"i'm lonely," josh murmured one day, a few weeks later, when the warmth of summer had faded into red leaves and apples that fell into wooden buckets and fingers that froze in the mornings.
"me too," tyler confessed. he didn't think he had ever told anyone that before.
"i haven't seen you at school," josh told him. "i'm beginning to think that you're just part of my imagination." he laughed hollowly, and it echoed somewhere in tyler's empty bones.
"i'm homeschooled," tyler said quietly. "i'm sorry. i should have told you earlier."
josh lay down, and pulled his knees up to his chest. a cloud of dirt was kicked up from where his feet had been. his shoes were old, tyler noticed, and the laces were always coming undone. tyler mirrored his friend, closing his eyes.
"you're lucky," josh said. "everyone at school hates me already."
"why?" how could they hate someone so warm? someone who made the world so still and easy to understand?
"i'm the new kid," josh said bitterly. "what's there to like?"
"i like you," tyler said, and his voice trailed off into silence. "you're..." tyler stopped, looking for the words, paging through the dictionary. "safe."
tyler didn't see it, but josh smiled and it was like the sun had enveloped them in summer for one last moment. it was still and warm and peaceful.
safe.