When I woke up, I looked over at the sleeping boy next to me. His hair was even messier than it was when he came over. His mouth was slightly open and he was quietly snoring. Our bodies weren't close together but when I looked down, I noticed my hand was resting on his stomach. I quickly moved it but as soon as I did, he grabbed it and placed it back on his stomach. I tried to move it again and he did the same thing.
"Johnny," I whispered. Nothing. I repeated myself a little louder and still nothing. So I took my hand off his stomach and flicked his forehead.
"Ouch. What was that for?" He said in a sleepy voice while rubbing his forehead. He opened his eyes and looked over at me and waited for my answer.
"I kept trying to get my hand off of your stomach but you kept moving it back every time." He nodded and grabbed his phone from his pocket and checked the time.
"It's almost 10:30. I should go get ready." He said, standing up and stretching. "What time should I be ready by?"
"12ish. I'll text you when I'm ready." He nodded once more and gave me a thumbs up before walking out of my room.
~
After I got out of the shower I threw on my favorite grey t-shirt and black shorts. In the middle of me brushing my hair, my mom knocked on my door.
"Come in!"
"Did Solar come over early this morning? I heard somebody come in this morning and I heard them leave but Solar usually comes to say hi," she questioned.
"Oh. No, it wasn't Solar. It was Johnny."
"The new kid next door? Why was he here so early? Did he sleep here? Oh god. You didn't do anything, did you? Please tell me you didn't."
"MOM! Nothing happened. Don't worry. I called Solar because I needed her but she didn't answer so I called Johnny. No big deal," I answered.
"What'd you need her for?" It's like a game of 20 questions that I didn't sign up for. I sighed and turned towards her.
"Mom listen. I love you and everything but you're like, really annoying sometimes. I'd rather not talk about it now. Maybe later okay? I'm trying to get ready. I'm showing Johnny around today." She told me I looked cute before walking out of my room.
~
Summer Lee:
I'm ready
Johnny Seo:
I'll be outside
I walked down the stairs, slipped my black sneakers on, and walked out of my front door. Johnny was sitting on my porch waiting for me. I walked down the steps and grabbed his wrist, pulling him up from his seat. He was wearing a plain white shirt with black jeans.
"Where are we going?" He asked.
"It's a secret." We started walking down the street in the direction of the corner store. We got there a few minutes later and Johnny gave me a confused look.
"We're getting snacks. I know it looks old and rundown but you'll learn to love this place. It's open 24 hours so don't be surprised if I ask you to come here with me really late." When we walked in, the cashier greeted me by name. Maybe I come here too much.
A couple minutes later, we walked out of the store with two drinks and a bag of chips.
"So where now?" I thought for a minute, not exactly sure where I was going to show him.
"Okay, this is actually a secret. Just follow me." We walked a few streets over and got to a bike trail that leads into the woods. It's been my favorite place ever since I was 12 or 13. I was wandering around my neighborhood and found this pathway. I followed it to the end and found my happy place.
"You're gonna murder me, aren't you? I've seen a movie like this. She brought this guy into the woods and just chopped his head off. Right off," Johnny said, staring at me with wide eyes.
"No. I'm not gonna murder you. Just keep following me. It's a really short trail." The trees above were covering the sky completely. I knew we were almost there when I saw SRL carved into a tree stump and the sun shining down on the area of grass and flowers. The trees covered everything except for that one spot.
I walked to the middle and sat down. He followed me and did the same thing, sitting across from me.
"Welcome to my happy place," I said while smiling.
"So why'd you bring me here?" He asked quickly.
"Most people would take you around the city and show you the most basic things that you'd pass every day on your way to the store or to school but that's not what I'd want if it were the other way around."
~
Two hours went by and we were still sitting in the same spots, talking about ourselves. After a little while, we ran out of things to talk about so I turned my body and laid down on the grass. I closed my eyes and rested my hands on my stomach. I was so out of it that I didn't realize Johnny was calling my name.
"Summer? Why were you crying earlier? And why did you call me?" He asked out of nowhere. I sat up quickly and looked at him.
"I had a dream about my dad. He left when I was 9 so I remember it really well. It hasn't happened in a long time so I forgot how to calm myself down. I called my friend Solar but she didn't answer. She usually does," I explained. As soon as those words left my mouth, my phone started ringing. I looked down at it and saw that it was Solar.
"hey"
"Hey Sol, what's up?"
"are you busy? I wanted to stop by and see you"
"I'm not home right now. Maybe later okay?"
"We can leave if you want to," Johnny whispered. I shook my head and laid back down.
"Summer... who was that? Are you on a date? Do you secretly have a boyfriend?" Her voice kept getting higher after each question.
"No, I'm not on a date. No, I don't have a boyfriend. You'll meet him Monday okay?"
"Is he cute though?" I looked up at Johnny's face before looking back up at the sky.
"yes. ok bye"
Hello to whoever is reading this. I downloaded Grammarly on my phone to check for grammar mistakes and it's honestly a lifesaver when writing. Especially when I'm not sure where to put commas and stuff like that.
