I was lying on the ground in my back yard. Everything was quiet and peaceful. I was just lying there; eyes closed listening to the rustling trees and the chirping birds.

“What do you want to do today?” She asked. I didn’t have to open my eyes to know that she was plucking at the grass. She always did that when she was bored.

“Nothing,” I replied.

“Absolutely nothing?” She questioned.

“Absolutely nothing,” I repeated.

“But Justin, we’re finally home after months! Don’t you want to go creek stomping with Trace and Rachael or go horseback riding or fishing?”

I opened one eye and looked at her. “Mini, you don’t even like fishing,” I pointed out. She pouted and I chuckled.

“I like fishing. I just don’t like touching the fish,” she grumbled.

I laughed and closed my eyes again. “Whatever,” I muttered.

She huffed. “Justin Randall, are you laughing at me?”

I laughed again. “Yup.” I stretched my arms above my head and yawned.

“You’re supposed to entertain me,” Mack pointed out. “I’m your guest.”

“My guest!?” I pushed myself up on my elbows and looked at her, lifting my eyebrows. “My guest?” I repeated. “Really? Mackenzie, my momma puts up your pictures in my house. You’re practically like another Harless-Timberlake, there’s no way in this fucking world you’re my guest anymore. You almost live here.”

“That’s not my fault.” Mack rolled her eyes. “C’mon, I’m bored!”

“Ok, fine, I’ll think of a game to play, sheesh,” I grumbled.

She pulled a face. “We’re not playing hide-n-seek again. You always get Trace on your side and it’s not fair.”

“Will you stop whining all ready? Sheesh, you’re such a baby sometimes.” I let out a cry of pain when she hit my shoulder.

“I’m not a baby! Take that back!” She growled, glaring at me.

Note to self: don’t call her a baby ever again if you want to keep your life. “Ok ok, sorry. Man, you’ve gotten even more violent than I remember.” And I do remember all the punches, kicks, hair tugs, flicks, pinches, etc.

“You gotta learn to defend yourself when you’re stuck with boys all the time,” she commented, tugging a flower out of the ground. “So what’s this brilliant game you thought of?”

“A game of truths,” I replied. She gave me a look. “You know, like truth or dare without the truths? We used to play it–“

“To get Trace to spill the beans of his flavor of the week,” she finished my sentence with a smile and a slow nod. “Good times. Why do you want to play that?”

“Because despite knowing you for…seventeen years I feel like I don’t know you,” I replied honestly.

“I don’t know,” she hesitated, looking up at the sky.

“What, are you scared?” I teased.

“No!” she replied forcefully. “Let’s play. But whatever we say stays between us, got it?”

“Got it.” I nodded and sat up fully, criss-cross-applesauce style, looking at her. She averted her attention to some flowers in the yard and convinced me to ask the first question. The questions started out lighthearted, questions that I all ready knew answers to. She knew that I knew the answers but answered them anyway. It was only a warmup anyway, soon the questions got even more personal.

“Ok, when was the first time you cried during a movie? Full on waterworks?” Mack demanded.

“Ummm, Titanic,” I replied.

She bit her lip. Her lips curled up in the corner and I could tell she was about to laugh. “Uhm, why?”

Was she being serious? “Because it was based off of true events and Jack and Rose were a good addition to the story. They had love that, like, went through time. I mean, I just wanted to yell at Rose to move over and let Jack get on the damn door. I mean, there was enough space for him! They could’ve been happy but noooooo!”

She burst out laughing and I glared at her. “You got upset over that? I get that it’s sad that it happened but you were more upset that Jack and Rose didn’t get together? What kind of man are you?”

"I should have never told you," I said softly, while looking away.

"Juppy, come on…”

"No, it's OK...I should have expected you to laugh." I looked up into Mack’s eyes. She looked like she was on the brink of tears. I turned away and began to laugh...to laugh hard.

"What's so funny?" Mack asked.

"The…the look on your face!” I stated in between chuckles.

"You were faking?”

"No shit." I nodded.

"JACKASS!" She shouted at the top of her lungs.

"Hey I am not!" I returned.

"Yes you are!" She roared. "I can't believe you sometimes!"

"Well I can't believe you. You laughed at me, when I was trying tell you something personal. So I decided to get you back!"

"Idiot!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

"Am not!"

