The Quiet Ones

30. Goodbye until September

"Parker!" My mom calls from downstairs, her voice booming and waking me from my well-enjoyed and peaceful sleep. God, I hate when she does that.

"What mom?" I call back.

"What the hell is that noise?"

It takes me a minute, but I notice it as well. The faint sound of knocks coming from outside. I stand up and run over to my window, where I find Levi standing tall with handfuls of small stones. He's must have been throwing rocks at my window.

"It's just a tree branch hitting against my window!" I yell down to my mother. It may not be a very convincing excuse, but I need something to get her to stop yelling.

As I turn back around, Levi stands with his hands flailed in the air, dropping the small stones onto the cement driveway around him. I open my window and leaned out to get  a better look at him.

"Levi?" I ask.

"Are you going to let me in?"

"It's 6 in the morning and it's Saturday, why are you and my mother badgering me to wake up?"

"Let me in," he says as he takes a step closer.

I sigh and point to the tree next to my bedroom, the same one that I make him climb every time he asks to come inside. Yeah, I could just come downstairs and sneak him in, but that also risks my mother leaning her ear against my door to hear what exactly is so important that it needs to be discussed this early in the morning.

He groans and points to tree. "I don't want to climb it," he whines.

"Then you can't come in," I say as I close the window a bit more, causing panic to light up his green eyes. He huffs as I walk away from him and back to my bed to lay down. If it's that important that he needs to wake me so early, then he'll climb the tree.

Although I haven't actually seen Levi since the funeral, it's not like he has such serious information that he needs to tell me right this instant. He can wait until ten in the morning when I'm actually alive and not a half-asleep walking zombie. Until then, I'm going back to sleep.

"Parker!" He screeches and he snatches open my window and carefully climbs inside, making sure not to fall onto the carpeted flooring.

"So this is serious?" I ask as I turn around under my warm sheets to face him. He gives me a small nod as he pushes my body over so he can sit on the edge of the mattress next to me.

Charming.

"I'm leaving," he says as he takes my hand into his.

"But you just got here. I can make you breakfast if your actually-"

"I'm leaving today. You know, to be with my dad for the summer."

"No you're not!" I say as I spring up and suddenly feel a burst of energy run through my body. "You're leaving next week. You know, after we sort everything out and it's happily ever after. Just like in the movies?"

"Parker this isn't a movie. This is life. And dad messed up the dates, I'm leaving today. As in, like, five hours."

"But you... You can't!" I screech as tears forms in my eyes, blurring my vision. He can't leave, not now. "I'm going to loose another one of my best friends? This soon?"

"You have Nathan," he says quietly while he looks down at my bedding and traces his finger along the small stitching of string around the patterns. "You made up with him at the funeral, remember?"

What Levi had seen was me comforting Nathan and talking to him about Avery. But what he hadn't seen was when he pulled me to the side of the building and told me that he persuaded her to join a group. That was a secret that I decided would best be kept between only Nathan and I, no matter how close I am to Levi.

"Yeah," I say as a tear escapes and rolls down my cheek. "We did. We made up."

"Well good! That's perfect!" He says as he pulls me into a hug. "I'm really going to miss you."

"You never got revenge on the group," I say as I pull away from him and look into his sad eyes. "You promised you would but you never got back at them."

"Well I don't break promises," he says as a smirk forms on his lips, causing my body to jolt with excitement as I lean in.

"What did you do?"

"Set off a few traps in their "secret" hideout and made a few phone calls, all of which disclosed their plans and maybe some of their names..."

"And you didn't tell me?" I screech as I push him hard in the shoulder, causing him to laugh as he falls backwards.

"I just did it last night! I wanted to surprise you!"

"Well you did," I say as the smile fades from my lips at the sudden realization that this is the last time I'll be laughing with Levi before September rolls back around.

"Come on, I'm coming back. Plus, next year I'm coming to your school."

"Oh... That's why I've never seen you before," I say in awe. For as weird as it seems, I basically brushed away the strange reasoning to why Levi never showed up in my life, despite our houses being so close together.

"I was homeschooled," he says simply.

"Well I'll be looking forward to senior year now," I say as I move closer to him, causing his arm to slip behind my back and prop me onto the side of his leg.

"So am I," he says in a raspy whisper. And with that, Levi presses his lips to mine, making my head spin and my lips curl into a smile while they move in sync with his. It only lasts for a few seconds before he pulls away and glances at me with a weary smile. "I'll be back. I promise."

"Goodbye," I say as I back away and allow him to stand up and walk towards the window so he can climb back down the tree, despite how much I want to grab his wrist and keep him with me forever. "And Levi?" I ask right as he places a foot out the window.

"Yes?"

"Who's Will?"

He sighs and moves away to he window to look back at me while he tucks his hands into his pockets. He lets out a breath before his glare met mine. The only time he had spoken about this friend 'Will' was right before they took Avery, and since then Levi hasn't answered my question to who exactly he is. "He was like Avery. The way you were so close to Avery was just like how close I was to Will. They got him just like they got Avery."

"Oh," is all I say in disbelief. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he says as he walks back towards the window. "It was awhile ago."

"One last thing," I pipe up, causing him to turn towards me with a smile and a laugh. Yeah, I may be enjoying stalling him from leaving, but I was also curious. "Did you have a friend that was like... You know... Nathan?"

"No," he answers simply. "But you do. That's why he's more special than you realize. Your lucky he's your friend. At least you still have someone to talk to about Avery. Someone who will understand how much you miss her."

"Thanks Levi. And when you get back from Chicago we're talking about Will. I want to know more," I demand, making him laugh under his breath. "I'll let you leave now. I'll miss you."

A smile pulls at his lips as he runs across my room and wraps his arms around me, giving me a small kiss on the forehead before he sprints back to the opposite side of the bedroom.

"This isn't the end Parker," he says as he places both legs out of the window and swings his body outside and onto a tree branch. "I'll be back. See you in September!"

I laugh until the combined sound of Levi's voice and cracking branches became silent. He left. He's going to Chicago and leaving me all alone to mourn my friend. 

And that's when it hit me: Nathan.

I need to go talk to Nathan.