“Sure. Thanks.”
Again, so sweet. And I seem to say thanks to him a lot. Halfway home I remember that I promised Jayson and Julien they could climb across the tree when I got home, and I would meet them in my room.
“Um, Ryder? Do you mind if we drop by my house first before we head to yours?”
“Lizzie,” Hailey whines, “we said we would go to his house so I could meet his sister.American Girl dolls,” she emphasizes gravely like it’s a life or death situation if she doesn’t get to see them.
Ryder suggests, “How about this? We can drop by my house first. I promise we won’t be long. My mom’s home so if your mom is ok with your sister staying there, we can leave her and head back to yours. My mom can call your mom to ask.”
Hailey likes that idea very much and readily agrees. I’m sure Jayson and Julien won’t mind if I’m a little late.
“Where have you been?” Jayson says as soon as I open my window for them to climb in.
“Who’s that?” Julien asks when he climbs in to see Ryder standing behind me.
Ryder gives a head tilt and a “s’up” in greeting. Jayson and Julien look at me, look at Ryder, then me again, and back to Ryder.
“You guys sound so much better and look much better too." I reach my arm back to pull Ryder beside me.
“This is Ryder. He joined our class today. I’m his class buddy. Oh! And he lives right down the street. His dad owns a new auto shop and they have this awesome car in their garage. It’s black with a yellow stripe down the middle. Ryder’s dad let me sit in it. His dad’s car is amazing! It has this really big thingy sticking up from the hood.” I make hand motions trying to express the size and shape of the thingy.
“That’s called a supercharger,” Ryder helpfully interjects.
“His dad let Ryder and I sit in the front and rev the engine. It was so freakin’ loud! Every time I pressed the gas pedal down, the car and windows would shake. It was so awesome! You guys have got to come see it.”
I really want the twins to like Ryder and welcome him into our group. I see Jayson sizing him up as much as a nine-year-old can. Julien does the same, then holds his fist out.
“Any friend of Liz’s is a friend of ours.”
They all fist bump and my insides warm. Our group of three is now a group of four. Me and my three princes.
Chapter 3
Seventh Grade
Elizabeth
I’m standing on the bleachers jumping up and down, screaming my head off like a crazy person. Ryder, Julien, Hailey, Brea, Jamie, and all of our parents are around me doing the same.
“Move Jayson! Go! Go! You can do it!”
I cup my hands around my mouth yelling as loud as I can. Ryder lets out a shrill whistle by holding his fingers between his lips.
Jayson’s legs and arms are pumping rhythmically while his head tilts for a breath after every third stroke. He’s neck-and-neck with one of the swimmers from the opposing team in the next lane, and it has come down to the final seconds. Jayson seems to get a second burst of strength and plows ahead, touching the side of the pool an arm’s length before his opponent. He rips off his goggles, looks up at the board to see his time, and then scans the stands before his eyes find our group. The smile that lights up his face could power an entire city. I am so freakin’ proud of that boy.
Jayson just demolished the district’s freestyle record for his age group. I grab a hold of Julien’s shoulders and shake him silly while continuing to scream my head off. Our families are cheering as Jayson gets out of the pool and towels off before his coach and teammates swarm him in a group hug.
“I think that calls for a celebration tonight,” Jayson and Julien’s dad, Mitch, says.
“Cookout in the backyard at our house,” Ryder’s dad, Randy, suggests.
Our families usually do cookouts or BBQ’s at each other’s houses. It’s the middle of spring and we’ve been experiencing very warm weather recently, so instead of having the swim meet inside, the principal of our school decided to have it in the outdoor school pool complex. Our middle school is way bigger than the building we were in for elementary, and it has a great athletics department for junior varsity sports.
Ryder decides to lift me away from Julien to save him from the spider-monkey grip I have on his upper arms as I continue to excitedly jump up and down. Poor Ryder. I just grab on to him instead to resume my antics. Ryder gets a reprieve from my mania as soon as Jayson comes over. I jump off the bleachers and grab his face in both my hands. He’s still shirtless and dripping water onto my sandals, but I could care less.
“I am so super, duper, awesomely proud of you!”
His hands come up to lay on top of mine that are cupping his face.
