The Phoenix ~Louis Tomlinson

Chapter 5

"He what?!" Anna asked after I finished telling her what had happened on the dock.

"Yeah. I am just as confused as you are." I replied.

"I leave for five minutes to get some lemonade and the boy comes over to chat. Just my luck. What do you think he has planned?" Anna asked.

"Your guess is as good as mine, I honestly have no idea. I don't even know what I should wear!" I said, trying to think of what outfit would be appropriate. Surely my bathing suit was unfitting.

"Maybe you should just play it cool and wear a t-shirt and some shorts. You can always change if you need to." Anna said, drumming her fingers on the countertop. She had a point, and I figured casual was better than dressing like a clown. "It looks like the Carmichael's got in, today. Their cars are all here!" Anna had been looking out the window across the lake.

"Should we go say hi?" I asked.

"Ahem. You've got a date." Anna raised her eyebrow. 

I rolled my eyes, "not a date. He probably wants to tell me how much he hates me and ask me to wear a brown paper bag over my head for the rest of the summer." We laughed uneasily. Neither of us had any idea what would happen this afternoon. 

"Well, I'll let you get dressed. I'm going over to say hi to Libby and Jonah. And I will see you in a bit, hot thang!" Anna winked at me as she headed out the back door towards the Carmichael's cabin. 

Left alone with my thoughts, I would've been lying if I said I wasn't nervous. 

After getting changed out of my bathing suit, I sat on the back deck overlooking the lake. My eyes scanned along the trail connecting the properties, looking for Louis. No sign of the boy. I decided not to fret, and I sat back in the chair to relax. My nerves were buzzing, so it was difficult. 

I watched as birds flew and dove around the surface of the lake, capturing insects. A couple butterflies fluttered through the plants near the water's edge, and I hadn't even noticed I wasn't alone on the deck.

"Hey, Valerie."

I jumped, startled. "Hey, Lou! I didn't even hear you walk up."

He smiled, flashing his perfectly white teeth. He was wearing ripped, black skinny jeans and black Vans, and his favorite classic rock band baseball tee. He looked like a little bad boy with his tattoos and messy hair. But I knew better.

"I didn't mean to startle you. Are you ready?" He inquired.

"Yeah! I'm all set." I replied, curious as to what we'd be doing. I didn't want to admit it to myself, but he made me nervous. After years of silence, I wondered what had made him decide to speak to me, again. 

"Let's go for a walk, shall we?" He asked, nodding toward the path. 

I followed him, but he slowed his pace to walk beside me. 

We were quiet for a while, "so how've you been, Lou?" I asked to break the silence. 

"I've been better. How about you, Val? What are you up to these days?" He looked down at me, and I felt so small. 

I wasn't about to let the comment get away, "what do you mean you've been better?"

He sighed and put his hands in his pockets, making me feel slightly guilty for asking.

"A lot has happened in the past few years, Valerie. Want to see if our old fort is still standing?" He asked, changing the subject. I was hopeful I had all summer to get answers from him, so I accepted the change in topic. 

I agreed, and we walked down the old familiar path that we had nicknamed "the bunny trail" when we were younger. The trail still lived up to its name, and we saw plenty of baby rabbits hopping around in the shrubs. We walked in silence for a while, but it wasn't uncomfortable. His hand brushed mine, and I saw him look at me from the corner of his eye to see how I had reacted. I looked down and smiled, just long enough for him to catch it.

We reached the spot where we had once built a fort out of scrap wood, and though the structure wasn't sound, it still stood. 

"Wow, I wasn't sure if it'd still be here. I figured the adults would've taken it down. Seems like a bit of a hazzard, now, doesn't it?" He looked down at me with a crooked smile.

"Should we see if our time capsule is still there?" I inquired, curiousity was overwhelming me. He started toward the fort, reaching out for my hand. And though I was unsure, I took his warm hand and a smile spread across his face. Without thinking, and unexpectedly, I blurted "I've missed you."

There was something about these damn woods that brought out my sentimental side. It was like constantly being haunted by the laughter and innocence of childhood. The moment the words left my lips, I regretted it. 

Louis turned and looked at me, his face was hard to read, but it looked like a hint of sadness spread across him as he smiled. "I've missed you, Valerie." He rubbed his thumb across the back of my hand, and we stepped into our fort.

The inside was typical, old posters and tin boxes where we had once stored toys and notes. In the corner was an old "welcome" mat, and we looked at each other. Louis lifted the mat, and in the hole beneath it sat our coffee can time capsule. We laughed at the thought of the things we had left in it. He reached over and handed it to me.

"Let's open it together, shall we?" He asked.

"Let's!" I replied with a big smile.

Inside the coffee can were old trinkets and toys, soda caps and friendship bracelets. We found our old cassett tape that we had recorded our favorite songs on and we couldn't stop laughing. With each item we found, we had a story behind it. 

"Remember the time we scared Libby and Jonah with the spider ring on the dock?" He asked between laughing. 

"How could I forget! I think Jonah was more startled than Libby! He dove right into the water to escape!" As our laughter died down and we neared the limit of our treasures, I remembered the notes that we had written to each other. Louis seemed to remember at the same moment, and we both became still. He looked at me and handed me the letter with my name on it, and I handed him his letter from me. 

"Should we read them now?" I asked.

"Let's read them later." He replied, smiling. "I think it's almost time for dinner, we should head back."

And with that, we left our little fort behind and walked back along the bunny trail. Hand in hand. When we got to the main path, he looked at me and smiled.

"Moonlit canoe ride tonight?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world." I replied. "Should we meet at the usual spot?" I asked, nodding toward his family's dock.

"I'll see you there at ten." He smiled and turned away.

My face was starting to hurt from smiling so much.