SWNOVELS Chapter 7 Fork In The Road
Ahh, the great outdoors! The colorful leaves were still clinging to the trees, the squirrels were scurrying around, the birds chirping, and even a few neighborhood dogs were out for a walk with their owners. Some of them even waved hello!
Being a kid again was awesome! It’s not every day you can say or do whatever you want without having to worry about a job, girlfriend, or even college. Just you, your friends, and the freedom to explore.
I was really enjoying myself, maybe a little too much. But me and Al were having the time of our lives, racing along the forest path, messing around, and trying to outdo each other with tricks and other dumb kid stuff. But something told me that my new friend was deeply troubled, and it was starting to affect her. As the minutes ticked by, she became more anxious and paranoid, constantly looking over her shoulder like she was expecting someone. I was already stressed, so I didn’t need her stress on top of mine. I asked her what was wrong, which was a huge mistake. You never ask a girl if she’s okay, because she’s not. I learned that the hard way with my girlfriend.
“I can’t believe Josh couldn’t hang out with us today, Ben,” she said, pouting. “He would’ve had a field day knowing you beat me again.”
“Things happen, Al,” I said.
“Don’t you think I know that?” she snapped. “And why are you even defending him? He started it.”
I was afraid this might happen, but I had a plan. “I’m not,” I said. “It’s just... look, he told me yesterday how much he’s sorry and—”
“But does that make up for all the other times he’s said stuff like that to my face?” She huffed and puffed. I had to stop and think about it, then shake my head.
“I’m sorry, Ben. I know you’re just trying to help, but my new bestie Brittney is right. She said I need to hear it from Josh’s slimy mouth first before I do anything.” She paused and spread her arms out. “And where is he?”
I shrugged. She looked around, waiting for an answer. When I didn’t have one, she answered for me. “At some stupid quinceañera in the city. That’s where. If he cared even a little, he would have called or texted by now.”
I sighed. This was going to be a long day.
“But Al—-” She cut me off mid sentence and said,
“I know what you’re gonna say, so I’ll say it for you,” then coughed and mocked my tone of voice. “But Al, you can’t say that about our friend Josh. After everything we’ve been through together.” She sighed. “I hate to tell you this, Ben, but people like Josh change. It’s not like you can just go back in time and make sure this never happened.”
Well, maybe if the fog had put me a day or two earlier, I would have.
I thought to myself, then chimed in. “So what? There’s still time for people to change. We’re what, 13, 14? We got plenty of time. Besides, you know him and how he likes to... run his mouth. I’m sure whatever he said to you, he didn’t even mean it. He probably got caught up in the moment.”
“I’m not so sure about that one Ben, Brit told me after school that day that she overheard him say something nasty behind my back.”
“What did he say behind your back?” I was confused as Josh never told me about this.
“Brit told me that she overheard him say that I was some “loser loner chica with no familia”.”
No, no please tell me she’s not serious about that accusation. Josh doesn’t sound like the person to say something that mean even to a friend like her. So as I scrunched my nose, I asked,
“He really called you that?”
“Along with a few other words for hurtful names, yeah… he did.” She answered looking down, kicking a rock on this rocky terrain path in the forest.
THANK GOD JOSH WASN’T HERE OR ELSE I WOULD END HIM. THAT’S A NEW LOW EVEN FOR HIM.
Josh needed to explain himself, but now’s not the time or place. I told Al, “Let’s forget about him for now and have some fun together before school or the field trip starts.” I guess I got through to her because she was back to her usual goofy self. We did some more tricks on our bikes, and then we just chatted about random stuff. Al must have noticed that the conversation was dying down, because she suddenly asked, “Before we bike back, do you want to stop by my place for something to drink?”
“Are you sure it’s okay for me to come over?” I asked, feeling a little nervous. I mean, it was just a boy and a girl hanging out, but you know how parents can be. Luckily, she put my mind at ease by saying, “My parents are out of town, so it’ll just be us. Plus, my mom always leaves me a case of soda in the fridge for us.”
I couldn’t help but smile. “Sounds good to me!”
“Yeah, my parents don’t mind at all. It’s only Josh they worry about having over... not you.”
“Oh,” I said, wondering what stupid thing Josh must have done to get that reputation. Then I said, “Race you!” and sped off on my bike like a rocket.
