12 Years Young

Chapter 4

I was smiling the whole walk back to the treehouse with a filled backpack.

"Wait Jo." Gordie said pulling me down from the ladder by my arm.

"What?" I asked looking him over.

"Don't tell Chris about the, you know." He said whispering.

"Why not?" I said bringing my voice down to a whisper as well.

"Because he would kill me if he found out. You're his little sister." Gordie said ashamed looking at the ground.

"Yeah but you're his best friend!" I said raising my voice a little.

"Jo? Gordie? Is that you?" Asked Chris from up the ladder.

"Fine, but he'll find out eventually. He always does." I said shaking my head and making my way up the ladder.

"Took you guys long enough." He said with a groan. "I'm starved!"

I sat down in one of he chairs and three the bag to Chris. Gordie climbed up and sat next to me. Making sure we weren't touching.

We sat in silence while Chris ate. I fiddled with a hangnail and Gordie looked around the treehouse.

"What's up with you two? Did you see a ghost?" Chris asked giving us a weird look.

"I-uh." Gordie started. "Gordie and I-" I started to say before Gordie smacked his hand over my mouth making both of us fall out of our chairs and onto the floor.

Chris watched us and took a bite of an apple. He narrowed his gaze at us. I ripped Gordie's hand away from my mouth.

"Idiot." I said smacking his leg. He rolled his eyes and helped me to my feet.

"What's with you guys? Honestly." Chris said staring at us as we sat back down.

"Nothing. We're fine." I said slightly annoyed and fixing my flannel.

"Okay." Said Chris with a chuckle. He and Gordie shared a look that spoke a thousand words.

"So, um it's like 11. What do you guys wanna do?" Gordie asked breaking the silence.

"I think I'm gonna chill out up here. You guys can go out and do something. Maybe get something to eat." Chris said with a little smirk on his face.

"I guess." I said glaring at Chris and standing up. Gordie stood up as well and we made our way down the ladder.

"I don't see why we can't tell him. He seems like he already knows we did something." I said as we walked down the dirt path.

"We can't go there again. We have to go somewhere else. They won't let us in because of last time." Said Gordie avoiding my suggestion.

I sighed loudly making him only glance at me a little.

"We can find a convenience store and buy some food. Oh! Then we can have a picnic!" He said brightening up. I glanced at him now.

I watched his brown eyes scan everything and his matching brown hair blow slightly in the breeze. He looked over suddenly and I quickly snapped my head away and blushed.

"Oh come on Jo!" He said stopping and grabbing my arm. I looked down the path avoiding eye contact.

"Jo." He said grabbing me by both my shoulders and pulled me closer to him.