“Crap. Sorry, Chloe. I shouldn’t be so insensitive sometimes when I complain about my parents.”
I flashed him a reassuring smile. “It’s okay. You’re not being insensitive. You shouldn’t feel bad for wishing your parents were more around for you.”
“Yeah, but I feel like such a jerk when I do. Your dad died before you were born and you don’t get to see your mom that often—”
“It’s okay,” I said, cutting him off. I didn’t really want to be reminded of what I didn’t have. “Let’s talk about something else.” I tried to sound cheerful as I forced a smile on my face.
Just then we heard the door to the garage open down the hall.
“Jackson? You home?” a voice called out.
“Hey, Dad. In the dining room,” Jackson called out.
“Well, look who’s here,” Mr. Pierce said with a smile as he walked through the entrance the kitchen.
“Hi, Mr. Pierce.” I returned his smile.
“Now, now. Call me John, Chloe. ‘Mr. Pierce’ makes me sound old.” He chuckled.
But you are old, I thought to myself, but would never dare to say out loud. I forced a small laugh. “Ok…John.”
“Much better.” He then turned to Jackson. “Sorry, my office hours ran a bit late this afternoon. Finals are coming up, so I’ve been getting a line of students with last minute questions. Did Maria leave already?”
“Yeah, she left about an hour ago. She said your dry cleaning is in your closet.”
“Okay, great.” He looked at his watch. “Did she order you dinner?”
“No, Chloe’s aunt sent over some chicken pot pie, so I told Maria not to order me anything for dinner.” Maria was the person Jackson’s parents had hired to look after him when they weren’t home.
“That’s so nice of her.” He then turned to look at me and smiled. “Please tell your aunt ‘thank you’ for me, Chloe.”
“Sure thing.”
As Mr. Pierce walked past us, he put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. “Thanks for taking care of my son. I don’t know what he’d do without you.”
I blushed.
“Dad, stop it. You’re embarrassing me,” Jackson complained as he got up from his chair. “We got to get going. We’re going over to hang out at the park for a bit.”
Mr. Pierced laughed as he walked over to the fridge and took out a bottle of water. “You know, Chloe,” he began, looking backed at me, “it takes a special girl like you to make Jackson embarrassed and flustered. Don’t break his heart.” He then winked at me before taking a swig from his water bottle.
Feeling a bit uncomfortable with his comment, I quickly explained, “We’re just friends, Mr. Pierce.”
“John,” he corrected.
“Right. Sorry. John. We’re just good friends.”
“Good to know.” He looked between us. “Well, I’m heading up to my office. I still have some papers to grade.”
“Good night, Mr.—I mean, John.”
“Have a nice night, guys. Don’t stay out too late.”
“We won’t, Dad. See yah.”
It took me and Jackson fifteen minutes to walk to the park from the house. Besides Jackson’s treehouse, the small lake at the center of the park was one of our favorite places to hang out. It was a cold night and the park was showing its beginning signs of winter. But after our walk, the cold air felt nice against my face. The sun had just disappeared beyond the horizon and we were lying on the grass next to the lake, staring up at the sky and watching the stars begin to appear.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” I let out a deep sigh as my eyes took in the wide expanse of the twilight-colored sky, marveling at how beautiful something so simple could be.
“Yeah, it’s pretty cool.” I could tell from his tone that he was unimpressed and was only here because I had wanted to come.
“Jax?” I turned to face Jackson, calling him by my nickname for him. He turned his head to face me. “Yeah, Clo?” he replied with his nickname for me. I heard him picking at the grass underneath his hands.
“What do you want to be when you grow up?”
“Hmm. I don’t know. I’m only ten.”
“Come on,” I insisted. “If you could be anything you wanted, what would it be?”
He stared at the sky in silence for a few seconds. Then from the corner of my eye, I saw a smirk appear on his face.
“What?” I asked suspiciously.
“I know what I want to be.”
“Okay. What?” I was feeling a bit impatient.
He turned back to look at me and grinned. “A kid.” He laughed at his own joke and then he threw a handful of grass on my face.
“Hey!” I spat out a few pieces of grass that had landed in my mouth. “Why did you have to do that?” I screeched, feeling a mixture of annoyance and delight as I ripped up a handful of grass and threw it back at him.
“Because it’s fun.” He laughed as he rolled away from me, avoiding the pieces of grass and dirt that landed in front of him. I tried to chase him down, but he kept his distance, dodging my every attempt to grab him.
After a few minutes of the unsuccessful cat-and-mouse chase, I finally had to stop to catch my breath. We stared at each other, both laughing and panting.
“You’re way too fast for me.” I shook my head, annoyed that not only had he gotten a bit faster than me in the past few years, he’d also grown a few inches taller and stronger.
“That’s because I have superhero powers!” He put his fisted hands on his hips and looked up to his right, mimicking a Superman stance.
I rolled my eyes. “You wish. It’s only because you’re a boy and you grow faster than me. Aunt Betty said that’s normal.”
“You’re just saying that because you’re jealous you don’t have my superhero speed and can’t catch up to me.”
“No, I’m not jealous.” I pouted. “I just don’t know why you had to throw grass in my mouth. I thought we’re friends.” I huffed and turned away from him, making sure he knew I was mad at him—even though I really wasn’t.
“Come on, don’t be like that,” he cajoled.
“Be like what?” I turned to him. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t really like to eat grass.”
“Well, I didn’t see you eat any, if that helps.” He flashed me one of his innocent-but-not-so-innocent smiles. “Besides, I’m only trying to answer your question.”
I frowned, completely forgetting what I had asked him. “And what question was that?”
“What I wanted to be when I grew up.” His face struggled to keep the laughter at bay.
“You want to throw grass into people’s faces when you grow up?” I challenged, knowing he was trying to be a smart-ass.
“No,” he countered, “just yours.” He then bent down, grabbed another fist full of grass, and aimed it at me. But this time, I was ready for him and turned away just in time.
“Well, I hope you enjoy being a kid all your life. That sounds so boring to have to go to school forever,” I teased him.
“But I’d be the smartest kid in my class,” he retorted. “That sounds pretty cool.”
I rolled my eyes, but couldn’t help giggling when I pictured an old, adult Jackson sitting in the small school desks with other fourth graders.
“Why do you wanna know that, anyway?” he asked, sounding more serious as he sat back down on the grass. “You know it’s going to, like, take forever before we grow up.”
I smiled at his comment and sat next to him. I envied Jax. In many ways, his life seemed so simple and carefree compared to mine. I liked that he always had a way of reminding me that I was still just a kid.
“Well, I’m turning ten next week, and I’ve been thinking a lot about the future.”
“Oh. So what do you want to be when you grow up?”
“I want a job where I can travel to all parts of the world.” I smiled at the thought.
“You do?” He looked at me and I could tell that wasn’t what he’d expected me to say and it wasn’t something he’d ever thought about.