“I have snacks and drinks. I even bought us dinner. I’m assuming you haven’t eaten yet. It’s in the car already; we can eat it on the way.”
“Where are we going?”
River took a step backward, making room for me to squeeze past him. “Come and find out.”
“That sounds like a date,” was the sentence spoken by Javier into my ear. Hastily, I pressed the big red button to hang up the call I forgot was still on.
I ignored my friend’s words lingering in my head. “I don’t know, Riv… I’m still trying to catch up on the lessons I missed.”
A groan escaped him, and he slapped his hands together in a pleading motion. “Please, Alex? Do you really want to spend another second cooped up in this place when you can instead be on an adventure with me?”
How could I say no to those big, pleading eyes that had always had a way of sucking me in? The same eyes that got me into little bits of trouble as a kid, yet sent my parents into spirals.
River practically did a dance when I gave in. He didn’t even give me time to change before we left, claiming I already looked perfect for wherever he was taking me. I had on a tank top and pajama pants, my entire outfit saying I was about to go to bed. It was easy for him to say it was fine when he was in casual clothes—jeans, a t-shirt, and the silver chain he never took off his neck.
We ate dinner in the car, which was merely takeout, but it tasted like heaven since I hadn’t had it in a while. River drove while we ate, and I was desperately trying not to fall asleep during the long ride. The continuous hum of the car made me sleepy, and I felt like a toddler refusing bed time. Eventually, I drifted off.
I woke up at least forty minutes later. Once he parked the car at our secret destination, River’s eyes fixed on me with a greater thrill than he’d ever had during his time on the court.
River’s finger brushed behind my ear. “How was the nap, Sleeping Beauty?”
Ignoring his teases, I squinted, hoping I’d magically gain night vision to see into the darkness. Was it too much to invest in some streetlights?
I couldn’t make anything out. “If I didn’t trust you, I’d be pretty concerned right now.”
“Then it’s a good thing you trust me.”
It would make a great horror movie scene. Pitch black outside, ominous creaking that I couldn’t figure out the source of, and the main character having absolutely no clue where he was. Perfect.
River flashed his phone flashlight to guide us, and I could finally see more than shadows. The crappy fence that could poke you if you touched it wrong, the fading white paint peeling off the building, and the giant playground with stuff that definitely shouldn’t be safe for kids…
Did he seriously take us to?—
“School,” I whispered, resisting the urge to run my fingers along the fence.
My childhood friend was not beside me anymore, instead further down the sidewalk and picking the lock.
“River Moore!” I half-whispered, half-yelled as if we were not the only two idiots outside of an elementary school in the middle of the night.
River gave me a noncommittal shrug as he continued fumbling with the lock. “We used to do this all the time.”
“Keywords ‘used to.’ We aren’t eleven anymore. We’ll face real consequences if we get caught, and you can probably get kicked off the team. Aren’t you trying to qualify for the NCAA?”
His brows furrowed. “I’m surprised you know what that is.”
“Did my research.”
A proud smile graced his lips. “No one checks this place at night, so we aren’t gonna get caught. I’ve been here twice this semester.”
With one sharp hand movement, the lock clicked, and the gate creaked open. River held the bobby pin in his hand as he waited for my answer, with only crickets chirping filling the silence. What we did next was completely up to me.
My lips pressed together as I pushed open the gate and made my way inside, and I didn’t have to turn around to know River was following behind me. What could I say? Nostalgia got the best of me.
The moon wasn’t bright enough, so I used my phone’s flashlight to move around the playground. Though, I didn’t really need it. Navigating our childhood playground felt like muscle memory. We jumped over the same crack in the sidewalk where kids twisted ankles during recess, we passed the wobbly blue slide, and I nearly ran into the palm-scarring monkey bars.
When the swing sets came into view, I almost broke out into a sprint. My unease disappeared when I felt the childlike feeling that I hadn’t felt in ages. I feltfree.
Great minds thought alike, because we were both gunning for the same swing without uttering a word. I dove into the swing with winning in mind, and my stomach hit it just before River slammed into my back, nearly flipping us into the rocks.
