Jeep tomorrow
if it ’ s not raining,” he orders.
“You ’ re not mad?” I wonder,
trying to read his stern face. Skyler might as well be my dad ’ s
kid for how similarly they (don ’ t) express their feelings.
“Did you get mud in the house?” he asks.
“No,” I answer him. Between the rain and the hose,
we washed everything off before we got inside. The only evidence of muddin ’ in the house is on our stained clothes and maybe a little mud
still in my hair.
“Then you have my answer,” he replies with the
slightest grin that tells me he wants me to enjoy being a kid. He ’ s
always been the biggest advocate for us creating memories as long as they aren ’ t illegal.
10 Skyler Swanson
I wish Buzz wouldn ’ t have left me alone with
Alex in the laundry room. He acts like he ’ s all cool in
front of her but as soon as she leaves everything gets fucking awkward again
like my last interrogation. This is becoming too regular.
“Where ’ d you guys go?” he questions me.
“Just down the street away from the houses. Like
halfway between here and the main road to go into town,” I tells him.
“The idea of you watching Bianca shirtless is
disgusting,” he blurts out.
“She was changing out of her muddy shirt!” I exclaim.
“And I ’ ve seen her change hundreds of times. In case you
forgot, we ’ ve all been friends since we were fucking born.”
“Okay, jeez. Lay off,” Alex pleads, backing away from
me like he ’ s scared I ’ ll hit him. I
won ’ t just because it ’ s him. If it
was anyone else it ’ d be a different story. He ’ s like my brother.
“ You need to fucking lay off,” I
demand. “She ’ s one of my best friends, and so are
you. I ’ m not picking one or the other. We all grew up
together. Don ’ t start this sibling rivalry shit now.” I
storm out of the room before he can retaliate with anything and run up to my
bedroom to shower in my parents’ bathroom and change clothes. When I come out I
hear Buzz talking to her dad, Allen, in the upstairs hallway. It ’ s
a short and sweet conversation, unlike the one her mom tried to fucking have
with her. Buzz and I cross paths as I go to my bedroom and she descends down
the stairs in loose fitting sweatpants and a Rockettes softball shirt of hers.
The number 27 plastered on her backside makes me remember how close we all were
before Alex and I entered high school. My jersey number is always seven and
Alex ’ s is two, so when it came time for Buzz to choose a
number, she combined them.
Knowing I ’ m as significant to
her as her own brother means so much to me but she ’ ll
never know that because I ’ ll probably never tell her. I ’ m too scared of jinxing it and losing her forever. She doesn ’ t know it, but she trumps anyone in my life. She ’ s
always been the most real and my best teammate by challenging me to be better
while Alex just rolls with everything. Even Benny won’t stand up to me.
As I change into dry, clean clothes, I brainstorm
ideas for things we can do this weekend that will require the three of us to be
a team again. We just need to remember what it ’ s like to
be carefree kids, us against the world.
“Is it supposed to rain all day tomorrow, too?” I ask
when I walk downstairs into the basement where all the kids are watching TV and
playing cards. I actually love that we don ’ t have wifi at
the cabin because it forces us to do things. The cable TV is for rainy days
like this; otherwise it ’ s hardly ever used.
“ I don’ t think so,” Tiffany
answers chipperly.
“ Then we ’ re
doing a summer olympics. Two
if it ’ s not raining,” he orders.
“You ’ re not mad?” I wonder,
trying to read his stern face. Skyler might as well be my dad ’ s
kid for how similarly they (don ’ t) express their feelings.
“Did you get mud in the house?” he asks.
“No,” I answer him. Between the rain and the hose,
we washed everything off before we got inside. The only evidence of muddin ’ in the house is on our stained clothes and maybe a little mud
still in my hair.
“Then you have my answer,” he replies with the
slightest grin that tells me he wants me to enjoy being a kid. He ’ s
always been the biggest advocate for us creating memories as long as they aren ’ t illegal.
10 Skyler Swanson
I wish Buzz wouldn ’ t have left me alone with
Alex in the laundry room. He acts like he ’ s all cool in
front of her but as soon as she leaves everything gets fucking awkward again
like my last interrogation. This is becoming too regular.
“Where ’ d you guys go?” he questions me.
“Just down the street away from the houses. Like
halfway between here and the main road to go into town,” I tells him.
“The idea of you watching Bianca shirtless is
disgusting,” he blurts out.
“She was changing out of her muddy shirt!” I exclaim.
“And I ’ ve seen her change hundreds of times. In case you
forgot, we ’ ve all been friends since we were fucking born.”
“Okay, jeez. Lay off,” Alex pleads, backing away from
me like he ’ s scared I ’ ll hit him. I
won ’ t just because it ’ s him. If it
was anyone else it ’ d be a different story. He ’ s like my brother.
“ You need to fucking lay off,” I
demand. “She ’ s one of my best friends, and so are
you. I ’ m not picking one or the other. We all grew up
together. Don ’ t start this sibling rivalry shit now.” I
storm out of the room before he can retaliate with anything and run up to my
bedroom to shower in my parents’ bathroom and change clothes. When I come out I
hear Buzz talking to her dad, Allen, in the upstairs hallway. It ’ s
a short and sweet conversation, unlike the one her mom tried to fucking have
with her. Buzz and I cross paths as I go to my bedroom and she descends down
the stairs in loose fitting sweatpants and a Rockettes softball shirt of hers.
The number 27 plastered on her backside makes me remember how close we all were
before Alex and I entered high school. My jersey number is always seven and
Alex ’ s is two, so when it came time for Buzz to choose a
number, she combined them.
Knowing I ’ m as significant to
her as her own brother means so much to me but she ’ ll
never know that because I ’ ll probably never tell her. I ’ m too scared of jinxing it and losing her forever. She doesn ’ t know it, but she trumps anyone in my life. She ’ s
always been the most real and my best teammate by challenging me to be better
while Alex just rolls with everything. Even Benny won’t stand up to me.
As I change into dry, clean clothes, I brainstorm
ideas for things we can do this weekend that will require the three of us to be
a team again. We just need to remember what it ’ s like to
be carefree kids, us against the world.
“Is it supposed to rain all day tomorrow, too?” I ask
when I walk downstairs into the basement where all the kids are watching TV and
playing cards. I actually love that we don ’ t have wifi at
the cabin because it forces us to do things. The cable TV is for rainy days
like this; otherwise it ’ s hardly ever used.
“ I don’ t think so,” Tiffany
answers chipperly.
“ Then we ’ re
doing a summer olympics. Two
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