Oh, Sweet Rhythm

I walk upstairs to my bedroom after I say goodbye to my friends. My mother and father had gone to bed about ten minutes ago, and I know they only need about fifteen minutes before they're out cold. I open the door and look at the small space of a room I'd moved into. The small bed is packed into the far left corner with green blankets and sheets covering it. The room is painted a soft olive green, but you can hardly tell because of the random band posters plastered to my wall. A flat screen hangs on my wall and my X-Box 360 and PS3 are set up under it with wireless controllers resting on my bedside table. My mother's a lawyer and my father is a pilot- we make good money.

Should I change? I ask myself as I step in front of the mirror. Jeans and a tee shirt almost don't seem appropriate, but then again, I'm sneaking out to go to a tree house across the street. It's not like I need to look fancy for that. I grunt and change anyway, replacing my old Mario Kart shirt for a green and white checkered button up. I ditch my comfortable jeans with darker, tighter ones. I look in the mirror as I adjust the collar on my shirt, drinking me in. My Aunt had gotten me this and since she is a clothes designer, she had thought I needed a new look.

I look down at my pale skin to notice that it has gotten a tiny bit -and I do mean a tiny bit- darker. I almost want to squeal! I'm getting more attractive as the days go by! I sigh, knowing it won't last. Even though my face is acne clear, I go to the bathroom and wash my face, brush my teeth too. I'm not sure why I would even need to have clean teeth, it's not like I'm planning on kissing her. I'm not, right?

About half after eleven, I start pacing in circles. I'd long ago turned off my light, just in case my parents got up and walked around down stairs. The bathroom is down stairs, away from the stairs and they don't check in on me, but hey, I'm being cautious. I sit down on my bed and try to read The Hunger Games for a few minutes, but my mind has already begun racing and I can't focus. Finally, I decide it's better to be early then late. I creep over to the small window and push it open slowly, trying to avoid it's creek. Once it's open, I step out onto the roof and push forward to the edge. My front porch ceiling is held up by slim pillars, and as I reach the edge of the roof, I drop my legs down and wrap them around a pillar. I edge down a little farther, getting my arms around it and then I slide all the way down.

Once I'm on the soft grass, I exhale- letting out a breath i hadn't known I'd taken. I look across the street and inspect Josette's house with more interest than I had in years. We were both in the rich part of town -though I didn't know what her parents did for a living- but her house seemed like a large farmhouse that you'd find in the country. It's about three stories, thick and painted white. The shutters on either side of the windows on each floor are painted dark blue. There's a giant tree off to the left of the yard, a wooden room supported in it's branches. It's so simple and beautiful, a house you'd see in a movie.

I step forward with a shaky attitude. I've never done anything remotely rebellious and now I was sneaking out to go see a girl! Does that even count as rebelling? I wonder as I cross the street, making sure there's no cars in the late night hour. Luckily, there's not. I step onto the side walk with a prideful smile. My house my be on the other side of the street, but I'd done something that my parents would not be happy about. I'd finally defied my parents rules, even if it wasn't a huge deal.

"Josette?" I whisper. I wonder is she's up there already. I mean, she lives right next to it, so it's a lot easier for her to be early then it would have been for me. No answer. "Josette?"

"Up here." Her whisper is faint and I would have missed it if I hadn't been listening. I step closer to the large tree, being cautious just in case they have motion sensor lights. I also avoid twigs and leaves. When I reach the wooden ladder that leads up into the tree house, I grip one of the steps and step onto the lowest one, moving up slowly, careful to distribute my weight evenly and not break the fragile item. Once I'm sitting in the small box like room, I realize how much smaller it is now that I'm older.

"Hey," comes a voice from beside me. In the moonlight I can make out the figure of Josette and notice she'd gotten dressed for this occasion as well. Her jeans have been switched out for skinnier ones and her checkered blouse is now a simple white tee, cleverly tucked into her pants. Her platinum hair has been delicately curled and glistens as it hangs over her shoulder. She's a very pretty girl, if I do say so myself- even if her lazy look persuades me to believe she didn't care what she wore. But, then again, why did she curl her hair?

"Hi." I'm aware she's drinking in my appearance now, her pink lips curving into a wondrous smile.

"You look all sorts of spiffy tonight," she giggles. I can feel the blood running to my face. I feel like a complete idiot for dressing up. "It's cute that you dressed up for me."

To be honest, I don't feel like I'm to dressed up. I mean it's just a collared button up, right? Though, I think the fact that I changed for her signifies that I was trying to dress up. I'm not sure what to say right now and I pray to God for something that will make her smile. "Only for you."

She blushes. Not a smile, but it's a start. Josette moves closer, closing any and all distance between us. She brings her knees up to her chest, her leg brushing mine as she does so. The contact is in no way arousing, but I can't help but to feel warm and...well, nervous. I look around the room, trying to shake off the uneasiness. We've scooted into the far wall of the tree house and so the moonlight coming in through the window reveals everything to me. Pictures of superheroes hang on the walls -obviously her brother's when he was still around here. There's a toy chest in one corner, and I see a large, square book in another corner. A photo album, I'm sure.

"So, why'd you want me to sneak out to night?" I laugh, not sure what to expect for an answer. Under any other circumstance I would have expected to be beaten senseless, but since Josette is so petite and shy, I'm not worried about that. I look into her brown eyes and search for bad intent. It's not that I don't trust Josette, I just don't trust people in general.

