Small Town Girl (Farkle Minkus)

Chapter Twenty-One: Girl Meets Promises

Sooner or later everyone started going to bed, no one really wanting to address the awkward bombshell that was just dropped on Riley and Lucas's relationship. I knew eventually I would have to go home, but...I didn't really want to go back to my empty house.

"So...where are we headed?" Farkle asked. I rasied my eyebrows.

"What?" I asked.

"You said you wanted to take me somewhere...talk to me about something...remember?" I nodded.

"Oh yeah...right." I swallowed. "Um...let's go."

~~~

I took him to a very special place. My special place. Only Lucas knows about it.

"What is this place?" Farkle asked, looking up at the old barn.

"Fremire farms." I told him. "They went out of business when I was eight, gave me permission to use the barn."

"For what?" He asked.

"Just a place to...to be alone when I needed to." I grabbed his hand and led him into the barn and up to the hay loft, where there was a square hole in the middle of the ceiling.

"This is where you look at the stars, isn't it?" He asked. I nodded.

"It's perfect." I spread the quilt out and laid down on my back, looking up. Farkle hesitantly laid down beside me. "It's beautiful...peaceful."

"The planetarium doesn't compare." He told me.

"But that was beautiful too." I assured him, putting a hand on his arm.  He sat up.

"What are we here to talk about, Skipper?" Tears welled in my eyes at the thought. "What's wrong?" I sat up, hiding my face in my hands.

"My dad is gone, Farkle."  I told him.

"Gone...what do you mean gone?" I looked over at him.

"Nobody's seen him in a month. He left a note in our house that had to be dictated to me over the phone, about him apologizing and telling me not to look for him or try to contact him...He didn't even have the common decency to tell me where he was going, and...he's just gone."

"Skipper..." He put a hand on my back. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't tell anybody. We had so much going on with 'Rileytown'  and I just...You guys have your own problems to deal with. You didn't need mine too."

"That's not how friendship works, Skipper! We don't just deal with some people's problems, we deal with ALL of our problems, and this is the biggest one! You should of told someone-"

"I KNOW, FARKLE!"I screamed. I instantly felt guilty, so I got up, leaning against the wall by the ledge in the front.  I leaned my forehead against the wall. "I know...I...I'm sorry, I..." His arms were around me in an instant, and my head was buried in his chest.

"You can't hide things from us, Skipper. You can't hide things from me. Don't ever hide things from me." I nodded, pulling away from him.

"I promise." I nodded.

"Promise me something else."

"Ok." I said, urging him to continue.

"Promise me you'll tell them."  I nodded again.

"I will. I promise I will."

"Good." We laid back down on the blanket, my head on his chest,  as we watched the stars. He played with my hair.  Farkle was...amazing. He was sweet, and understanding, and caring. He was the best.