Sammy Boy

“Do you want to swing?” Mackenzie asked as they neared the playground. It was only nine and the swing set remained untouched in the early hours of the Sunday morning.

“Race you there!” Sidney took off running with Sam at his side and even though he thought his sudden challenge would catch Mackenzie off-guard – which it did – she still managed to grab a swing only a second slower than him.

“Oooh, tricky, Sidney. However, I will not consider that a defeat for three reasons. One: you tried to fumble me up with the sudden declaration of race-fare in an attempt to get an unfair head start. Two: you grabbed the swing closest to you, therefore making me go the extra mile. And three: I didn’t want to embarrass Sammy Boy, so I let you win.”

And with that, Mackenzie plopped down in the seat, kicked off her sandals, and started pumping her legs.

Sam lay down in the woodchips next to set as Sidney’s legs went to work on elevating him higher and higher.

Mackenzie started chuckling and Sidney asked what was so funny.

“The last time I was on a swing set,” – her voice went from loud to soft in Sid’s ears depending on the distance between the two swings – “I got my first kiss.”

She smiled at the memory and continued pumping: “Freshmen year of high school…Cody Matthews…Washington Park. We had math together and he wrote me a note telling me to meet him there after the football game. All my friends were hiding out in the bushes and when he got there – on his spicy red hot bicycle, I might add – he kissed me. I smiled for days afterwards.”

She turned to Sidney: “What’s your first kiss story?”

“Well, it was pretty cliché, actually. It was in seventh grade at Tommy Holloway’s house. Her name was Claire Thompson and her spin landed on me. It was incredibly awkward and she had braces.” He shook his head. “It was a dark time.”

Mackenzie stopped her swing, reached over and whacked Sidney’s arm. “Now, imagine if Claire Thompson was walking past right now. That kiss probably meant the world to her, and here you are, criticizing her for her orthodontic disability. Shame on you.”

Mackenzie winked at Sid and laughed as her legs began pumping again.

“Well, if it makes you feel any better, we made out in high school and her skills improved drastically,” Sid said with a coy grin and an exaggerated raise of his eyebrows.

“No” – Mac fake gagged – “it doesn’t make me feel better.”

They swung and chatted for a little while longer until Sam started to get restless.

“Want to get going?” Mackenzie asked as she put her shoes back on and jumped from her seat, landing in the woodchips.

“Sure.” Sid got up and undid Sam’s leash from around the pole of the swing set and the threesome fell into step once more.

“So,” Mackenzie started. “What’s your family like?”

“Well, there’s my dad, Troy, mom, Trina, and sister, Taylor.”

“Are you the oldest?”

“Yeah.” Sidney thought about his younger sister, and the eight years that separated them. They had a close relationship, but life had been a bit of a circus ever since he was fifteen, and his seven year old sister sometimes didn’t understand why Sidney wasn’t around. Now, the sixteen year old grasped the extent of her brother’s fame, but still missed him just the same as when she was seven.

“You have siblings?” Sidney asked.

“Yep, two younger brothers and a younger sister. The boys, Carter and Aiden, are twins. They’re just starting their senior year of high school. And my sister, Charlotte, is a sophomore in high school.”

They seemed to talk about everything: Mackenzie’s schooling, Sidney’s time at boarding school when he was fifteen, when Mac got mono and had to miss a month of classes, and the time Sid and his buddy Jack took on an entire opposing baseball team after the pitcher intentionally tried to hit Sidney…

“…it was the craziest thing ever,” he laughed. “All of a sudden we were all on the pitcher’s mound fighting.”

“That is the most ridiculous story I’ve ever heard! Plus you guys won the fight! That’s just unbelievable, haha!” She wiped her tearing eyes with the sleeve of her sweatshirt – she hadn’t laughed that hard in a long time.

By this point, they had looped back into the city and were walking past all the buildings, shops and cafes. Mackenzie pulled out her phone; it was ten and they’d been together for almost an hour and a half.

“I better get going,” she told Sidney. She wanted to get to a local bookstore to see if they had a certain cookbook with recipes she’d been dying to try.

“Yeah, yeah, me too.” He didn’t know why he wanted the walk to last longer than an hour and a half, but Sidney did. It was probably because he knew the next time he saw her, he would have to address his employment, and the simplicity of their relationship would be weighted down like they always did.

“Well, again, thanks for the doughnut and latte. It was fun,” she extended a hand. He shook it.

Despite the cold air that surrounded them, her hands were soft and warm.

“See you around?” he asked.

“See you around.”