The Boy Next Door

sneaking out and "i love you"

"Heyyy Eb!" He says, trying to fix his hair.

"Hey! How was your day?"

"Great... But tiring."

"I'll bet!"

"How was yours?"

"Well, pretty boring considering my three friends in the whole country were busy."

"Awe, I'm sorry Eb! Hey, let me make it up to you. Wanna meet in my yard at 10:00, after everyone's asleep? We can hang out by the water for a little while, it'll be nice."

"That sounds lovely."

"Brill!" I laugh at his use of British slang. "Listen Eb, I gotta go take a shower, but I'll see you at 10:00."

"Right, see you at 10:00." And I hang up. For the remaining 45 minutes, I put my hair in a dutch braid and watch the Bratayley video of the day. It's of Caleb's baseball practice and Katie and the girls shopping for school. They're so funny. I'm lucky to have them as my friends. Soon it's 9:55 and I sneak out of the house silently. Caleb's sitting on one of the lawn chairs, holding a can and sipping from it.

"Hey Eb!" He says.

"Hey!" I sit down at the end of the long lawn chair with him. "Whatcha got there?" I ask, pointing to the can.

"Cream soda," he says.

"Cream soda? What? Is it a drink?"

"Yeah, it's soda. You know, carbonated and stuff?"

"Oh! In England we call it a fizzy drink."

"Fizzy drink?"

"Mhmm, so... Does your soda taste like cream?"

"Um, I dunno, you can try it." He says, handing it to me. Even though it's dark out, I can hear he's smiling. I take a swig and need to do everything I can not to spit it out. It's so gross! I hand the drink back to Caleb, my hand firmly over my mouth, trying to swallow. When I finally do I take a deep breath, trying to get some air.

"That is so icky!" Caleb laughs so hard he needs to put the drink down and doubles over. "What? Why are you laughing so hard?"

"Nothing, Eb, you're perfect. Then he leans back in the chair and I put my head on his chest and listen to his heart beat. He strokes my hair and we look up in the stars.

"Did you ever go to school, like not homeschooling?"

"Yeah..."

"What was it like? I mean, why did you start homeschooling?"

"Well, there were a couple reasons. The first was Bratayley, and the second was I didn't really have many friends. I wasn't having the best time in 6th grade, and Mom was already thinking about homeschooling because of Bratayley, and then when I suggested the idea she took it immediately and I began. I really loved it. Then Hayley did it, and eventually Annie joined us. It works really well for our family."

"What school was the one that you left?" He's silent. Something tells me it was Carter.

"Eb, you'll do fine."

"You really think so?"

"I know so." Tears begin to burn in my eyes and I try to wipe them away. Caleb pulls me into a sitting position, and we sit beside each other on the chair. Now that my eyes have adjusted to the darkness, I can see him. He takes his thumb and gently wipes away a tear running down my face. "It's okay, you can cry."

"No," I wipe away the rest of my tears and take a deep breath. "I'm going to stop." Caleb smiles.

"Good, I love it when your happy. It makes me happy."

"God Caleb, you're so great. I don't know what I'd do without you."

"Eb, I have no idea what I'd do if I didn't have you."

"I lo- I mean, I-" I stammer. It just slipped out.

"I love you, Ebony." He says, and pulls me into him.

"I love you, Caleb." And I close my eyes and lean in. Our lips touch and then we kiss. This one lasts for longer than the first, and tastes like cream soda. We both pull away at the same time."

"I love you so much." He says, brushing a loose strand of hair behind my ear. We lean back and continue to star gaze. "Are the stars in America... Different from the stars in England?"

I think for a second. "Yeah, the American stars are brighter, and bigger. They're happy and bold." Then we keep stargazing.

"Should we go back to our houses?" I ask about twenty minutes later. It's 11:45. I don't get a response from Caleb. I turn around to see his face, he's fallen asleep. He looks so adorable when he's sleeping, and I've had more interactions where he falls asleep and I end up staring at him then you'd think. I lightly kiss him awake. "Caleb," I whisper, "time to go home."

"Wha? Oh, sorry Eb, baseball practice was really intense today and..." He yawns.

"I get it." I say, and kiss him on the cheek, then stand up. He stands up next to me and gives me a hug.

"Good night, Ebony."

"Goodnight, Caleb. I love you."

"I love you." He says back, and I head up to the house. I successfully sneak up to my room and fall asleep.