The first day of school is tomorrow. Not that it's like a big deal or anything. By now, I pretty much have it figured out that the first day of school is more or less the same as every other day. I take a quick shower, then head to my room to watch some reruns of an old show. I push play and flop down on my bed. Two seconds into the show, I hear a soft thud against my window. I reach over and crank it open.

"What are you doing?" Matt asks.

"Watching T.V.," I answer.

"Wanna do something fun?"

"T.V. is fun."

"Are you coming or not?" He says with a coy smile then disappears from his room. Even though I know he can't hear me, I yell after him.

"Wait! Where are you going? Matt! Matt!"

No answer. I roll my eyes and drag myself downstairs. I rush past my dad who's bumming it on the couch like always and my mom who's standing in the kitchen gulping down ice cream straight from the box.

"What are you getting me into now?" I ask Matt.

As soon as I stepped outside I saw him standing at the bottom of my porch steps waiting for me.

"Wanna go to the lake?"

"That's it?"

"What were you expecting?"

"I don't know."

"Do you wanna go or not?"

I roll my eyes and hop down my front steps to meet Matt. He turns and heads towards the lake. I have to jog a little to catch up with him. He walks so fast, it doesn't take us long to get to our destination.

I kick off my keds and dip my feet into the water. Matt pulls off his sneakers and socks, strips off his t-shirt, and slowly lowers himself into the lake. He stays facing me while he treads water near the dock.

"I thought you were sore," I say.

"I am," Matt says. "Swimming helps release lactic acid."

"Is that a good thing?"

"Uh-huh," he says. "Why don't you get in?"

"I don't have my suit. Or a towel," I say although the water does look nice.

"Swim in your clothes," Matt says with a nonchalant shrug.

"I can't swim in my clothes. What if I ruin my dress?"

"You won't ruin your dress. Besides you have like a thousand dresses," he says.

"I do not."

"You sure do," he says. "Let's see there's the pink and white one, the red lacy one, the stripe-y green one, the yellow one with the bow, the light blue one with the white lace on the top, the light blue one with the white lace on the bottom, that one with the roses, the one that poofs out when you spin in a circle, the uh...the one with the belt, um...oh yeah that white one you wear with that long bird necklace-"

"That's hardly a thousand."

"Well, you didn't let me finish."

"If you think you're gonna get your way by being smug you've got another thing coming," I say even though by then I had already decided to go in.

"Okay okay," he says. "Please?"

"Since you asked nicely," I say with a shrug and tie my hair up in a bun so it doesn't get wet. As soon as I drop in the water I feel the instant chill of the cool water. It was hot today, so I welcome the cold. It's refreshing.

"Check it out," Matt says as he floats on his back. "We're right under the Big Dipper."

I tilt my head back as much as I can without getting my hair wet.

"Huh?" I say. "Where?"

"Right there," Matt says and points to the sky. I crane my neck back and search for the Big Dipper. It takes me a minute and some further instruction from Matt, but I finally see it.

"Whoa," I say as we both stare up at the sky in amazement. The stars are like broken glass, scattered and gleaming throughout the night sky. Even though I can't see his face, I know Matt's smiling.

"You know what I'd really like to see?" I say. "One of the planets. They come out once in a while right?"

"I think so," Matt says and pulls his attention away from the sky. "Ask Drew he's into astronomy now."

"He is? What happened to amphibious creatures?"

"He still likes 'em, but I honestly think he lost a lot of interest when my dad told him he couldn't get a pet frog."

"Oh, why not?"

"I don't know. My dad has this thing about frogs. I guess one summer when he was little Uncle Nate and his cousin Travis caught a bunch of tadpoles and dumped them on his face while he was taking a nap."

"Oh my God," I say as I try to stifle my laughs. "That's awful."

"Yeah I know," Matt says with a chuckle. "Worst part was his mouth was open."

"Oh no," I say and we both laugh. "No wonder he hates frogs."

"Yeah, I'd say it's justified."

