"Okay so, since Santa isn't real," Lexi said, throwing down a card,"does that mean the Easter Bunny is non-existent too?" Lexi asked.
"Go fish!" I shouted, a smile stretching across my face.
"I don't care about fish, answer my question about the bunny."
"I think Santa is more real than a bunny who gives us egg hunts. I mean seriously. Eggs from a bunny," I said, observing my cards.
Lexi blew a piece of hair out of her face. "Yeah, I guess, but now my childhood is ruined."
"Not true! Would not-children come up into a tree house and play go fish?" I asked.
"Adults?" Lexi asked, amused.
"Okay, just because my vocabulary isn't as fantastic as yours..."
"It's because I watch adult shows," Lexi said smugly.
"And what do those shows include?" I asked curiously.
"CSI, all of them, even the reruns, The Mentalist, NCIS, Rizzoli & Isles..."
"So basically crime shows."
"I like murder, what can I say."
"Lexi, I really, really worry about you," I said, grabbing her wrists.
"I've been told," she said rolling her eyes.
"Well sorry, but we are what, 10, you should still be watching SpongeBob."
"Whatever, I'm not most kids."
I laid back on the smooth, but unfinished floor, and stretched my hands above my head, wondering about my best friend.
"Hello??" she said, slapping my leg repeatedly.
"What?"
"Are you gonna take a card or what?"
Just then we heard a knock on the trap door of our clubhouse. I looked at Lexi, and she was frozen.
"Lock it up, and slide out," she whispered, moving quietly along the floor. I twisted the knob and the door was locked in place. Then we escaped through our other door and went down the slide, stopping right before we hit the water, which was now flowing, but freezing cold. We stepped off to the side, and made a beeline for my house. We dove behind a bush, and peered through the leaves, spying on the person who stood beneath our tree house.
"Who is that?" I asked.
Lexi squinted her eyes. "I have no idea."
I zeroed in on the person's face. She looked to be about my parents' age, she had short, wispy blond hair, and a skinny figure. Her eyes were a very common shade of brown, and she was wearing a gold chain that came down to the base of her neck. When I saw the pendant dangling on the end, I realized who it was.
"Aunt Kristy!" I shouted, practically running through the bush.
"There she is!" she said, holding out her arms as I jumped into them, giving her a big squeeze.
"Why are you here?" I asked, my face squished on her stomach.
"I can leave if you want," she said.
"No! You just surprised me," I said.
Aunt Kristy looked at my face, her eyes scanning my features. "That was the point! Oh look at you Anne! You're so big now! And pretty, too," she said in her thick northern accent.
I could feel my cheeks turn red. "Thanks," I said quietly.
Aunt Kristy looked over my shoulder and squinted her eyes. "Who's that?" she asked me.
I turned to see a very confused Lexi. "Oh that's my best friend. She likes introducing herself though so I'll let you meet her. We were up in our clubhouse and we got scared when you knocked."
"Oh, I see."
"C'mon," I said, pulling her towards Lexi.
Aunt Kristy waved at her. "Hi! I'm Anne's Aunt Kristy," she said.
"She isn't really my aunt though. She's my mom's best friend, so I just call her my aunt. But really she is just my godmother," I said.
"Oh! I'm Lexandra, but I hate that name, so you can call me Lexi if you want to. What should I call you?"
Aunt Kristy laughed. "You can just call me Aunt Kristy as well," she said, smiling.
"Okay!" Lexi said, bunching her hair up and pushing it behind her ears. "I like your necklace."
"Oh thanks! Anne gave it to me before I left to go back to Chicago."
"You live in Chicago?"
"Yep," Aunt Kristy said, popping the p.
"Cool." We all went inside where my mom was waiting for us with some lemonade. I grabbed a cup and gulped down the sweet and tangy drink, my parched throat feeling refreshed.
"Hey Kristy," my mom called.
"Yeah?"
"We are going out to dinner in 30 minutes, so hurry up and put on something nice," my mom said.
"Okay!" Aunt Kristy said, moving toward the guest room.
"Oh where are we going?" I asked.
"Oh sorry honey it's just going to be me and Aunt Kristy," my mom said apologetically.
"Oh, nevermind."
"Lexi, you better be getting home," Mom said, grabbing her purse and car keys.
"Yes ma'am," she said, heading out the door. I followed her, walking her back to her house.
"I hope someday we can be like that," Lexi said, skipping through the lawn.
"What do you mean?" I asked, a bit confused.
"Like we will still be best friends, and our kids will call us their aunt," she said.
"I think we will be!" I said.
"I hope so," Lexi said, opening her back door and walking in.
I cut back to my house through the woods, thinking about what she said. "Me too," I said to myself. "Me too."
YOU ARE READING
The Cherry Trees
Teen Fiction"It was then that I heard it. The small, quiet, click. I couldn't turn my head fast enough. When I finally saw her, she had the gun to her head. "I'm sorry," she mouthed. And then the whole forest went silent when the sound of her life being taken e...