"It's just been awhile since we've talked. Besides earlier today, I mean. I'm not even sure why we stopped being friends." She certainly has a point. I don't know why either, it just happened. I feel bad that I hadn't tried to have us reconnect sooner and I feel bad that the task has fallen on her shoulders.

"Me neither." I tried to think, but nothing sounded like a reason that we should have stopped talking. I didn't know what to say, so I changed the subject. "So, your brother, where does he go to college?"

"Oh, some college up in Virginia, but I can't remember the name. It's funny that you bring him up." She laughs and places a curl behind her ear. I'm suddenly fascinated by her face. She's pale with the lightest blond hair -that's natural, anyway- I've ever seen, yet she has soft, milky, chocolate brown eyes. It's almost unnatural, but in the best way possible.

"Why is that funny?" I ask.

"He called the other day and he asked about you. He seemed pretty disappointed when I told him we fell out of touch." She smiled sympathetically. I'm genuinely surprised he asked about me.

"What, why? He used to hate me! He yelled at us all the time, remember?" I laughed, but she just shook her head with the faint trace of a smile.

"That was just when we were kids, but he knew I was always kind of sweet on you." It's kind of nice that her brother actually didn't hate- wait. Did she just say she used to be sweet on me?

"You were sweet on me?" She gasps, obviously meaning to not say what she did. I laugh and move even closer to her. I'm not sure why, but I feel something that tells me to put my arm around her. My body cooperates with my thoughts and as my arm wraps around her, she lays her head against my shoulder. For at least the next twenty minutes, we say nothing. When she finally speaks, we've changed in position. We're laying face-up on the wooden floor, her head resting on my chest, my hand innocently playing with her hair.

"So," she breaks the silence as she eyes the superhero posters on the wall. "Who's your favorite superhero?"

I think really hard. I hadn't really thought about it before. Things like Dungeons and Dragons, Lord of the Rings, and Final Fantasy were the kind of things I enjoy. Not superheroes. I'm not even very familiar with them. Let's see, I know Superman, Batman, Iron Man, Aqua Man, Wonder Woman- damn, every superhero has man in it! Suddenly, it occurs to me. "I guess my favorite would be the Flash. I only really like him because he's fast."

Josette laughs and pauses. "I guess my favorite superhero would be... Beast Boy, you know, from Teen Titans." Now I laugh.

"Was he the green guy who like shape shifted or something?" I can feel her nod. "That doesn't count."

"Why doesn't it?" She asks.

"Because, he wasn't in any comic books, I don't think. Superheroes are only superheroes if they have their own comic book, right?" I laugh, not even sure that's correct.

"I don't think that's right." She turns, snuggling up against me. I can't be sure I'm right, and I can't be sure that this thing with Josette is permanent, but I can be sure that my feelings for her have grown twice their original size tonight and I can't ignore them. I want to kiss her, but something tells me it's to soon.

"Maybe not."



When I wake up, I don't even remember leaving the tree house the previous night. I'm not sure when I got home, when I got in my pajamas, or even how much sleep I got. I rub my eyes and get dressed and ready for school. It's only Thursday, but the excitement of what's to come tomorrow just plasters a smile to my face. Once I'm dressed in an Adventure Time tee-shirt and a pair of jeans, I head down to the kitchen to greet my mother and father. He sits at the table and I can't help but notice how much I look like him. He has the same brown hair, watery brown eyes, and pale skin. He's like an older version of me, but with chin stubble. My father looks so youthful, but then again, he's only 31.

"Morning, Dad." I smile and take the seat next to him. I like being with my dad a lot more than I like being with my mother. He's so much more understanding, never judging, and always seems to be in a great mood. Today, his skin is glowing, meaning he had a good night at work. My father, by day, works at the airport as a pilot. He manages maybe two three flights a day, nothing international, though he might on occasion. He usually gets home about five o'clock, but them leaves at seven or so for his part time job as a janitor at some company. We don't really need extra money, he just likes cleaning.

"Morning, Chris." He ruffles my hair and smiles, speaking in a fake British accent. "Silly 'ole bear." We all laugh. They planned my name, they tell me every time. Christopher Robin had been to funny to resist so that's what my parents decided on. Sometimes, it was cute and made it easy to talk with some strangers or new faces at school, but other times it was a bother because everyone would come up to me and say, "Silly 'ole bear."

"How was work?" I ask.

"Forget about work, Mom tells me you fancy a girl." I laugh. Great, I won't be surprised if everyone at school knows already. News travels fast in a town like this. Dad grins, his teeth so white it's scary.

"Yeah." I blush, looking down at my watch. Almost eight o'clock. The school's not far, but I'd like to be a little early. School does start at 8:20. "Well, I gotta go." I stand up, pick up my book bag and am about to leave, but Dad catches my wrist. His eyes level with mine, a smile that holds a tinge of disappointment in it.

"I'm proud of you." I smile and nod. Dad's such a sweet guy. He lets me go and I exit the house. As I'm walking down the street, I ponder what life would be like without my dad. I may only see him a few hours a day, but I couldn't live without him. I suddenly recall the men's body spray I detected on my mother yesterday and I'm suddenly worried for my dad. If Mom's cheating, it would kill him. I gulp and continue walking.