“She just fits right in, doesn’t she?” Momma Von said with a chuckle, biting into a large chunk of watermelon as she stood next to me.
We were on the sidelines of the Alder 1k, watching as half the neighborhood attempted to jog the loop in costumes while stopping for Jell-O shots along the way. Wren and Julie were currently in the lead, running toward us in matching, diamond-studded tutus. Wren was laughing so hard she could barely breathe while Julie tugged her along.
“She really does,” I agreed.
I’d been looking forward to the day, and so far it’d lived up to my expectations and then some. I’d showed Wren how we cook the pig, pushed her for a half an hour on the giant swing Ron hangs from his tree each year, and we’d even tie-dyed t-shirts at one of the kid stations. Yvette had been there too, with Benjamin, and the four of us had made the biggest mess with the dye. I still had some on my hands and arms, but I was in no rush to wash it off.
I loved to watch Wren.
When she laughed, when she learned something new, or even when she just stood beside me, wheels silently turning in her head.
I’d never met anyone like her—driven, smart, goofy as hell. And yesterday when we were apart, she’d inspired me to do something I never thought I’d do. I wasn’t sure when the right time to tell her about it would be, especially after seeing her swollen eyes from last night. She clearly had a lot on her mind, and I would either make her feel better or exponentially worse. I had no idea which.
But when she hit the finish line right in front of me and threw her arms in the air, knocking her plastic tiara to the ground as she and Julie hugged and twirled in a circle, I knew I wanted to tell her. I wanted her to know how I felt. I had to.
“SUCK ON THAT, TUCKER!” Julie screamed behind them as Tucker and Zeek slid in at second place.
They were out of breath and though Tucker looked annoyed, Zeek kept running until he swooped Julie up into his arms, throwing her over his shoulder and running toward the river.
We all laughed as they zipped past us, and Wren swiped her crown off the ground, joining me and Momma Von near Davie’s mailbox.
“Well, that was fun,” she said, out of breath. “I need a beer.”
Momma Von laughed and I ruffled Wren’s hair, throwing my arm around her shoulder. “I can help with that. Come on.”
We walked in silence for most of the way down the road to where the kegs were. They were nestled under a small overhang near where the pig was cooking, and we passed by multiple “stations” on our way. The entire community was just one giant block party, and Wren seemed fascinated by it all. I let her take it in, too busy in my own head trying to find the right words to tell her what I wanted to.
Rev was prancing out of her driveway when we passed it and she kneeled, picking him up and holding him to her chest. He purred, meowing hoarsely exactly three times before he started squirming to be free. She chuckled, letting him down, and then he wrapped himself around my leg with a flick of his tale before scampering off again.
“How did you even end up with a cat, anyway?” I asked as we started walking again.
“He just found me,” she answered with a smile, her eyes on where Rev was using his cuteness to get table scraps from a few of the kids munching on turkey sandwiches. “I think he needed a friend. Or maybe he saw that I did.”
“He’s a character.”
She laughed. “That’s one way to put it.”
Davie was just topping off his own cup when we made it to the kegs. He offered to fill ours but I urged him to get back to Yvette. I think he knew by my insisting that I wanted a moment alone with Wren, so he tipped his cup to the two of us and left me with a hard clap on the shoulder.
“Guess you weren’t kidding about taking the gold, huh?” I asked as I grabbed two fresh plastic cups from the table.
“Oh, I would never joke about something so serious.”
She leaned back against the table while I filled the first cup, eyes on the amber liquid running out of the tap. My heart picked up pace.
“Did you have a good night last night?”
Wren’s hands gripped the edges of the table a little harder and she shrugged, kicking at the ground with her sneaker. “I don’t know if good is the right word to describe it, but I needed it. The night alone.”
Her eyes flitted to mine then, cheeks tinged pink with an unsaid apology.
“I get that,” I said quickly, hoping to ease her mind. “I actually think I needed a night alone, too. And I kind of...” I cleared my throat. “I kind of did something. Something big. Well, for me.”
“Yeah?” She was smiling now. “What’d you do, Anderson Black? Please tell me you finally wore the tool belt I made you.”
I stopped pouring long enough to give her a pointed look, handing her the full cup and reaching for the other empty one. “I’m never wearing that fanny pack. No matter how much you bat those long lashes of yours.”
“No?” she teased, biting her lower lip. “Not even if I beg? Not even if I get down on my knees?”
I groaned, shaking my head and focusing my attention on where I poured into the fresh cup now. “That’s not even fair.”
“All is fair in war and fashion.”
“Anyway,” I said as she laughed, taking a sip from her cup. “So you know how I told you how I’ve always wanted to travel?”
“I do.”
“Well, I was online last night, just kind of looking around at jobs that are available in the area, around Seattle,” I threw out casually. “And there’s this older guy living in the city, and he’s taking off in two months on what he’s calling a survival challenge.”
Wren nodded along, and my nerves kicked in, words coming out faster now.
“Basically, he’s going to test his survival skills in different terrain across the United States and maybe up into Canada a little. He’s looking for a right-hand guy, someone who knows a little about survival basics and ‘roughing it’ as he put in the job description. I guess if I got it I’d be filming a lot of it for him, too. Nothing professional, just for his YouTube series.”
I was talking fast, not really sure what else to say, and now that it’d all come out I realized it sounded a lot dumber than I thought.
“I mean, I’m sure I won’t get it, but I just thought it would be cool. You know, to travel and see the country a little. And it’d be doing stuff that I’m good at, stuff I enjoy.”
I shrugged, taking a drink as soon as I’d finished filling my cup and keeping my eyes on the rim of it when I lowered it back down.
“Anderson,” Wren said, pushing off from the table to lean into me, instead.
I loved when she said my name like that, like I surprised her, like I meant something.
“This is... incredible. I’m so happy for you!”
I tried to play it off, though her approval sparked another beat in my chest. “Like I said, who knows what will happen—”