Dipping Into Together

Ch 4

Sitting up in bed, I realized that my shorts weren’t going to cut it if I wanted to go outside. Taking them off, I slid on a pair of leggings and slipped into my same oversized white sweatshirt. Glancing at the clock before pulling on the same huge green socks that I had worn the night before, I noticed that it was one fifteen. I scampered out of my room and tip-toed down the stairs. Easing the door open, I walked out into the night.

I walked down the street heading in the general direction of the playground, though I wasn’t going there. Too many memories. When I was close to reaching it, a car came whirling around the bend in the road. The headlights immediately shown in my face, blinding me. Raising my hands to cover my eyes, I stumbled a little. My foot caught on something and I found myself falling towards the ground. Landing on my back with a small thud, I realized that I had indeed fallen. I heard a car door open and someone got out. Getting up, I squinted at the form that was making its way towards me. Glancing at the car, I recognized a familiar Honda.

“Um, Jonah?”

He cocked his head at me and looked me up and down. I should probably feel embarrassed. I mean, I probably did look pretty dumb. But to be honest, I didn’t feel embarrassed at all.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

I shrugged. “Walking.”

“Huh. At one thirty in the morning?”

“I couldn’t sleep,” I said simply. I didn’t owe this guy an explanation. It wasn’t his business.

He shrugged. “Where are you going to walk?”

“Not sure. Wherever I feel like, I guess.”

“Do you do this often?”

“Yeah, guess so.”

Nodding, he turned around as if to go back to his car.

“Why are you driving so late?” I blurted out, not wanting the conversation to end.

He turned back. “Uh, same as you, I guess.”

“You can’t sleep?”

“Or maybe I just choose not to.”

“Why would you do that?”

He shrugged again.

“I would sleep if I could,” I said.

“But isn’t it kind of cool?” he said, “Being up when no one’s around? It’s kind of like a different world. It’s really quiet and it’s just you. No one to hassle you or yell at you. It’s like you have all this time for yourself.” He shrugged, seeming embarrassed about saying so much. “I don’t know, maybe it’s just me.”

I just stared at him. He had spoken my thoughts word for word. That’s exactly why I found nighttime so magical. It was like you were in a different world. That was exactly it. He turned away, obviously regretting saying anything.

“You’re right,” I said, “That’s why I like it.”

When he turned back around, whatever place in his mind that he had momentarily let me into, was now closed off. His eyes looked guarded. “Yeah, well, I’ll leave you to it, then.”

“Do you want me to show you something?” I said quickly, before he could try to leave again.

“What kind of something?”

“It’s this place on top of a hill. You can see over the whole city. It’s really cool, my dad showed it to me.”

He narrowed his eyes for a brief moment, and I was sure that he would say no. He surprised me when he nodded. “Sure. Want to walk or go by car?”