Like Normal Kids Do (Sapnotfound)

Chapter Nine

Sapnap shrugged from the tree. "Reach out and grab it."

With a deep breath, George readied himself, then inched out of the window and jumped. As soon as he felt the branch, he grabbed onto it as though his life depended on it; in a way, it did.

The branch creaked under his and Sapnap's weight. They quickly made it to the next branch and kept jumping down until they landed safely on the ground. The soft grass tickled George's feet as he walked.

The space between their houses could hold a tree, so surely it would be no trouble finding a spot to sit, right? However, the tree covered the space between the fences and made it impossible to see the sky.

George's frustration built up as he searched for the perfect spot. He turned to Sapnap, who laid halfway on the sidewalk and halfway in the road.

"What are you doing in the road?" He asked, making his way to Sapnap.

"Looking at the stars? Duh." Sapnap patted the concrete next to him.

"What if someone drives through here? We'll get squished."

Sapnap sat up and slowly looked at him. "George. It's five in the morning, who the hell is coming through here?"

George rolled his eyes. "Fair point I guess. Still, I don't want to be roadkill if we don't hear someone coming."

"I'll keep an eye out, if that makes you feel any better."

"No one would feel safe with you on watch," He joked, but settled beside Sapnap. The cold concrete against his bare arms shot a chill up his spine. A gust of wind blew by, and he shivered. Of course he would be the one to forget a jacket in the crisp air of the fall.

"Are you cold?" Sapnap asked.

George shook his head. "No way, I'm burning up," He lied.

"You're shivering."

"Not. Cold."

After arguing back and forth, Sapnap ultimately won. George felt a little guilty, but Sapnap had insisted that he was naturally cold and shoved the jacket at him.

George hesitantly slipped the jacket over his shoulders and huddled in its warmth. The faint smell of cinnamon and apple made him discretely bury his nose a little further into the fabric.

A comfortable silence fell over them as their focuses drifted to the glittering sky above. Sapnap glanced at George and smiled. The stars reflected in George's eyes, making them sparkle.

It was George that first broke the quiet. "So, how did you jump the tree so easily?"

Sapnap tore his eyes from his friend and looked back up at the sky. "Quack and I used to scale trees when we were kids. We would jump from tree to tree and try to catch each other."

"He's the one that works at the bakery, right?"

"Yeah, he's the bakers son."

"That's what I thought. Ari loves his chocolate cakes."

"Isn't that what you had the day you fell into the puddle?"

George's face heated up. "We don't talk about that."

Sapnap's quiet chuckle faded into another silence between the two. A couple of cars passed by, and they scooted back onto the sidewalk. Sapnap complained both times about how it was "too damn early for any sane person to be awake."

After a little while, Sapnap sat up to lean back on his elbows. "What if we got struck by lightning right now?"

George blinked a couple of times. "What."