Disclaimer: This is part of an original work of fiction. These characters belong to me, as well as their lives. Do not steal them from me.
Thanks. Enjoy.
~~~
About a week later, on a Friday, I arrive at the baseball field just before they're going to get let out. Coach Van has them all in a huddle, and Emily is right in the middle of it all.
"All right, get out of here," I hear Coach call to them, and they scatter.
I walk to the side of the dugout where Emily jogs off to, to collect her duffel bag. There's a small window, and she sees me walk up.
"Oh, hey, August," she says with a smile. "It'll only be a second."
"Sure."
A few of the guys walk into the dugout as well, giving me the short, upward jerk of the head reserved just for me. I return it.
Sellers walks in, and I fight the same urge I've been getting around him for about a week- I'm not going to flip him off, or cuss at him. Gratifying though it would be, I'd like to believe I'm better than that. I'd like to be- I'm not sure I am.
Emily emerges from the dugout still in her practice clothes, but she's changed out of her cleats. Ever since Sellers pulled her down during practice, she's worn nothing but shorts. I haven't asked why, but I think it's so that he can see that she doesn't care. Either that, or jeans rub the sores the wrong way.
"Ready?" I ask.
"Yeah." She says, and we walk away.
I know that Emily and I are just friends. I know. But there is something really interesting about her. When I walk with her- to school, home from baseball- or when I sit and have tea with her, I get this feeling. She reminds me of everything I'm afraid of- coming out to my parents, getting kicked out because of it. She reminds me that there are bad people in the world- people like Jake Sellers, for instance. But she doesn't remind me of all that because she's part of it, or resembles it. She reminds me of it because she's in the thick of it all, and she doesn't let it carry her away.
She's grounded, those are the words I'm looking for.
"What are you thinking about?" she asks, derailing my train of thought- safely. No passengers were harmed.
"Trains."
She snorts. "Of course you are. Who isn't?"
"You, I'm guessing."
She attempts to imitate my game show announcer voice- badly. "Survey says: you're right! I'm not."
"Uh huh," I say, elbowing her in the ribs. "What does the survey say you're thinking about?"
"Tonight. I'm pretty stoked," she says.
"Me too."
Tonight, my parents both went out of town to visit my moldy old maiden aunt Lena in the next state, and I was staying over with Emily. We were planning on sleeping up in the tree house that someone left in three trees in her back yard about six years ago.
"Do you think it'll rain, though? A bunch of the guys were talking about it," She says, looking worried.
I glance up at the sky, with only a few grey-ish clouds in sight.
"No way. It hasn't rained in months," I reply, not wanting to confirm it and ruin our plans.
~~~
We're sitting at her small kitchen table, with her in her usual spot facing the window, and me- in her stepdad's chair- facing her.
"Oh, shit," she says, looking out the window.
"What?" I ask, though not turning around to see for myself because I'm pretty sure of her answer.
"It's raining. I guess we're stuck inside." She lays her head on the table on top of her hands, her face in a crooked sort of frown that makes her much younger than she is.
"I guess so," I say, thinking.
"I just really like sleeping outdoors," she says. "I haven't been camping since I was living with Dad last."
"Wait here," I say, abruptly standing up from the table, almost knocking over my tea.
I'm halfway out her back door when I hear her hesitant "Okay?" in response.
I vault myself over her short side gate and into my own back yard. I streak over to our garage and wrench open the door, and run inside and turn on the light before the door rolls back down on top of me. I dig around in the piles of my father's things, knowing that if I went deep enough, it would be there.
Then I see it- there's no mistaking that bright turquoise polyester bag anywhere.
I run back to Emily, getting sopping wet in the process.
"You're back," she says, standing with a massive smile on her face.
"Just wait," I say, rushing to her bedroom. I'm sure it's big enough. I'm sure there's enough room.
"Uh, Aug?" she asks while I take it out of its bag, standing in the middle of her bedroom. "Whatcha got there?"
Once I have it out of its bag, all it takes is one small toss and fwop! there's a bright blue two-man tent in the middle of Emily's bedroom.
"How the Hell did you just do that?" she asks, after a second, her mouth refusing to shut.
"It's the type of tent- you don't ever take it apart, you just twist it to put it away, and toss it to set it up," I say proudly.
"Another thing- why is it in my room? As opposed to being outside?" She says with that "you silly thing" look on her face that means she thinks she's right.
