Between You & Me - By Marisa Calin Page 0,36

I hope this is more successful!

I’m starting to feel cramped and I’m thinking of all the reasons you might not come, all the reasons you might be home late, and my tea lights will be burned-out shells of liquid wax. I’ve just closed my eyes when I hear your voice:

YOU

You’re a fire hazard!

I laugh, relieved. Happy.

ME

That’s me. A Phyre Hazard.

I peer down and there you are, your head tipped back to look up at me, hands on your hips. You’re all dressed up and you look perfect in my garden of lights, as if you’ve put on your best outfit just to walk a twinkling path made in your honor, your own red carpet. My “Sorry” speech has gone out of my head so I go with the short version as I reach out and pull you up into the tree beside me, trying not to set you on fire.

ME

Sorry I’m an ass.

YOU

Me too.

I laugh again, heartily, elbowing you gently, but you make a show of nearly falling out of the tree anyway. I reach for your arm and keep hold.

ME

Missed you.

YOU

You did?

And that’s it. We’re just you and me again.

THEATER. AFTER SCHOOL. TWO WEEKS LATER.

The weeks, crammed with rehearsals, are flying by. We’ve spent the afternoon watching in awe as the set has been built. According to Kate, Mia had her heart set on the play despite the complex set, so she brought in a friend: a handsome guy, not much older than she is—annoyingly handsome, the kind of guy described in books as “flashing a smile.” She’s been conferring with him attentively for most of the afternoon. Kate has been flirting. He doesn’t seem to mind but he talks to us like we’re kids and it reminds me how much respect we get from Mia. Kate stands beside me on the balcony above him (believe me when I say that a plumber’s crack isn’t flattering on anyone) as he straightens up and slips his screwdriver into his tool belt.

MR. HANDSOME

All right, girls? You be careful up there.

Kate and I look at each other but my look says “urgh” and her look says “dreamy!” Flashing a smile, Mr. Handsome joins Mia, who is waiting at the door of the auditorium, and puts his hand on the small of her back (double “urgh”) as they walk out. I catch your eye, looking up at us from ground level and I do an impression of him. Loading my imaginary tool belt like a gun into a holster, I do my best Wild West walk and blow the smoke from my fingertips before giving you a wink and a finger point.

KATE

Are you crazy, he was gorgeous!

ME

Yeah, and he thought so.

I picture again the way he ushered Mia from the theater before my attention returns to the upside. I look down at his handiwork from above, and it is amazing. Beneath us, for the second half of the play, he’s set a swimming pool into the raised stage. The removable floorboards of the Price house come up and this tank will be a glistening pool. The staircase to Lily’s bedroom in the first half becomes the balcony over the swimming pool. We’ve been appointed the task of set painting for the rest of the afternoon—a forte of yours rather than mine—so here we are.

I’ve started on the shutters on the upstairs windows. Below me, you and Kate are painting the French doors. I’m trying to create the effect of slats on my shutter with a second shade of green as I catch snippets of your conversation. Kate is talking about a guy she’s seeing. He’s in twelfth grade and really hot—she hasn’t mentioned smart. Now she’s asking you. You’re mumbling something. I pause to hear better, as if my brushstrokes make too much noise. You haven’t mentioned anyone to me, and I’ve asked a million times! Why wouldn’t you talk to me if you liked someone? I can keep secrets too. I stick my head over the balcony to glare at you but you’re not looking. My glare goes unnoticed and Kate is busy admiring her work. I go back to my shutter, my attention to detail getting hazier by the minute. Next thing I know, you’re beside me. I pretend not to see you at first, tilting my head to evaluate my work. Then I huff.

ME

This looks like crap!

You smile.

You’re not supposed to agree.

YOU

Here.

You take the brush from my hand and add a few choice lines of darker shadow. Miraculously, it already