Rekindled (21 page)

“Focus on what?” Justin asks as he and Callie return to the table with giant smiles on both their faces.

“The wedding,” Jules answers. “We’re talking about dates. I want to have it June 29
th
, but for some reason Tate doesn’t want to use that date.”

I can tell Jules rolls her eyes even though I’m not watching her. I’m watching another girl whose body has gone stiff with the mention of June 29
th
, and I wonder if she remembers that day like I do. If she still thinks about it with a smile on her face, or if she’s pushed it to the recesses of her mind letting it fade like a photograph left in the sun, not wanting to remember the day we sealed our fate.

18 years ago

This sucks. Mom and Dad promised me we’d get to go to the fair today, but then my stupid baby sister got sick, so I’ve been stuck at home all day. I thought having a little baby sister would be cool, but so far all she’s done is spit up her food, make smelly poops in her diaper and cry a lot. She hasn’t been fun at all. My dad says when she’s older he bets I’ll think differently, but I doubt it.

I tell my parents I want to go to the park, and I can hear them arguing in their bedroom with the door closed. My dad comes out and says he’ll take me for an hour, but that we have to be back so he can watch Rylee while my mom goes out. I hate how their world revolves around my sister now when it used to be around me. But I finally agree and grab my backpack to fill with a juice box and Lunchables.

I can see a group of men setting up a big screen near the lake, and people are walking over, carrying lawn chairs and picnic baskets. Dogs are running around chasing after Frisbees sailing through the air, kids are swinging on the swing set and hanging upside down from the monkey bars as adults sit nearby. A few people greet us as we make our way to the treehouse at the back of the park, asking if we’re going to stay for the movie tonight. I hear Dad tell them no, that we have to get back to Rylee.

I tell him that my stupid baby sister is ruining everything and that I wish she had never been born. I wait for him to yell at me like mom does, calling me by my full name, Tatum Ian Corbin, but instead he just takes a seat on a bench and pinches the bridge of his nose, telling me to go play.

It takes me a minute to climb up the ladder, but when I get to the top, I frown. There’s a girl inside my treehouse. She’s wearing a big fluffy pink dress with frilly sleeves and a tiara on top of her head as she sits on the rug in front of the bookshelves. Her finger is sliding across the page as she reads, and I don’t think she knows I’m even here.

“What are you doing in my treehouse?” I step inside and brace my hands on my hips.

“I’m reading and this isn’t your treehouse. My nanny said anyone can use it,” she says looking up at me with the bluest eyes I’ve ever seen. They look like gems against her pale skin.

“So what? You’re still not allowed in here.” I point towards the sign I made last time I came here when my mom tried to bring my stupid sister up. “No girls allowed.”

“Well that’s a dumb rule.”

I shrug. “Dumb rules for dumb girls.”

“Stop calling me dumb, jerk-face.” She sticks her tongue out at me.

“It’s not my fault you’re a girl and have cooties.” I put my hands on my hips and try to make my face look like my dad’s whenever he’s angry with me. I don’t think it works, though because she’s not scared of me. Instead, she’s…laughing?

“Cooties aren’t real. My nanny told me so.”

“Oh yeah? Well, that’s not what Ricky Montanez says and he’s the smartest in our grade.”

She shakes her head and looks at me. “I’ll tell you what. I’ll make you a deal. I’ll leave if you can answer this riddle. What kind of room has no doors and no windows?”

I pucker my lips as I try to figure out the answer. I replay her riddle in my head over and over, but I don’t know the answer. I decide there isn’t an answer and she’s even dumber for asking that.

“That’s a really stupid riddle,” I finally say, throwing my backpack on the ground and plopping into one of the plastic chairs.

She smiles at me and I notice she has a gap between her two front teeth which makes her look kind of goofy. I try to pretend like I don’t want her here, but there’s something about her face that I like. Deciding I don’t want to spend my hour arguing with a girl, I grab my comics from my backpack along with my snacks and spread them out on the little round table.

“Why are you dressed so funny?” I ask, pointing at her tiara.

She reaches up and removes it from her head, examining it in her hands. “My nanny bought me this dress because I’m her favorite princess. I didn’t get a chance to wear it yesterday, so I decided to wear it today.”

I crinkle my nose while I look at her dress again. It’s just so…pink. I hate pink. My sister’s room is covered in all pink and all her clothes are pink. Pink stinks.

“What’s your name?” she asks, closing her book and standing up so that she’s right in front of me.

“Tate Corbin.”

“Well, Tate, I’m Callia Winters, but people never call me that.”

“What do they call you?”

“Callie.”

“Callie,” I repeat, trying out the name on my tongue. It sounds weird. “Are you going to tell me the answer to your riddle?”

“Nope, you’ll have to figure it out.”

She laughs and I realize I like the way she laughs.

“Do you want a sandwich?” I ask, holding out my plastic tray filled with crackers, salami and cheese.

“Sure,” she says, taking her time to pluck one of each before piling them together and shoving the entire thing in her mouth.

I laugh and point at her cheeks which have ballooned up like a chipmunk.

“I don’t think you’re supposed to eat it in one bite. My mommy says that’s a rude way to eat food.”

