I woke up hot and disoriented. I could not tell if it was early morning or late at night. I forgot where I was and I needed to pee. Then I remembered I had a broken ankle. I scooted to the end of my bed and lifted myself up with my crutches. I opened the door and squinted at the bright living room light.
"Here, let me help you." It was Tyler's voice. Instantly, I thought about my hair. I had slept in a ponytail and half my hair was up and half was down. I was suddenly confused.
"No, I'm okay," I managed to squeak out, and I tried to make my way to the bathroom
"Oh, yeah, sure you're okay. You have a broken ankle and crutches and you're okay." Seeing that I was embarrassed, he stepped in front of me and opened the bathroom door. "At least let me get the door for you." He bowed. "My lady."
I hobbled into the bathroom and closed the door. I thought, "Am I dreaming? What is Tyler doing here in my house?"
I looked in the mirror. My hair wasn't as bad as I thought. I hopped to the toilet and balanced on one leg, sat the crutches down, and tried to extend my leg. The throbbing got worse. When I was done, I balanced myself at the sink and washed my hands and face. I brushed my hair and teeth and then grabbed the crutches to get out of the bathroom. I thought, Where am I going to go? I opened the door and hobbled out. Tyler was in the kitchen standing at the sink filling the ice trays.
"Do you need help getting to the sofa?" He placed a glass of water and a pain pill on the sofa end table. "Your Aunt said if you woke up after six you could have one of these."
"You met Aunt Julia?" I stumbled to the sofa. He grabbed me by the waist, set my crutches against a chair and helped me sit down.
"Yeah. She is super cool. I came over to your house to return the beach bag you left at the dance."
I thought to myself, He found my bag? He knows where I live?
"Your Aunt asked me a lot of questions. She is very protective of you."
"Yeah. She loves me. What day is it?"
"July 4th."
"This is all still the same day."
"Yep. How did you do it by the way?"
"I fell down chasing my little cousins because they were throwing snapdragons at me."
"Want me to go chase them for you?"
I smiled. "No. That's all right. Don't you have other plans tonight with your friends?"
"You're my friend."
"But we don't really know each other outside of school. Isn't it a little odd that you are here at my house?"
"Can't a guy help a friend out who broke her ankle today? Here. You should take this," he picked up the pain pill and glass of water and handed them to me.
My skin tingled all over when he touched my hand, and my stomach turned upside down.
"I broke my leg in fifth grade. I know how much it hurts. You should elevate your ankle. I'll get you a pillow."
He headed to my room before I could stop him. He got two pillows and a blanket from my bed and returned to prop my ankle up. He scooped up my leg just below my knee. Then he pulled up a dining chair beside the sofa and propped his feet up on the coffee table.
"You can go if you want. I am sure you have other plans."
"Is that how you talk to all your company?"
"No, it's just that. Don't you need to go get . . . I mean won't . . . you be with someone . . . I mean somewhere else?"
"Nope. Do you have a newspaper? We can do the word find."
I pointed to the table by the front door, and he went to get the paper. I was trying to think of how I was going to tell Jimmy Sue that Tyler was in my house, sitting right beside me, and that he cared about how I felt.
It was getting dark and the fireworks would start soon. "Tyler. I have another idea."
"What's that?"
"I was wondering if you want to go and watch the fireworks down by the lake. I know a great view."
"That sounds cool, but do you really feel like it?"
I started to get up and was reaching for my crutches. "I've had a pain pill. It's going to hurt the same regardless."
Tyler chuckled, "Well then, let's go! Let me help you. Where are we going?"
"If you head back down toward my grandparents house, there is small road that goes to the top of Granite Mountain. We will be able to see the fireworks across the lake from there."
"Sounds great!"
When we got to the porch, he took my crutches and put them in the back of his blue Ford truck, scooped me up, carried me to the truck, and set me down in the front seat.
My mind was racing as he closed the truck door. Was I really sitting in his truck? Would my mom be mad? Did I really care? It was Tyler Bowan!
He got in the truck and started it up. Before he started to back up, he reached across me to hand me my seatbelt. "I should have buckled you in."
"I can buckle myself in. I didn't break my arm." He put his hand on top of mine.
"Are you always going to be this difficult to help?"
My mind couldn't stop asking, Was this for real? Is this Tyler? Is he really talking to me, or is he using me in another game like after the bomb scare at school. Was he making fun of me? Maybe none of it was real. Maybe it was the pain medication.
Snapping back in the moment. I commented, "Nice truck."
"Thanks. It was my uncle's. He died last year and I got his truck."
"Um...turn right there." When we arrived, he helped me over to the two white chairs under the only tree on top of Granite Mountain. "This is my second favorite place," I said with a sigh.
"I can see why." He scooted his chair closer to mine. "Nice location, Ma. Do you think the kids are all asleep?" I blushed a little and giggled. I decided to play along.
"No, Pa. They are all down there swimming in the lake. I'll go get them and put them to bed soon."
"And then we can go to bed too, Ma?" I really blushed then and was searching for the right words.
"Um..."
BOOM! Fireworks saved me. Blue sparks shot across the sky and exploded into layers of silver, sparkling dust that fell softly toward the water.
"Look at that one," I said, pointing down the lake to new ones shooting off.
"Nice. Look at those two green ones."
We sat and watched in silence for a long time, and then he reached over and took my hand. I did not know what else to do but keep perfectly still. His thumb rubbed the outside of my hand, and I settled into the sweetness of the moment. The little explosions became intermittent and distant and I knew our family fireworks were all gone. I sat back a little in my chair and winced from the pain shooting up my leg.
Tyler jumped. "You're hurting. I think I should take you back."
"Not yet. I want to see if there are any more."
"No Ma'am. I am taking you back home. You have seen enough, and your Mom is going to kill me." He helped me up and we made our way back to his truck. I placed my head on his shoulder and breathed in his scent for the first time. I tried to commit his scent and touch to memory.
When we pulled up to the little red house, there were more lights on than when we left. I took a deep breath. As soon as his truck was in park, I saw the screen porch door open. Mom was in the doorway with the door leaning against her back, arms crossed.
"I was wondering where you were. I came up to check on you. I did not realize that your friend had stayed so long. I was worried that you tried to walk down to the lake."
"Sorry, Mom. We just went up on top of Granite Mountain to watch the fireworks."
Tyler helped me into the house. "Sorry Ma'am. I did not mean to worry you."
"Well, thank you for keeping her company. She really needs to go to sleep now, and you need to be going." My face turned red from embarrassment.
"Yes, Ma'am." Tyler helped me to the sofa and then sat my crutches aside. He backed away slowly and waved goodbye. "See you later."
"Bye," I said so quietly I was not even sure I spoke. The door closed behind him, and I picked up my crutches and tried to head to my room. After a few minutes, Mom came in and helped me change into pajamas.
"Did he kiss you?"
"No," I barked. "We just watched the fireworks."
"Well, you are a little young to be out so late."
"Mom, it was not a date. We just went up to Granite Mountain right by Nana and Pa's house. I mean gosh. He probably has a girlfriend." After I got into bed, she propped up my foot, flipped on the switch for the ceiling fan and then clicked the light off.
"Good night."
I turned on my side and pulled the chain on the lamp beside me. Then I opened the bottom drawer of the nightstand and pulled out my journal hidden under my socks. I wanted to write down every detail. I did not want to ever forget that night. I still could not believe that Tyler Bowan had come to my house, picked me up, and held my hand. I guess breaking my ankle was a good thing after all.