Page 39 of Our Moon
But they complement each other so well. It’s like they’re one complete person when they’re together. When Ally was dating Blake, you could tell Alex missed her. He would zone out a lot and lose his focus. It was like something was missing from him. Since she has been hanging out again, he’s been back to his usual self.
We made s’mores and tried to tell ghost stories, but we ended up getting in a marshmallow fight. Naturally, it stemmed from an Alex and Ally disagreement over the serial killer in Alex’s campfire tale.
Just after midnight, everyone starts heading to bed. Ally is the first to go, followed by Joey and Alex, then Trevor.
“You want me to put this out?” Trevor asks, gesturing to the fire.
“Nah, man. I’ll get it in a few.” He nods and heads into the cabin, closing the sliding door behind him.
I lean back in my Adirondack chair and look up at the sky, at the moon in particular. I can just see it between a break in the clouds. It never ceases to amaze me that no matter where you are at night, it’s always there. A constant.
“Whatcha doing out here all by yourself?” I jump at the sound of Ally’s voice. I hadn’t heard her open the door or walk up behind my chair.
She laughs. “Easy there, tiger. It’s just me,” she says as she walks around and takes a seat in the chair beside me.
“Sorry, didn’t hear you come out.” I turn to look at her face, but she’s looking in the fire. She’s even more beautiful in the glow of the firelight.
“Yeah, sure. You’re just freaked out by Alex’s super scary stories,” she grins.
“You totally caught me,” I laugh. “Thought you went to bed?”
She let out a puff of air, “I lied.”
I raise my eyebrow in question, but she doesn’t see it. She’s still looking at the orange glow of the flames. “Everything okay?”
She finally looks at me and smiles, “It is now.”
Now that she’s here with me? I wonder.
“We haven’t really had time to hang out together since we’ve been here,” she tells me. “Or even talk really. I mean, it wouldn’t exactly be inconspicuous if we sat there texting each other while in the same room.”
“So you snuck out to hang out with me?” I ask obtusely.
She looks to me and smiles shyly, then nods. “I know it probably sounds weird and crazy, but I’ve missed you this week. You’ve been here the whole time, but I’ve missed you.” She looks down and whispers the last part.
“It’s not weird or crazy,” I tell her.
“It’s not?”
“No,” I shake my head. “Because I’ve missed you, too.”
She looks up at me in surprise, and her smile widens. “Really?”
“Yeah,” I smile back.
“So you never did answer me,” she says. I think back but I don’t remember a question. She obviously sees the confusion on my face and adds, “What are you still doing out here?”
“Oh, nothing. Just looking at the moon.” God, that sounds so stupid.
She looks up to the moon and nods. “Isn’t it crazy how no matter where you are, it’s always there? You can always see it.”
My eyes shoot to hers, “That’s exactly what I was thinking about.”
“No way,” she laughs.
“Yeah, seriously. I’ve always had an appreciation for the moon,” I tell her.Something about Ally makes me want to tell her everything.
“Why’s that?” she asks.