Our laughter subsides and after a little longer, we both decide it's probably time we head back home. Matt climbs out of the water and grabs his towel. He looks at me standing there soaking wet and then offers me the towel since I don't have one of my own. Matt's not always the shining example of a gentlemen, but he has his moments.

"That's okay," I say.

"I don't mind. I'll dry off on the walk home," he says with a shrug.

I give in and take it because I know if I don't he'll probably just throw it over his shoulder and not even use it to prove a point.

"All right fine," I say and wrap the towel around my shoulders. "Thanks."

When we get back to our houses, I turn to go into my own house and part ways with Matt. At least I try to.

"Hey, where do you think you're going?" Matt says as I'm about to go up my steps.

"Back inside," I say.

"Why?"

"It's late. And we have school tomorrow."

"So?" Matt says and waves his arm towards his house, inviting me in. I don't bite. He slumps his shoulder and gives it another try. "It's only like 8:45. Stay ten minutes. You'll be home by 8:55 tops."

"I shouldn't."

"Fine don't come in," Matt says and walks up his steps.

But he doesn't go inside. Instead, he takes a seat on his porch swing and gently rocks back and forth.

"At least sit with me for a bit. You should dry off a little bit more before you go inside anyway."

I shrug my shoulders and slowly make my way up Matt's porch steps and sit beside him. He begins to sway us back and forth. I put my feet on the ground, stopping all his momentum. He gives me a fake angry glare, and I just smile. He shakes his head and turns away so I can't see the smile growing on his face. I lift my feet up.

"Go ahead," I say "swing away."

Matt laughs and shakes his head.

"I don't want to anymore."

"Suit yourself," I say, and stand up.

"Hey," Matt says kind of sharply, but with some jokiness in his voice. "Sit back down."

I shake my head and Matt grabs my wrist, somewhat roughly, and pulls me back down into the swing. He lets go and looks out into his yard like he didn't even do anything. I give him a long stare, but he doesn't respond. For a few minutes, Matt and I just sit like that. In silence, looking out into the night. As it closes in on 8:55 I start to think that I should head back to my own house. I'm dry enough and I do have a 9 o'clock curfew that is very much strictly enforced. Especially when my dad knows I've been out with Matt.

"I should probably get going," I say and stand up.

"Wait," Matt says softly, longingly.

He grabs my wrist again, only much gentler than he had a few moments ago. This time only his fingertips wrap around my wrist with such lightness that it almost tickles.

"Why don't you stay over?"

"You know I can't," I say and try not to look into Matt's pleading eyes. If I do that I'm done. I pull my hand away from him because I'll be honest, that's not helping at all.

"I'll see you tomorrow at school, okay?" I say.

"I'd really like it if you stayed over. You haven't slept over in ages."

I stare at him and he stares at me. We both wait for the other to break. I break first. Not that that's much of a surprise. I always break first.

"I'll ask okay?"
"Ask your mom," Matt says knowing that there's a slim chance my dad would go for it.

"I will."

"Good," Matt says and gets up and opens his front door. "I'll make us a snack."

I run to my house quickly. I rush past my dad who is waiting by the door for me. His hands are on his hips and his brows are furrowed. He scoffs and shakes his head, but lets it go. He walks back over to the couch, sinks in, and twists open a beer. That should keep him occupied for a few minutes. I head straight to my parents' bedroom. My mom is already in bed with a book over her face.

"Ma?" I say.

"Yes, sweetheart?" She mumbles and slowly pulls herself up.

"Is it okay if I stay at Matt's tonight?"

"I don't know, Kiers," she says and sits up. "What did your dad say?"

"Well," I say. "I didn't ask him."

My mom looks at me that way moms do and pushes my hair back.

"You really want to go?"

"Yeah of course."
"Okay," she agrees.

My mom throws back the covers and gets herself out of bed.

"You go. I'll take care of your father."

"Thanks," I say and give her a quick hug.

"Don't stay up too late okay?"

"You got it."

I rush up to my room to grab some stuff then run over to Matt's as soon as I can. Right as I leave, my mom joins my dad in the living room. She sits down on the couch with him and hands him another beer. She turns up the TV so he can't hear the door shut.