took the phone. When he heard John’s voice, his eyes instantly brightened. Wandering as he talked, Chase broke into full conversation.

“I’m glad to see Chase is willing to talk,” Rebecca commented. “I just hope he’ll want to visit John soon.”

“Baby steps,” my mother cooed. She was right; Chase just needed some time, and eventually he’d build up to it. Yet, time was running out, and nobody could predict when it was too late.

Time can be both positive and detrimental. Sometimes, time is the best remedy to any situation. But sometimes, time is of the essence, and if you lose track of it, it bites you in the ass.

Thinking of this, I realized that the sand in the summer hour glass was draining fast. It was already late July, and time was flying by. Chase and I haven’t even discussed what was going to happen once the summer ended.

Chase came back, with a huge smile on his face.

“Your turn,” he said, extending his hand that held the cell phone.

“Hey Uncle John.”

“Hey kiddo,” he spoke, in a scratchy, weak voice. “Holding down the fort for me?”