"Are too!"

“Ok, stop,” I said as I held up my hands. “I’m sorry, ok? It just pissed me off that you laughed at something personal. I thought you of all people would understand.” I let out a breath. “I didn’t think you would’ve changed this much over time,” I mused.

“Me!? I haven’t changed at all, Pop Star. You’re the one who’s going gallivanting across the world, focusing only on your work and your duties and not bothering to care about your friends.”

“Mack–“

“Forget it!” She roughly pulled another flower out of the ground, flinging dirty. “Just ask another damn question.”

“Ok.” I sighed and leaned back onto my elbows, looking up into the sky. It was almost cloudless, there were a few big puffy clouds in the sky that resembled marshmallows. This was supposed to be the perfect day and yet we’re spending it arguing. I didn’t want this to happen. “Ok,” I repeated. “Who was your first kiss?”

“Umm…you first,” she mumbled.

I lifted an eyebrow. “You know who it is.”

“Britney, right,” she muttered. “How’s that going, by the way?”

“Good. We’re taking everything one day at a time,” I replied.

“Do you like her?”

I actually laughed at that one. “Well, I’m kind of dating her, knucklehead.”

She rolled her eyes. “You know what I meant.”

“Yeah, I do,” I admitted. “And I’m pretty sure I love her.”

“How’d you know she was the right one?”

I shrugged. “It’s hard to explain. I just knew when I first met her. I liked the way she laughed, the way she smiled. Her accent always made me smile because it was so thick. I like the way she makes me feel. Invincible I guess.” I shrugged again. “Hey, you never told me about your first kiss.”

“Umm, yeah, I kinda don’t want to,” she replied, twisting the ends of two flowers together.

“Come on, I told you,” I protested.

“I don’t want to,” she stressed.

“Hey, we promised to tell each other the truth, remember? Now you have to tell me.” She stayed silent. “Mackenzie Danielle Charlotte,” I tried using her two middle names. Didn’t work. Huh. “Mackie,” I tried, knowing she hated that name. Still she didn’t respond. “It was Trace wasn’t it?”

“No!” She cried out, making a face.

“Because he did like you a lot before,”  I continued.

“No, ugh, it wasn’t Trace.”

“So who was it?” I practically yelled.

“No one, you idiot!” She shouted at me. I lifted my eyebrows. “I haven’t had my first kiss yet, ya happy? Yeah, I’m nineteen and I still haven’t had my first kiss.” I stayed quiet. “Go ahead, rub it in.”

“I’m not going to rub it in, Macks, I’m not that much of a jerk,” I said as I rolled my eyes. “So who’s the lucky guy?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that never been kissed thing probably wouldn’t have bothered you so much if you didn’t like someone, which you do. So who is it?”

“I’m not telling,” she replied.

“I won’t tell him.”

“Yes you will.”

“No I won’t,” I protested. “Who is it? Wait, it’s one of us isn’t it? You’re around us practically 24/7, but who could it be? Everyone’s currently off with their girlfriends.”

“We’re not having this conversation,” she said, standing and walking towards my house. “Do you know what’s for lunch?”

“No no no! You’re not changing the subject!” I said as I jumped up and followed her.

“Watch me!” She called without turning around.

I ran after her. I meant to stop but I accidentally crashed into her and sent us both to the ground. The next thing I knew we were playfully wrestling, both trying to pin the other. In the end I had pinned Mack to the ground. To honor my victory, I began to tickle her in the sides, her weak spot. She curled into a ball and tried to roll away, begging me to stop between her laughter but I continued to tickle her until her face started to turn red.

“So, which one of us studly men are you interested in?” I demanded, keeping her pinned to the ground.

“J, I’m not going to tell you,” she groaned.

“Let me take a guess,” I begged.

“Ok, fine, guess,” she said with an eye roll. I hesitated a bit—was I really going to do this?—then leaned downward and kissed her ever so gently on the lips. She seemed to tremble at my touch, but eventually she eased. Then I pulled away, looking at her. She just stared back at me, dumbfounded.

“So…is that the answer?” I asked. She shoved me away and got to her feet right as Momma called us for lunch. “Well? Am I the answer?” I called after her.

She turned—walking backward—and grinned as she said, “JC.”

"WHAT!?” I yelled, as she turned to run across the yard. I was hot on her heels.