Page 2 of Meet Me in the Blue
“Dr. Whelan is Dad’s new boss, right?”
“Partner,” she corrected. “The practice belongs to both of them now.”
My shoulders drooped as I wondered whether or not Rook had been forced by his mom to come over and ask me to play.
“What’s the matter?” Mom tapped the spoon on the side of the pitcher and ruffled her hand through my hair. “You look like I canceled Christmas.”
“Nothing.” Grumbling, I turned to leave. “I better get out there before he leaves without me.”
“Have fun,” she called, and I slammed the door.
Fun in Hemlock Harbor. Highly unlikely.
Rook stood in my driveway with a worried look on his face. When he saw me though, his eyes brightened. A lightness filled my chest, and I had to look down at the ground to catch my balance. Maybe I should’ve had a glass of that juice.
“You ready?” he asked, and I nodded trying not to seem too excited.
I walked next to him down the dirt path between our houses, and with him humming under his breath, I didn’t feel as nervous anymore.
“Did your mom make you?” I asked. “Make you come over to my house to see if I wanted to play?”
He shoved his hands into the pocket of his shorts. “Not really.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I saw you… last week outside by the moving truck. Mom said you were in my grade, and I should go over and say hi but…”
“But?” I stopped and he did the same looking straight toward the trees.
“I don’t make friends easily.” His throat moved slow as he swallowed. “Get picked on a lot ‘cause I’m skinny and read a lot. Mom tries to make me drink this chalky chocolate crap. Said it will help me gain weight. But I don’t see why I gotta change. The boys who are mean should have to change.”
“I like to read,” I said, and he looked at me. “But I’m not as skinny as you.” His laugh was loud, and it made me laugh too. A few seconds passed and his smile started to fall. “The boys at school are mean?”
“Sometimes.”
“That sucks.”
“I don’t let it bother me… much. It can be lonely, I guess.”
My fingertips tingled like I’d sat on them too long, and I reached for his hand. Rook looked down at our tangled fingers, his lopsided grin appearing again as I said, “Guess we’ll both be loners… together.”
ROOK
LUKA’S LIGHT BROWN HAIRwas matted to his forehead with sweat as we ran through the trees toward our spot. His laugh more breathless as we neared the small clearing. Stumbling over a branch, he almost fell and swore under his breath. I didn’t think a thirteen-year-old should swear as much as he did, but Luka swore all the time. He thought it made him sound older, and maybe it did. But I liked it better when he was just himself.
“I gotta stop,” he said, curling over, resting his hands on his knees. “I won though.”
I snorted and wiped the sweat off my forehead with the back of my hand. “If you say so.”
Luka barked out a laugh and gave me a crooked grin. “Come on, we’re gonna miss it.”
“Miss what?” I stared at our old fort, at the surrounding trees, looking for something new.
“The moment when everything turns blue.”
I scrunched my brows together. “Blue?”
“The blue hour, it’s when the sun has almost set…” He stared up at the sky, the pink evening fading into night. “When the sun sits under the horizon, it makes everything look blue. I learned about that in the photography class Mom signed me up for.”