She shrugs and smiles at me and I laugh harder because she has cracker bits stuck in her teeth now.

“I like to do things my way. My nanny says that’s what makes me inimitable.”

I nod, not quite sure what inimitable is, but I’m not going to let a girl know that. I’ll just ask my dad later.

“Are you going to stay and watch the movie?” She picks up her book and hugs it to her chest.

“No, my dad says we can’t because my baby sister is sick. What movie is it?”

“Ghostbusters.”

“Man….” I frown and kick at the leg of the table. I love that movie and now I really hate my baby sister for making me miss it.

“Callie, sweetie, time to go home,” a voice calls from beneath the treehouse.

Peering out the door, she calls back, “Okay, coming!”

She turns back to me and adjusts her tiara. “You can stay and watch it with us if you want. Charlene packed a picnic and everything. I’ll even share my gummy bears, but you can’t have the yellow ones because those are my favorite.”

“That’s okay, I don’t like the yellow ones anyways. I’ll go ask my dad.”

We climb down the treehouse and when we reach the bottom, she grabs my hand and holds it. I freeze, scared that I’ll catch her cooties, so I yank my hand away and rub it on my pants hoping it’s not too late. She laughs and then does the worst thing ever. She kisses me!

“Yuck!” I yell, using my hands to try to wipe at the spot on my cheek that her lips just touched. “Why did you do that?”

She smiles big, showing the gap in her teeth again. “Because, Charlene says that when a girl likes a boy and a boy likes a girl, they sometimes kiss to show it. I decided I like you, so I wanted to give you a kiss.”

“Well don’t do that. It’s gross.”

“Charlene also says that one day boys are going to want to kiss me, too.”

I wrinkle my nose at the thought. “Yeah? Well, I’m never going to want to kiss you. Never, ever, ever.” I laugh just thinking about it.

Girls. Are. So. Dumb.

“Mushroom,” I say, remembering the riddle Callie had asked me that day.

“Mushroom?” Jules asks snapping me back to reality with the realization that I just spoke it out loud. “What about mushrooms, darling?”

I swallow while a pained expression crosses over Callie’s face. She remembers, too. I’m about to try to change the subject, but luckily I don’t need to because our Captain taps the microphone, gaining everyone’s attention. I swivel in my seat so that I’m facing him, but out of the corner of my eye, I notice Callie whisper something to Justin before excusing herself and leaving the table.

I try to squash the urge to chase after her, forcing myself to pay attention to Frank who is thanking everyone for attending and talking about how much their efforts tonight will help fund the fire department’s need for equipment and supplies to keep forest fires under control. When five minutes passes and she still isn’t back, I lean over and give Jules’ shoulder a quick squeeze.

“Babe, I’ll be right back,” I say placing my napkin on top of the table and doing my best to stand up without stirring too much attention.

Stepping outside, there’s a half moon out and the song of crickets can be heard against the sounds of laughter, punctuated by clanging dishes bleating through the country club walls. To the left are a couple of valet guys wearing crimson jackets, puffing on cigarettes until the event lets out, and I quickly duck around the corner away from them.

Scanning the area, it takes my eyes a second to adjust, but I finally spot her sitting by herself on a wooden bench, her head tilted back and her eyes closed, as if she’s basking in the glow from the moonlight. Her strappy heels are kicked off, lying sideways on the grass and she’s running her feet back and forth along the grass, curling her toes around the perfectly manicured blades of grass.

“You know, if you’re trying to get a tan, I think you’ll be out here awhile,” I say as I approach.

She startles and snaps her head upright to look at me with a smile, but it doesn’t quite reach her eyes. “Jesus, Tate, you scared me,” she says, clutching her hand to her heart.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sneak up on you. I just was worried when you didn’t come back to the table.”

“Oh. Yeah, sorry about that. I guess I just needed to get some fresh air.”

I nod as I slide onto the bench next to her. Beneath the muted light of the moon, moisture glistens on her face, and I realize she’s been crying.

“Was it something Jules said that upset you? She doesn’t know why June twenty-ninth is important. But you know I would never get married on a day that is our date, right?”

She turns to look at me with melancholy written all over her face. “That’s just it, Tate. You and I shouldn’t have dates. Not when you’re about to devote the rest of your life to another woman.”

Neither of us says anything, choosing to just sit in comfortable silence. I stare up at the stars remembering all the nights she and I would do this when we were younger, in one of our backyards. We’d lay out a blanket and try to piece together pictures in the sky, making up stories for our creations. Occasionally we’d get lucky and see a shooting star blaze above us, and each time, I’d hold my breath and close my eyes, making a wish that one day Callie would be mine.

“You know, every year on that day, I’d go and plant a tree in your name,” she says quietly.

“Why would you do that?”

“Because that treehouse that we met in gave me my best friend, and my first real love. None of my memories with you would have happened without that treehouse, and that treehouse wouldn’t have happened without someone planting a tree. I suppose the reason I went and planted a tree each year was so that more tree houses could be built, and other kids could find their first loves too. So that other Callies around the city could find their Tate and know what real happiness feels like.”