I could hear her faint cry of “Hey, no fair!” as I was the first one out of the woods. I started biking slowly through the neighborhood, with her right behind me like The Flash. Man, that girl was determined. I was biking and biking, seeing the trees and all the cars in the driveways, when I realized I didn’t know where her house was. My memory was pretty good, but it’s not that great with directions. I pulled up to a stop sign a block and a half away, and she whizzed right past me. I had to laugh, because she didn’t even break a sweat. She even had the nerve to taunt me, saying, “Ha ha, you’re going to get beat by a girl! Better catch up!”
All the gloating and teasing stopped when we got to the middle of her driveway at the same two-story ugly brown ranch house that I now remembered passing. She got off her bike and said, almost out of breath, “Beat you.”
“It was close,” I grumbled.
She pointed at her open mouth and pretended to barf. “As if.”
We parked our bikes on the side of the house and as we were walking up the concrete steps, Al randomly stopped at the second or third step to look down and asked me, “By the way, when we were racing... did you slow down on purpose?”
“No way!” I lied, awkwardly coughing. “You just got lucky.” I rubbed the back of my neck, knowing I was busted.
Al gave me a look that said “I know you’re lying” and said, “You’re such a terrible liar.” She grabbed her keys and said, “You’re almost as bad as Josh.”
“What do you mean?” I asked, confused.
She turned to me and said, “Josh’s lies are awful, I can tell right away. But you... you care about my feelings, so you put it nicely. No wonder all the girls are crazy about you. ”
Okay, I’m going to pretend I didn’t hear the last part. Anyway, I have a sneaky suspicion that Brittney girl played a role in this somehow. All of this seems so out of character for Allison, I just know it! But just to be sure I asked,
“Did Brittney tell you this?”
“Uhhh yeah. She kinda did and she’s right. You guys are treating me like I’m your little sister even though I’m older and smarter than both of you combined. I can’t do anything fun with you guys around All—The—Time either!”
“Like what? We go biking together.”
“You just don’t get it. I want to be like other girls our age where I get to have sleepovers, paint our nails, and do other girly stuff. But instead I have to settle for you two, and I can’t do any of that with you. And no offense, but you guys aren’t exactly the best kind of people to sleep next to.”
As she unlocked the front door and started to walk into her house, she joked, “I mean, with your snoring and Josh’s kicking, it’s pretty hard.”
She suddenly stopped halfway through the open front door and turned around to face me, asking rather snootily, “Why are you making such a big deal about Britt anyway? Did Josh put you up to this?”
I had to choose my words carefully again because I didn’t want her to know that I was biased. I thought we already went over this.
“No! I was just curious because you mention her a lot.”
“What?! No, I don’t.”
I gave her a cold stare, which seemed to work, because she sheepishly admitted, “Okay, maybe I do. But to be fair, she’s like the only girl who wants to hang out with me. I don’t have a big sister like you do.”
Inside Al’s house, I could see family photos that were all on the walls and on the table near the front door. I could tell it was her with her mom and dad at the beach. But there were no other siblings. In fact, it seemed to be only her. From her days to horseback riding back when she was really little to I think recent photos of her playing softball.
She was everywhere.
Wait, if she’s everywhere then that must mean… ohhh my god she’s an only child. That’s why she got upset when I was in a hurry to get out when she was talking to Megan and just now. I must’ve sounded like a total asshole to her back there. I gotta make it up to her somehow. But how? I then looked at the wall photo that was near the kitchen and it was in the second grade of her first day with her parents right beside her. Her mother was blonde wearing mom jeans and a green shirt while the father had light brown hair like hers but had glasses with jeans and an ugly long sleeved brown striped polo shirt. Okay, now I know what I need to do and that’s changing topics. So I asked her,
“Hey Al, where exactly are your parents?”
“My dad’s at work in the city, and my mom went with him to get her hair done. She should be home in a couple hours. Why?”
“Allison, how long are you home alone for?”
“Not long. Sometimes for a full morning and an afternoon, but never a whole day.”
“But you’re all alone here.”
“I’m a big girl, Ben. I can handle myself.”Oops. I didn’t mean it like that.“Does it ever get lonely?” I asked.
“Why else do you think I just show up at your place sometimes?” she replied, wiping away a tear.
“Like today?”
“Like today.”
“Al, you can stay at my place anytime you want until your folks get back. I’m sure Megan and my mom won’t mind having another girl at the house.”
“Really? You sure they won’t mind?” she asked.“Yes, of course. That’s what friends do. We look out for each other.”She smiled and said “Thanks, Benji!” giving me a hug.
Looks LIKE I MAY HAVE WON THE BATTLE
HERE
BUT I HAVE NOT
WON THE
WAR