Bet It On The Moon

Chapter Three

Chapter Three

It is early fall. The time when trees are fresh and orange, and the air is warm. I usually hate walking to school, but I love it at this time of year. I walk slowly down the path, my head to the ground. I kick a few pebbles in front of me. That is what I usually do on the way to school. I play a game with just myself. I see how many times I can kick a rock in front of me without stopping my walk. I am just about to be on my twenty-first kick when I hear footsteps behind me. I start to panic and I fiddle with my backpack straps. No one ever walks to school with me. I am always by myself. I look around slightly to see converse sneakers walking beside me. I am afraid it is someone who will only bully me, throw my books on the ground and laugh at me. I brush a wave of hair out of my face and when I see who is standing beside me, a small noise comes out of my mouth. Like a mix between a gasp and a hiccup. It is June. She smiles a bright smile at me. "Hi." she says, but I don't say anything. I must look really suprised because she says, "What have you never seen a human before?" She laughs. I am embarrassed at first, but then I realize she is joking. "I'm sorry." she says. "I'm just kidding." I laugh a little. I am not used to talking to people. Especially not pretty girls. "Your name is Logan right?" She says a little quieter than usual. "Yeah." I whisper. "My name is June." Her voice is so light and cute i want to just grab her and hug her, but I pull the urge away. "That's a really pretty name." I say and I smile at her. I never knew it felt so good to smile like that at someone. Not a fake smile. A real smile. I havn't really smiled in a long time. "Yesterday I saw you working on your bike." I pull the confidence to say. "What are you doing with it?" She blushes a little and smiles nervously at her feet. "It's stupid." She says. "It's ok." I say comforting. "I was just interested." She looks at me funny. Then she grins. "Well, I can tell you if you really want to know." "But it's classified information." She smirks and I laugh. "You promise not to tell anyone ok? This is a secret project." She holds her pinkie out to me. "I promise." I say and link pinkies with her. Just by slightly touching her, I feel as if my insides are exploading. "Well, I want my bike to be magical. Not a fairy-wand kind of magic, but look magical. You know what I mean?" I don't, but I nod anyway. "So I'm going to try to put lights all over my bike. Like, Christmas tree lights or something." She smiles a smile so big she might pop. "Then when I'm riding my bike around the neighborhood at night, it will light up like a thousand fireflys gluing to my bike." I picture the image in my head, and it does seem magical. "I'll have the most spectacular ride on the block." She sighs. "That's a brilliant idea," I say. "Really?" she says. "Really." I say. "Maybe you can come to my house after school tomorrow. We can work on it together." Did she really just ask me that? "Oh, yeah, of course!" I say a little too exited. "Alright!" She smiles. "It's going to be magnificent!" We talk all the way to school and I am suprised by how much I have said to her. I am still shy, but I don't think I have talked this much around anyone, ever. The rest of the day drags on very, very slow. Multiplication numbers swirl in my head, and images of my macoroni and cheese for lunch settle in my thoughts. When the end of the day finally comes, I find myself walking home from school with June. We stop at her house, and in the backyard is the most beautiful garden I have ever seen. I am about to ask her about it when she says, "Alright. Let's get started."