What Goes Around

Hide and Seek

     -6 years ago-

My bare feet slapped against the sidewalk, and I looked around for a place to hide. I could hear Aaron counting to 30 by the tree, and I knew he would find me if I didn't find another good spot.

A small hole in a hedge served as a good place to go, and I settled myself into it.

"28...29...30! Here I come!"

I peeked through the leaves at Aaron as he made his way down the street, looking at all of the places we had hidden in previous rounds. He walked closer and closer to me, and I held my breath as well as I could. He had won every other round, I had to win at least one before sundown.

I could hear his flip flops tapping on the concrete right next to the hedge, and there he stood. He was facing away from me, but I still thought he had found me. I silently berated myself for choosing such an obvious hiding spot.

Aaron bent down and looked straight at me, breaking into a grin full of missing baby teeth.

"Found you, Nattie!"

I put on my pouty face and entangled myself from the hedge.

"No fair, you always win! Are you peeking?" I asked him.

Aaron laughed. "I don't peek, Nattie! I'm just good at this game!"

Being 9, I forgave him pretty quickly. We wakes to the tree in my backyard, and we sat under it. It was hot out, as hot as it got that summer. I never really liked the heat. Aaron loved it, we always joked about him possibly being part desert-reptile.

Life was good.

As the summers went on, we still spent most of our time together. We were best friends, and no one else really liked us. I don't think either of us noticed, though. We had eachother.

My mom talked about him as if he was a second son of hers. He was at our house constantly, always taking the opportunity to take the apple juice box my mom always gave me as part of my after-school snack. I never really liked apple juice.

When we were 12, though, things weren't the same. Aaron's dad got into a car accident. He didn't make it. Aaron was quiet after that. His mother decided to take a job halfway across the country, money was tight for them. He promised he would write.

And that was the last I saw or heard from Aaron Terrensaw.