It was almost warm enough to walk outside in the sunlight without a sweatshirt on. In fact, if there wasn't still a cold breeze blowing through the town, Caroline bet she probably would have taken hers off.
"I should have followed your lead," she said aloud, looking at Remington's long sleeve black shirt. She herself was wearing a burgundy zip-up.
"That's your own fault," said Remington. They walked side-by-side down one of the quieter streets, their respective routes home exactly the same, save for the fact that Remington lived half as far away as Caroline did. The tall, slender boy walked with his hands shoved in his pockets and his head slightly inclined towards the ground. "You should know Spring around here never knows what it wants to be."
"I relate to that," Caroline snorted, earning a chuckle from her friend.
"So how's the new neighbor situation going?" Remington asked, looking at Caroline.
The girl shrugged her shoulders, casting her eyes at the sandy pavement before her. "Fine, I guess. It's just weird because Alex was the first friend I ever made, and now he's back and I'm not even sure if I like him all that much. He's loud and it's just weird seeing what he's grown into," she answered.
"He seems to fit right in around here," said Remington.
"I know," agreed Caroline. "He's got tons of friends already. I think that he was excited that he remembered me but I'm sure it'll fizzle out. Everyone seems to like him here, I'm pretty positive he'll get so wrapped up in that that he'll realize we aren't really cut out for the same crowd."
"They're probably just excited to hear about someone that lived in a real city," Remington pondered, turning the corner onto his street. Caroline would walk with him until they got to his house, then continue up the hill to the neighborhoods that the town seemed to have forgotten about.
A day had passed since Alex had given Caroline a ride home from school. Their car ride with jack was eventful to say the least, and Alex had invited her to continue hanging out with them before dropping her off - to which she respectfully declined, given that she was so accustomed to going home to her grandmother and her garden every day.
"By the way," said Remington, changing the subject, "You finish that book I told you to read yet?"
Caroline smirked and shook her head. "Not quite. I've got a couple more chapters left. You dying to have it back?" she asked.
"Not yet," the boy scoffed. "A little. But I want you to really enjoy it, it's seriously gonna be one of my favorites. We should go to the book store this weekend."
"Hell yeah. Coffee shop and book store it is," Caroline smiled, looking at him. "I'll be sure to finish that book by Friday!"
"You better!" said Remington, stepping around a puddle that had formed in the street. It was still early enough in the Spring that there was runoff from the snow that had melted into the ground, but wintery days were long behind the little town now.
"I will, I will," she reassured him. "I'm thinking about latte's right now though." She looked up as they reached Remington's house.
The boy began walking backwards in front of her, hands still shoved in his pockets, and stopped at his mailbox with a grin on his face. "Almond milk soy bullshit whatever with mocha?" he joked. "On me this time if you finish the damn book. See you tomorrow Caroline," he said with a laugh.
"See you!" Caroline waved, flipping her hood up to cover her ears as she resigned herself to the walk up the hill, and making a mental note to call him on that promise when she finished the book of poetry that he had lent her - currently sitting on her nightstand at home.
YOU ARE READING
Out in the Garden
أدب الهواةCaroline's life by the woods with her grandmother was going to change when the moving trucks rolled in, and a new boy arrived at school. She didn't really like how obnoxious he was, but she did like that familiar laugh and the way he said her name...
