It was (so far) the hottest day of summer break, and under the shade of his porch Justin enjoyed the ice cold smile of a watermelon. The pink juice trickled down from his fingers to his elbows as he took large bites of the meat.

Lynn was watering the plants out in the front, wiping the sweat from her brow every other minute.

“Must be nice sittin’ pretty under the shade, huh?” She asked, directing the hose at Justin. He giggled and covered himself from the stream of water.

“I would help, but gardening is a girl thing mom,” he explained.

“But there’s bugs and dirt and worms and all that nasty stuff boys like playing with,” she smiled, trying to get him to help her.

“Okay fine,” he gave up, “I’ll help you. But I got one more slice of watermelon here if you want.”

Lynn turned the hose off, and sat down next to her son.

“I don’t think it’s been this hot since last summer,” she said tiredly. “I remember when I was about your age and all my friends and I would go to the creek for a day of swimmin’.”

Justin stayed quiet as he thought about the one thing that had been on his mind for the past two weeks… Cassidy’s explosion. Biting his lip, he listened half-attentively to his mother’s story. Lynn sensed his disinterest and nudged him in the elbow.

“Something’s bothering you,” she said. “And don’t try to lie to me.”

Justin snapped out of his gaze, and looked into his mother’s eyes. “It’s nothing, Mama.”

“Well, I can guess what it has to do with. Partly from the fact I haven’t seen a certain good friend of yours around here lately,” she hinted.

“She’s busy... you know, doin’ stuff.”

“On a vacation?” She eyed him curiously.

He shrugged. “It could happen.”

“Justin… tell me what’s going on,” she said, finishing the last bite of fruit.

He sighed again, wishing he wasn’t such a bad liar. “She’s acting really weird.”

“Like how weird?”

“I saw her at the park after graduation,” he said, “and she wasn’t talking to me. When I tried talking to her, she would just scream at me and push me.”

Lynn perked up, confused. “That doesn’t sound like Cassidy, baby.”

“I know. That’s why I’m kinda worried.”

“Oh, no,” Lynn cooed, wrapping an arm around him, “I’m sure she’s just feeling a little left out. She’s probably acting a little moody with the new baby and all, you know? That’s normal.”

“But she was screaming at me, Mama. She looked mad.”

“She probably doesn’t know how to deal with it. You were at the wrong place at the wrong time, son. I’m sure she didn’t mean whatever she said. After all, you’re two growing children. Things change, feelings change. It’s all a part of growing up.”

Justin stared at his feet as he spoke. “I don’t like change.”

Lynn placed a soft kiss on his forehead. “You say that now, but you’ll realize change can be a good thing. It’s gonna happen, it’s gonna happen whether we like it or not.”

“Do you think she wants things to change?”

“I don’t know, sweetie. I’m sure that she’ll apologize and you guys will be just fine. And… I’ve got a feeling it’s going to happen sooner than you expected,” Lynn’s voice softened.

Justin looked up, seeing Cassidy walking slowly down the sidewalk towards them.

“Hi Mama Lynn,” she smiled faintly.

“Hi honey,” Lynn said back. She saw Justin in the corner of his eye, and knew she should give them their privacy. “I’m going to go finish pulling the weeds in the back,” she said with a wink.

Cassidy folded her hands, avoiding eye contact with Justin.

“Hi there,” he said finally.

She let off a soft grin. “Hi.”

“I um… I like your sandals. They new?”

“They’re old. You’ve seen ‘em before.”

“Oh…”

“You wanna go for a walk?” She asked, pointing her thumb behind her. “It’ll be really quick. I’ve got to be home anyways.”

“Sure,” he said, as they began to walk down the street. He squinted as he looked across the street. “It’s kinda hot today.”

“Yeah, it is.”

“So how’s the new baby? Are you getting along?”

“She’s fine,” Cassidy said, “I’m still not used to all the crying and stuff. Or the diapers…”

The pair made a round through the neighborhood and finally stopped at a curb. Picking up a stone lying in the street, Justin tossed it at a wandering black cat prowling atop the fence.

“I hear they’re bad luck,” he explained.

She nodded. “Um… I just kinda wanted to say that I’m sorry about, you know. The way I got mad at you that day in the park. I didn’t mean it.”

He sighed, relieved. “It’s okay, I know you didn’t.”

“I really mean it Justin. I know that sometimes I’m not easy to be friends with but you’re always there to make sure I’m okay. It’s not nice that I screamed at you like that.”

Justin dug his hands into his pockets. “Well thanks for telling me. I was beginning to think that you were <i>really</i> upset with me.”

“So you forgive me?”

“Yeah,” he smiled. “I forgive you.”

She gave him a quick hug.

“How come you were acting like that anyway? Did something happen?”

Suddenly her mood shifted, and he hoped to God he didn’t mess it up by saying the wrong thing.

She folded her arms. “It was nothing,” she said quietly. “Just something we can’t control.”

“Are you sure? Cause if you need to talk about it–”

“No,” she refused. “It’s okay. Really… I um, I’m sorry about those cookies you were trying to give me.”

“You mean the ones you shoved back in my face?” He teased.

“Be quiet,” she warned. “I was actually gonna bring you some today in return but Darrin ate them all.”

“That’s okay,” he said, “I’m just glad you stopped by.”

“I wasn’t sure if you’d be home, so I was just gonna check by your house really quick. I almost thought you weren’t there until I saw that hair of yours,” she laughed, ruffling his curls. “Someone here needs a haircut. I could give you one; I promise I won’t mess up.”

“Are you kidding me?” He asked, “I’ve seen what you’ve done with your Barbie dolls. No way, uh uh.”

“I thought it would grow back!” She reasoned. “Give me a break; it was a year ago.”

He rolled his eyes. “Doll’s hair don’t grow back. Even <i>I</i> know that and I don’t even play with them.”

She laughed lightly, shoving him in the arm. “Yeah well… I gotta be going now. We’re having dinner with some guests, and tomorrow I’ll be visiting my relatives on the other side of town.”

“For how long?”

“Just for two more weeks,” she said.

“But we haven’t even hung out all of vacation,” he pointed out. “We always spend summer break together.”

“I know, I know. But it’s kinda important. You still got Trace,” she offered, and giggled when he scrunched his face.

“I’d never leave YOU with Trace over summer…”

“But you two have tons of fun together,” she said, fixing her hat, “Don’t worry I’ll be back soon and we’ll hang out then.”

“I guess…”

“Alright. I’ll see you Justin,” she said, giving him another hug.

With one last goodbye, the two took off in opposite directions. As he walked home, Justin thought about their conversation.

He knew her more than anyone. He knew something was eating her up inside, something was crawling under her skin. There was something she was hiding from him, something he could see through her eyes alone. And soon enough, he knew he was going to get to the bottom of it all.