The Space Between Us(2)

My name is Charlie. I did just move here. First day.



I watched her read it and then she scribbled under my writing and handed it back to me.



How do you like it so far?



I read her question and shrugged my shoulders. Then I wondered how I was supposed to write that in the note.

It's ok, I guess.



When she read my response, she looked over at me and smiled. She folded  the note up and put it in her backpack. She didn't pay much attention to  me for the rest of the day.

When school was over, I walked out of the building and headed towards the field that sat on the side of the building.                       
       
           



       

"Charlie!" I heard my name and turned around to see Reeve running  towards me. "Hey! Where are you going?" She came to a stop in front of  me, her backpack swinging from side to side behind her with every step.

"Walking home." Home was such a weird word to use. Home was hours from  here, back in my old neighborhood. I was really walking to the house  we'd just moved into, but it didn't feel like my home.

"Cool. I walk home too, but I live that way," she said as she gestured  in the opposite direction. "There's this place, The Range, it's just a  few blocks over. Sometimes after school I go there to hang out. It's  kind of like a coffee shop, but cooler. You can just be there and hang  out with friends. They have some video games and comfy couches to read  on. Anyway, maybe sometime you would want to go with me? It's better  than just going home and doing nothing," she said with a smile. Before I  could think about it I was smiling back at her.

"Ok, I'll have to ask my dad first, but I think it will be ok."

"Great!" Just as Reeve's smile grew wider, my eyes landed on the boy  from earlier, Asher, walking past us. He saw me too and kind of nodded  his head, giving me a very small smile. I smiled back at him weakly,  embarrassed, remembering how we'd met and what he'd done for me. "Did  Asher Carmichael just smile at you?" Reeve looked at his back as he  walked away, but then looked back to me confused.

"Uh, I guess."

"Oh my gosh, he's so cute. How do you know him?" My mouth opened to  answer, but I looked back at him, no words coming out yet. Cute? I  hadn't noticed. A few of my friends from home had crushes on boys, but I  never understood it. He wasn't ugly, but I wouldn't call him cute.  Puppies were cute.

"I just met him at recess." I looked down at my hands that had started  fiddling with the hem of my shirt. "He told another boy to leave me  alone."

"He stuck up for you? Oh, em, gee. He's so cute. Who was bothering you?"  Her words came out at a million miles per hour, and as she spoke she  used her fingers to twirl her hair around and around. Eventually the  hair got tangled and she had to yank her finger free, but then she'd  just start all over.

"His name was Ryan. He had red hair."

"Ew. Ryan Miller? He's a jerk. Don't worry. If Asher told him to leave you alone, he will. Why was he bothering you?"

"He was making fun of my name," I said as I shrugged my shoulders. I  didn't tell her about him throwing rocks at me, that was a little too  humiliating.

"What's wrong with your name?" She asked, truly confused.

"It's a boy's name."

"Oh, well that's a dumb reason to make fun of someone. You don't even  pick your own name. So he's really making fun of your parents. What a  jerk."

It was hard to tell for sure when she was done talking. I waited a second or two before I spoke.

"It's ok. I'm used to it. Anyway, I'll ask my dad about The Range. Maybe I'll see you tomorrow?"

"Definitely. I sit right next to you, so it would be hard not to see me." She smiled, then blinked, staring at me.

"Ok, well, I'll see you tomorrow, then."

"Ok, bye!" Reeve turned around and bounced towards the other side of the  school. I watched her for a few seconds still a little dizzy from her  rapid talking. I finally turned and continued towards the break in the  fence that went around the school that would let me out onto the street  of my new house.

The field was probably meant to be used for sports like soccer or  football, but there were no goals or bleachers on the sidelines, just  grass. There was a trail that went around the field made of bark dust  and looked like it might be used for running. There was only one  cut-through in the fence along this side of the property. The fence  backed up against a row of houses, some of which you could see into the  backyards. Most of them had big bushes that made it hard to see anything  besides the roofs. The cut-through was lined by trees and covered in  gravel. It was only about fifty feet long, but it felt like a tunnel.  Once you were inside you were secluded, shrouded by trees and bushes.  Treetops canopied the walkway and tall shrubs on either side boxed you  in.

Once you came out the other side, you were just plopped right into a  neighborhood. You could either go left or right. My new house, if I  remembered, was on the left. I took the turn and noticed that Asher was  walking ahead of me, about a half block up the street. I watched him as  he came to a stop in front of my house, looking up at the blue two-story  house my dad had bought without even seeing it. My grandparents lived  in Willow Brook, so they had been able to check it out for him, but  still, it was a little crazy. Asher only stood there for a few seconds  and then continued down the street, turning right at the end of the  block continuing on the sidewalk. Maybe he had known the family who  lived in the house before us and missed whoever had been there. That  made me think about my friends back home, and I wondered if they were  missing me. Maybe Dad would let me use his cell phone to call Lucy after  dinner.                       
       
           



       

The house was empty when I opened the door - empty of everything. Hardly  anything was unpacked so there were no pictures hanging on the wall, no  dishes in the cupboards, but even more disturbing to me was how empty  the house was of any feeling. I was so used to my old house; it held all  my memories. So many memories. I remembered baking cookies with my mom,  rolling out sugar cookie dough on the island that sat in the middle of  the kitchen. I remembered her flattening the dough with the rolling pin,  blowing her brown hair out of her face, smiling at me, pretending not  to see me sneaking pieces of dough into my mouth. This new kitchen meant  nothing to me, held no memories. I'll never hear my mother's laugh in  this kitchen or play monopoly with Lucy.

I turned from the empty room and went up the stairs to my bedroom which,  thankfully, was at least partly put together. My dad had been sure to  get to my room first. I collapsed on my bed and must have fallen asleep  because the next thing I heard was the doorbell ringing. At least, I  assumed it was the doorbell. My old house's doorbell rang once, a single  chime. This doorbell went on forever and sounded like a grandfather  clock. It rang the entire time I walked to the front door. I was so  irritated by the obnoxious bells that I swung the door open with more  force than necessary. I was surprised to see Asher standing on the other  side.

"Oh, hi," I said, caught off guard by the sight of him on the porch.

"Hi. My mom made these and asked me to bring them over. She wanted to welcome you to the neighborhood."

I looked down at the plate he handed me and tried really hard not to let  it show on my faced how upsetting it was to get a plate of homemade  cookies from his mother. I took them and thanked him, manners always won  out.

"Did you know the family that lived here before me?" I asked him, trying  to get my mind off the fact that he had a mother who made cookies and  how unfair it suddenly seemed.

"Yeah, my best friend Trace lived here. His Dad's job transferred him  all the way to Minnesota so they moved. My mom said that maybe someday I  could go and visit him over summer vacation."

"That sucks that he moved, but it's cool that your mom would let you go see him," I offered.

"Yeah," he said but then paused. "Is your head ok? You know, from  earlier?" My hand automatically moved to rub the small bump that had  formed where the rock hit me.

"Yeah, it's no big deal. Thanks again for stopping him."

"I saw you made friends with Reeve." I shrugged.

"She seems nice. She talks a lot." He laughed at my comment.

"That she does. But you get use to her, I guess." He rocked back and  forth on his heels a few times and I stood there, not really sure what  else there was to say. "Well, I walk to school every morning so if you  want, you can walk with me."