"Oh. Well, we lost the stakes and the rain slick, so-"
"In any other situation, it would be useless."
"Yup. Climb in."
I unzip the door and she crawls in, me right behind her. She sits cross-legged on one side, and I mirror her.
"So? What do you say?" I ask. "Are we going to camp indoors?"
"I guess so." She smiles.
Just then, her mother and stepdad come home- they take a couples Tai Kwon Do class on Fridays, Emily tells me.
"Emmy? Are you home, baby?" I hear her mother call.
"Yeah, mom! Come here, check this out!" Emily calls back.
They walk into her room to see us peering out of the tent's door, grins on our faces.
"Emily, what are you doing?" asks her stepdad. He says it like it's directed to her, but he's staring straight at me, one eyebrow cocked.
"We're camping!" she says, looking giddy like a little kid.
"Indoors," I add, cooly looking her stepdad in the eye.
"Oh, you crazy girls," says Emily's mother, shaking her head with a smile. "Have fun."
They both leave, and Emily and I get on with our night. But I can't stop thinking about her stepdad and how he stared at me.
~~~
It's one in the morning- my glowing watch's face tells me so- and I'm about to die of thirst.
Two hours ago, I suggested to Emily that we go to sleep. She's got a long practice tomorrow- later today, I guess- and staying up all night won't help her with keeping up with the team.
We both toss a lot in our sleep- I know I do- but our twisted up sleeping bags are laying in a mess to confirm this. I woke up a few minutes ago, surprised to find her face only half a foot from mine and her hair somehow curving above her head toward me.
I carefully get up and tip toe my way down the hall toward the kitchen, in search of a glass for water. I arrive in the kitchen to see her stepdad sitting there on a laptop, typing away, with files spread all over the table around him.
"Hello," I whisper, just to let him know I'm here.
"Hey." he whispers back, not even looking at me this time. "Need something?"
"Glass of water."
"Go for it."
I fill up a glass and take two huge gulps, finally rehydrating the dry spot on my tongue that woke me up.
"So when are you going to ask her out?" he says, and I freeze, halfway to putting the glass down.
"I- well-" I don't know what to say. Who asks a girl they hardly know questions like this? And in the early hours of the morning, no less. I place my empty glass on the counter next to the sink. I decide on honesty. "I hadn't really intended to, sir."
"That's a shame. She really likes you."
Oh.
I look at the ground. I really don't know what to say. I walk toward Emily's room again, ready for this ambush of a conversation to be over. I'm two steps in the hall when I turn around and decide to finish it.
"Say I did ask her out." I say, and he actually looks at me again, his face blank. He's exhausted. "Would that be all right with you?"
"That would be a better question for her dad."
"And how would I ask him?"
"You could call him," he tilts his head to the side. "Or you could wait until he comes at the end of the summer to help her move in with him."
So soon?
"She's leaving at the end of the summer?"
"Yeah. The middle of August." He smirks, probably enjoying the coincedence of my name and the month. Everyone did.
"Oh."
I turn to go back to bed, and he stops me with his words.
"For what it's worth, I'd be okay with it. You and her. I think it'd be good."
I say nothing, just nod.
I go back and lie down next to her on my back with my hands under my head. I'm thinking.
If she leaves in the middle of August, we have... Well, it's the beginning of April... We have almost four months, I think.
I've never wanted a girlfriend before, really. Mainly because I'm not out of the closet to everyone yet- I wouldn't be able to tell anyone about her- not that I really have many people who would listen. I wouldn't be able to take her out, or hold her hand, or kiss her in public. What would be the point?
Emily sighs in her sleep and reaches out one arm, unseeing, to wrap around my ribcage. I don't know what exactly to do- it's not every night that a really attractive girl cuddles up to me. So I just wrap my arm around her, too, easing it under her neck so my hand is on her shoulder.
Then it hits me- my train of thought forcefully gets shoved back on the tracks- it doesn't matter.
It doesn't matter if I would be able to show the world that she's mine. If I had a girlfriend- say, Emily, for example- I would have her when I really need her. I really could have used a girlfriend this past year- when I cut off all of my long hair, especially.
If I had a girfriend, I would have her for moments like this- curled up together in the middle of the night, knowing no one can see.
I seriously pity anyone who has never known this sliver of heaven.
~~~
AN:
Question for Comments: What is the silliest thing you've ever done with someone you like?
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