The mid-day sun leaked through cracks in the walls, and poured through the windows. In the light, she was golden-haired and brown-skinned, summered from the three months of almost constant exposure to the sun. The gold-spun curtain was down and loose, spilling like a waterfall across the shoulder of a boy.. He was naturally more tan than she, and in the gentile sunlight, his black hair appeared purple.
The rather mismatched pair was laying on the blanketed floor of their treehouse. Her head rested on his shoulder. He was tall for a nine-year-old, but she had not received her growth-spurt yet, and was practically dwarfed by comparison.
“Don’t ever fall in love,” he warns, looking very serious for his few years.
“Why?” she asks in earnest, hazel eyes wide.
“Because that means giving your heart away, and hearts are breakable.”
“Oh.”
“I don’t want someone to break your heart.”
“But,” she objects with confusion beneath her tone, “you love me, and I love you. Isn’t that the same thing?”
“No, it’s different. We’re not in love with each other.”
“Oh,” she says again. Her mind wanders briefly, to places beyond their small corner of the universe. She wonders if this sudden lecture has anything to do with the how much his parents have been fighting lately. He doesn’t act upset, but he doesn’t have to, because she knows. She knows he hates when his parents fight, and she knows that he thinks his life is about to fall apart. She wouldn’t let that happen. At least, she wouldn’t let their friendship fall apart. In her mind, she vowed she would never let him slip through her fingers.
“I have an idea,” she says suddenly, breaking the silence.
“Yeah?”
“How about you give me your heart, and I’ll give you mine? That way no one can break them! You’d never break my heart?”
“Never,” he promises, “I’ll keep your heart safe for you. I swear.”
“And who knows?” she asks, teasingly but at the same time not teasingly, “Maybe I’ll fall in love with you some day.”
“Maybe I’ll fall in love with you back.”
YOU ARE READING
Sugar, We're Going Down Swinging
RomanceShannon Bennet has been in love with her best friend, Astley Rue for as long as she can remember. She never doubted it, she just knew. But Astley is the poster child for 'Stupid Boy'. He has no clue, and Shannon hasn't got the guts to tell him how s...
