nearby || c.h.

1

Liberation. Noun. The act of setting someone free from imprisonment, slavery, or oppression; release.

This was the feeling that I had the second that final bell rang throughout the institution that was built to kill my creativity. Summer break had officially begun, everyone all too eager for its arrival, like an ice cream truck in a sweltering neighborhood. But me? I was free for good. Last day of senior year, baby.

Scooping my AP Physics notebook that I fully intended on burning into my arms, I made sure I was one of the first out of the classroom. Pushing my way through the chaotic hallways, I navigated to my locker in order to gather my belongings and leave this shitty public school forever.

Opening the teal metal door, I quickly extracted my backpack and rested it on my knee to haphazardly shove the notebooks into. I also cleared out the photos and sticky notes taped on the inside of the door, one of the only things that kept me sane. Kind of like a prisoner with a poster of a kitten on a tree branch that says 'Hang in there!'.

"Ready?" My best friend, Amanda asked revealing herself behind the locker door when I shut it. I nodded with a chuckle, "As I'll ever be!"

"My place or yours?"
"Hmmm lets go to yours, we've been hanging out at mine for the past few days and I think dad is developing an eye twitch," I joked as we started to walk.

Amanda and I had been neighbors since they were first developing our neighborhood, which happened to be when we were still in the womb. Nearly nineteen years together as neighbors and eighteen post-birth years as best friends. Our birthdays were even exactly a week apart from each other, and yes I was the eldest. Not a year passed when our birthday party wasn't conjoined.

I held the door for her as we exited the building. Luckily, the school was on the edge of our neighborhood across the street, so we've been walking to school together since fourth grade; the earliest our parents would let us.

The middle school, elementary school, and high school all sat near each other in a wide triangle of real estate. As mentioned, just across the road was our neighborhood. White fences, white houses, white cars. The pinnacle of suburbia.

"Oh I don't know if I told you already," Amanda spoke with her thinning Kiwi accent. Her family moved here from Australia when Amanda's mother first got pregnant with her. "But Calum is staying with us this summer from university."

Calum was the older of the two Hood children. He was only a kid when they moved to America, maybe five or six. I remember being that age and thinking the absolute world of him. Even though he may have had cooties, and after all boys did 'go to Jupiter to get more stupider', I thought he was the cutest one out there.

I pursed my lips slightly and shook my head, "Uh, no no you didn't tell me that...so-so is he-?" Amanda nodded, "Yeah he's gonna be there when we get home, he got in around noon today mom said."

I smiled slightly to myself, having not seen him for what felt like an eternity. I had to have been fifteen or so because he hasn't come back home since he left for university after completing his under-grad education. He goes to UC San Diego School of Medicine now.

Calum has always been smart. But then again, Calum was one of those people who was good at everything. You could tell him to play violin while scuba diving and he would somehow bang out Beethoven's Symphony No. 9 all while discovering a new species of a rare endangered sea creature.

I had a crush on him since I knew what a crush was. Of course the feelings were never mutual, I was just his kid sister's idiot adopted twin that was too loud and invaded his privacy.

We reached Amanda's driveway and I saw a shiny black Buick parked out front. Must be Calum's. Let's hope the car reflects the man.

Amanda turned the key in her doorknob, pushing the front door open, "Cal, I'm home, Daisy's with me so put some fucking pants on!" She jokingly yelled, shutting the door behind her. Amanda's parents didn't get home till late, so usually we would have the house to ourselves after school.

"You didn't tell me Daisy was gonna be here," I heard a significantly more mature voice than I remembered say as I kicked my shoes off by the door. I looked up and saw Calum standing in the entry to the living room. My lips parted slightly at the sight.

He buffed up. A lot. He also was now covered in a fair amount of tattoos, and his face...his face was indescribable. It wasn't different than what I remember, just enhanced. Like he had leveled up.

Amanda smiled sarcastically, "Well you don't live here, so I didn't think I needed to!"

He crossed his arms, "I'm here for three months, so get used to telling me things. And look you're being so rude in front of the long lost Hood," he turned to me and smiled, "Get over here, Daisy, did you really think you could just see me for the first time in ages and not hug me?!"

I tried to suppress my smile, but I couldn't help it, and laughed as he pulled me into a tight embrace. He pulled away and held me out at arms length, looking me over, "Girl, you've changed so much! I mean you're still the same height you were when you were twelve, but we all knew that was gonna be the case."

I pretended to look offended and smiled, "Well look at you Mr. Bodybuilder, what happened to the string bean I remember?"

"You know after a lot of thinking and meditation, I just decided the string bean life wasn't for me," He jokingly replied, running a hand through his hair. The bottom of his shirt pulled up slightly as he did so, revealing a tanned sliver of stomach and a black happy trail.

I nearly melted at the sight.

"Daisy and I are going to my room, you better not bother us!" Amanda said, gently pulling on my wrist to lead me upstairs with her. Calum smiled and nodded, "Yeah good to see you too, Amanda!"