Beyond the Hedge

(12) Beyond Miss.Magic

"Bad side? And is there a reason that I would get on your bad side? I'm Josh! I don't get on anyone's bad side!" He smiles.

And after seeing his smile, I feel a little better than I did when we were in the Hedge. I put one earbud in my ear and listened to Taylor Swift. That's something to keep me from saying more than I should. I still don't know if Josh is allowed to go back with me next time I do go into the Hedge.

I lifted my head to give a small smile, trying to disguise my thoughts. "Tell that to Alex. Ever since you pushed me when we were playing soccer and I almost fell on top of her- Oh my gosh. You looked like you were going to pee your pants."

Now I was full on laughing. I'm not like most girls. I don't giggle, chuckle, scoff- no. I burst out laughing like a seal, clapping my hands or throwing my head back, holding my sides, and turn red if I find something funny. Then, I repeat it again and laugh harder. Yes, I'm weird. Who isn't? I'm myself.

"Hey, in my defense-" He starts but I interrupt.

"And you were playing defense too!" I laugh harder. I find this funny but we were little kids the memory stayed. The best part is that I remembered Josh's team lost and we ended up getting ice cream.

He laughs too. Smiling, I get up and head to my closet to take out a shoe box. I look through my shoe boxes to find something I've saved for five years- long before everything changed. I hear Josh say from his place in the beanbag,"I never got to finish telling my side of my story!"

And I could almost see him throw his hands up to make his point.

"Wait, what are you looking for?" He questions.

Well, it took him long enough.

I take out the box I have full of hedge material and climb onto my bed. I gesture for Josh to come over and sit right next to me.

"Is it really that important that I have to get up?" he asks me. It sounded more like he's whining.

"Come on, Lazy. I want to show you something." I'm still smiling as he looks at the box I have on my lap and finally decides to get up.

"It's a miracle!" I laugh. If thought I was the lazy one, Josh could give me a run for my money. If I had any.

"Shut up and open the box." He laughs.

"Okay. Okay." I dump the shoe box upside down, "I've been saving this ever since my mother gave it to me." I say and watch as he picks up a bunch of articles to look them over.

"You have no idea how long I wanted to tell you this," I state. I figured if I opened up to him now, and I would have to erase his memory later, I wouldn't feel bad about it as much as I have since I came back.

In a way, I feel happy about telling Josh what I've been hiding this whole time. For three years, I tried to act normal around him. I'm also afraid of being kicked out of the Hedge if people find out Josh wasn't a Hedge.

"So, I'm not going to be able to tell my side of the story, am I?" He pouts.

"No. Now read this while I tell you what happened. Or, you know what?" I sit up from my bed and look for my messenger bag. When I find it on the floor by the door, I sigh.

"Too far, but worth it," I say and get up to rummage through it. The lazy struggles.

"So, these are the groups? The Hedges, the Lotuses- Wait, is there a group that's actually called 'Wise Guys'?"

He looked up in time to see me give him a nod. He continued to read the schedule that I received when I first entered the hedge. I was twelve. Everything from the hedge that was in my family was in that small box but it wasn't like he was going to remember any of it.