At the Pool
Alex and I were exhausted. The splashing war had lasted what felt like an hour, and now we floated on the surface, arms outstretched, watching the sky begin to tinge with orange.
"You know what?" she said, her voice soft.
"What?"
"This summer was the best of my life."
"Better than the one you spent at science camp?"
"Much better. At science camp, I learned about quantum physics. Here, I learned about..." She paused. "Other things."
"What things?"
She thought for a moment. "About how I don't always have to have the answer. About how it's okay not to know. About how..." She turned to me, water dripping from her chin. "About how there are people you can be with without having to explain anything. Without having to prove anything. Just... be."
"And you have someone like that?"
She looked at me. In her eyes was something I hadn't seen before. It wasn't analysis. It was something simpler. Something that had maybe been there from the beginning, waiting to be named.
"I think so," she said. "I think I found one."
I didn't say anything. I couldn't. Words stuck in my throat, not because I didn't know what to say, but because anything I said would break the spell.
"Leo," she said after a while. "Are you going to leave?"
"Where?"
"To college. Somewhere else. To do all those things you want to do." She paused. "To grow up."
"We're all going to leave, Alex. Eventually."
"I know, but..." Her voice cracked, just slightly. "You're the only one who understands. The only one who doesn't ask me to be different. The one I can talk to without having to translate my thoughts into words people understand."
"And you're the only person I can be myself with," I said. "Without having to pretend. Without having to wait."
"Wait for what?"
"Wait for something to happen. For someone to tell me what to do. Wait to..." I paused. "To be ready."
She fell silent. The water moved gently around us, and the sun sank behind the houses.
"I think you're already ready," she said quietly. "I think I am too. I just... don't know what to do with it."
"Me neither. But maybe we don't need to know. Maybe we just need to be."
"Be?"
"Be. Wait. And see what happens."
She looked at me. In her eyes was something I couldn't name. Fear, maybe. Hope. Or both.
"That's very cheesy," she said, but she was smiling.
"I know."
"It's okay," she said, and her hand found mine under the water. It wasn't an accident. It was a choice. "It can be cheesy sometimes."
Night, on the Porch
The party was over. The family had dispersed, and the Dunphy house was calm. Alex and I were on the porch, like so many other nights, our clothes still damp, the night air wrapping around us with a cold that didn't bother us.
"School starts tomorrow," she said, eyes fixed on the empty street.
"I know."
"Are you scared?"
"Of school?"
"Of everything. Growing up. Things changing."
I thought for a moment. "No. I think I'm ready."
"And do you think I'm ready?"
"I think you're going to be the best in the class. As always."
"That's not what I meant. I meant..." She paused. "The other things. The ones you don't learn from books."
"I think you already know more about those things than most adults I know."
She looked at me. In the dim light of the porch, with the streetlights casting shadows on her face, her eyes glowed.
"So? Will you be there? When I don't know what to do?"
"Always."
"Always is a long time."
"I know. But I promise to try."
She nodded, once, with that determination she put into everything. And then, without a word, she rested her head on my shoulder.
It wasn't a romantic gesture. It wasn't a declaration. It was just her head, resting on my shoulder, as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
And for me, it was.
The system, which no longer recorded, recorded nothing.
But if it had, it would have noted:
User height: 168 cm. Increase of 12 cm in 3 months.
Body composition: Increased muscle mass. Improved motor coordination.
Retained skills: Programming (intermediate level), robotics (basic level), drawing (basic level), calligraphy (basic level).
Connection with A.D.: Stable. Evolving.
The user no longer needs recording.
The user only needs to be.
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Alex said this summer was the best of her life. Leo said his was too.
She asked if he was going to leave. He said he was always going to be there.
And in the water, with the sun setting, their hands found each other. It wasn't an accident. It was a choice.
What was cheesier? Leo's line or Alex believing it? 🌅💭❤️
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