ghosted

61

she looked at me and smiled.

"what?"

"nothing"

"mom, what is it?"

"oh nothing, can you hand me those please"

"mom..."

she ignored me and started humming to tune me out. i laughed and handed her the mini shovel she was pointing at. we spent a while outside, weeding and tending to her garden. i say we, but she did most of it because i know nothing about gardening.

"hey honey, can you go make some lemonade or tea?"

"sure, that i can do"

~COLBY'S POV :)~

i walked around back and saw mrs.webber in the garden.

"hi mrs-"

"shhh, go inside i'll be there in a minute"

i smiled and walked inside. lila was softly singing while making something. i slowly walked over to her and put my hands on her waist. she jumped making me laugh.

"hey, sorry"

"you're lucky i wasn't holding a knife"

"is that a threat?"

"maybe"

"i'll sit over... there"

"good idea"

she laughed and continued to make the lemonade while i watched. she started singing again and made a face when she caught me looking at her.

"what's that look for?"

"you keep staring at me"

"i like looking at you"

"i like looking at me too"

"shut up"

"make m- hey mom!"

i laughed and saw lila's face turn pink. her mom smiled at us and sat down.

"i can't believe my children are going home tonight, and you too colby"

c-"i don't think i could handle being lila's brother"

l-"never say or think that again, or i will actually stab you"

"you will not be doing that lilith"

l-"ugh, fine"

she went back to making the lemonade but she occasionally looked up and made faces at me. i loved that smile, the one she always made when messing around. it's been the same since high school, the same smile that always got me into trouble. the same one that made me smile. she finished making the lemonade and poured a glass for each of us. eventually sam came over so it was once again the four of us with jake and lila's parents. when it got close to dinner lila went upstairs to pack up.

"hey colby?"

"yes ma'am?"

"could you go get lilith please?"

"of course"

i went upstairs and knocked on her door.

"yeah?"

"it's me. can i come in?"

"i guess"

i opened the door and saw her laying on her bed looking through an old year book. i laid down next to her and immediately saw my bad hairstyle i had that year.