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o wear real shoes. I don’t want you dying from a snakebite on your way here.”
“I’m so excited. It’ll be so fun.” She squeals and wiggles. But this time, I don’t tell her to stop.
I’m happy, too.
I come to a stop and shrug to urge her to get down.
“You can get down now. The rest of this way is paved. Do you remember the way to your house from here?”
“Yeah, it’s just up the road, and then we turn up another road on the right, and it’s there.” She slides down. Her legs stay wrapped around mine until she’s close enough to the ground to stand up and we start walking.
“I can take you as far as that second turning, okay? You should be fine once we get closer to town.”
“I guess I’m lucky I didn’t get bitten on my way up there, huh?”
“How’d you even know it was here?”
“I saw it from my bedroom window.” She sounds out of breath, and it’s only then that I realize she’s jogging to keep up with my long strides.
I slow down but give her a disbelieving frown. “Even if your house was right here, no way could you see all the way up there from your window. It’s too far.”
“I have a telescope. My father gave it to me so I could watch the stars, but I also use it to see things that are far away. Like the cliff.”
I almost ask her what a telescope is but decide to save it for tomorrow.
If she’s only going to be here for a couple weeks, then I gotta make sure she doesn’t tell me everything all at once.
“So, you just decided to walk up there and jump off? That’s kinda crazy.” I give her a sideways frown.
She shoves me playfully. “I told you,” she giggles, and it’s catching because I laugh a little too.
“I went up there because I wanted to check it out, but when I realized how high up I was, I was gonna leave. When I turned around to pick up my stuff, I tripped on a rock and fell.”
She says all of this like it’s a good thing. I look down at her, and she smiles up at me and sidles up to me and takes my hand in hers.
“It’s lucky you were here, Graham,” she says softly.
I pull my hand out of hers and pick up my pace, so she can’t see my red face.
I’m not anyone’s hero. I’m a skinny, weird kid who reads in secret because I live in a town where no one’s allowed to read, and everyone’s miserable.
Except for me.
I’m miserable and angry.
I feel like the rest of the world is happening, and somehow, they forgot to include me.
And now I know that even my name doesn’t mean anything.
“Let’s hurry. I need to get you home before it’s dark,” I say over my shoulder.
She jogs up to my side again and chatters non stop. Instead of feeling annoyed, I feel…happy. It’s been so long since I felt it, that it takes me a moment to identify it. It feels really good. I smile down at her and slow down a little. She smiles up at me gratefully before she starts talking again.
Envy
Graham
My stomach grumbles as I climb out of my canoe. The sun has set, and my soaked clothes stick to me in cold patches that make me wish I was naked. I use my towel to protect my book and wring out my clothes as best I can.
