Secrets

Secrets (2)

A loud roar woke me up from my light sleep. I kept my eyes closed and listened to the familiar noise of Summer's old, blue Chevy truck. The noise cut off abruptly as Summer yanked the keys out of the ignition.

I heard her car door open, then slam as she closed it. Her soft footsteps came closer and closer until she stopped, right next to me.

I slowly opened my eyes to see Summer, staring down at me with a worried expression. "Are you ready to go?"

I sat up, making sure I didn't pull anything. I nodded my head. I held my hand up towards her, and she grabbed it. She pulled me to my feet.

She intertwined our fingers, just like we did when we were kids, and walked me to the car. I walked to my side and got in.

As the car got warmed up, Summer put both of her hands on the wheel and sighs gently. "This darned car takes too long to start," she muttered in slight frustration.

My lips curved up into a half smile. "But you love it anyway."

She grinned. "True."

After the car was ready, Summer quickly backed out, and we drove away from the bridge.

We were both silent. We never really said anything to each other during the car rides. I guess we didn't have anything to say.

I watched the trees, houses, and people blur by through the window of the truck. There were so many colors just mixing together, my brain had a hard time registering all of them. There were greens, blues, reds, purples, oranges, and yellows. No pinks, for some reason.

One splash of black.

Before I knew it, we were at Summer's house. It was a small house, painted yellow with light green shutters, and a blue door. It instantly made you feel like you were welcomed. The aroma of Mrs. Baxter's hoe made chocolate chip cookies wafted around the house. On the porch sat a few mismatched chairs and a small, oak table. A wind chime tinkled in the background. Birds chirped and flew around the house, occasionally stopping to rest on the dark brown shingles of the roof, or to peck at the birdseed in the birdhouse that hung from the giant oak tree that sat outside the house. It looked as though it had come straight out of a storybook fairytale.

We walked to the front door, Summer grasping my hand with hers, swinging them between us.

We climbed up the rickety steps of her porch and she pushed the unlocked door open.

"You should really start locking your doors," I said. "Someone could just come in and steal your teacups or something." Summer just stuck her tongue out at me. Whenever I came to her house, I made some comment about how she should lock her door, or blah blah blah would happen. She's gotten so used to me saying like that she didn't get mad anymore.

A few pots clanged in the kitchen, and Mrs. Baxter popped her head out of the arched doorway to smile at the two of us. "Hello girls!" Her voice was so bubbly and cheery, and made you want to smile just by hearing it. "I made a fresh batch of cookies. Would you like one?" Summer's mom was a baker, so she was always baking and trying out new recipes in her kitchen. But her most famous creation was her chocolate chip cookie. No matter how many times you tried, you could never make it as well as she could. She used some special ingredient that made it taste all the better. If you asked her, she'd say it was love.

Summer and I eagerly nodded our heads, although I did so gently, because my neck was still sore. Mrs. Baxter's head disappeared for a moment before her whole body came out, with a cookie held in each of her hands. Summer and I glanced at each other, grinning. We both grabbed a cookie and shoved them, whole, into our mouths. "Mmmmm..." we both moaned in pleasure. The cookies were so damn good! Mrs. Baxter laughed at us and walked back into the kitchen.