Harlee

🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖

The day after our camping trip, James and I were supposed to go to the water park. But that plan didn't work out, because my mom wasn't able to drive us after she got called into work last minute.

I was quite disappointed with this development, so James asked Lizzie to give us a ride instead. But Lizzie only agreed to this arrangement if we washed her car first. Which we started to, but didn't get around to finishing the task for a while. James had sprayed me with the hose a couple of times to mess with me, so I poured the bucket of suds over his head in retaliation. Our water fight eventually turned into an impromptu water park with sprinklers and water-guns. We even pulled out James' old water slide.

We ended up having so much fun in the yard that we didn't even feel the need to have her take us to the water park that day after all. It was an epic afternoon, and I made sure to take lots of pictures of it.

After we finally washed the car, Lizzie drove us to the arcade instead. Jasper and Mike were there, and to my surprise, Jasper was still treating me nicely. But I didn't appreciate how he was still mistreating James. By the end of the night, Jasper and I weren't really on moderately good terms with one another anymore.

That was one reason why I was so shocked when James asked me if I liked Jasper later that night. Liked as in, more than a friend.

As if!

As if I'd ever like someone that had tormented my best friend for years.

I didn't know where James had gotten that idea from, but I reassured him that it couldn't be further from the truth.

Him asking that still puzzled me, though.

James knew how much I hated the idea of dating super young, so I didn't really understand why he'd even be worried about that.

The rest of James' and my week together was eventful and memorable as well. On Thursday, Mrs. Whitmire took us to the trampoline park, that we'd gone to many times last summer. Friday, we went to the zoo. Saturday was spent indoors watching Starstreamflix under an indoor fort because of a heavy rainstorm keeping us from the amusement park we'd wanted to go to that day.

And then Sunday came.

I was saddened at the week coming to a close. Even though I had pictures of it all, I still wished it hadn't gone by so quickly.

After we returned home from the amusement park, I went up to my room to start putting together the photo album I planned to give James the next day. On the ride home, he'd said that the week had been "a ton of fun," and had also said, "We should never get rid of our tradition."

He seemed to have no comment yet on if he still thought we should end our friendship. But Wednesday at the arcade when Mike and Jasper had first shown up, Mike commented on how he'd thought our friendship had ended, and I replied to him, saying, "James and I will always be friends."

James agreed with me.

I took that as a very good sign.

Once I'd showered and dressed in my pajamas, I sat down on my bed and started uploading the pictures from the week to my computer.

Using those and all the other pictures I had of James and me throughout the years, I was going to create a timeline throughout the photo album. Starting with the first picture of us together that we took at Fairington on the night of James' and my first bonfire as friends, to the latest picture that I'd taken of us that day at the amusement park.

Although I could have created a virtual photo album easily, I'd wanted to make it something tangible. I printed off the pictures and then started placing them chronologically throughout the album.

But then I thought that was cliche and rearranged them backward instead, with the most recent pictures in the front and the oldest ones at the end of the book. But then I felt like that was dumb and took them all out to once again start over.

I stared down at the book for a moment then decided to put the photos of the memories we'd relived alongside the photos of the first time we'd lived them.

It made me smile to see pictures Mrs. Whitmire had taken of us right before our first time ever zip-lining from the summer we'd turned eleven, alongside the selfie of us zip-lining that summer we were turning thirteen.

I hoped someday we'd be able to add an eighteen birthday picture as James had promised.

As for the pictures of adventures we'd only lived once, I arranged them randomly. By the time I was finished, there were over one hundred pictures inside the book leaving only one space for a final photo.

I searched my computer to see if I had at least one photo left of us but could not find one. I thought about asking James for the one of us he kept in his bedroom mirror but then decided against it. I felt he might piece together what I was doing if I asked that.

"It's incomplete," I sighed, staring at the empty space in the book, feeling frustrated. The only way to fill that gap was if we had one more adventure together and took a photo of it.

At first, I figured I could just ask James to hang out again the next day.

But what if this is our final day of being friends? I thought worriedly.

James only agreed to one week of hanging out after all. This photo album could turn out to be a parting gift instead of an early birthday one.

Tears nearly filled my eyes at the thoughts.

The idea of our friendship ending as the week ended made my heart hurt.

And it hurt worse to think of not going out on a high note.

The week had been epic; it truly had. No matter what happened, I knew we'd always remember it. But we needed one last memory to top it off.

"We need one more photograph," I said, standing to my feet with determination.

Fortunately, James' light was still on, so I texted him to open up his blinds.

I called him up as I pulled my blinds open.

Once we were both seated in our window-seats facing one another, I tried to figure out how to tell him we needed one more photograph without actually saying that to him.

"We need one more adventure," I blurted out.

James just stared at me.

"Uh...what?" he asked, sounding dumbfounded.

"I'm not ready for the week to end yet," I said to him,

"This has been one of the best birth weeks we've ever had, even though it was a week early, so technically it wasn't our birth week..." I rambled.

James just kept staring at me.

"But I want one more epic adventure to top it all off, "I finished.

James nodded his head at me like he understood, although I knew he didn't. At least, not entirely anyway.

I hadn't really expected him to.

Given the fact I wasn't telling him the whole story behind it, he couldn't.

But explaining things fully would have ruined the surprise.

"In case you hadn't noticed, Harlee, it's dark outside," he remarked to me.

I nodded then acted like I'd just noticed the inky sky and moonlight shimmering outside my window. "Oh, huh, I hadn't noticed," I said sarcastically.

James smirked and rolled his eyes. "Well, I hope you aren't suggesting we sneak out or something crazy like that."

A tiny half-smile formed on my face at his comment.

My plan had been just to have another backyard campout.

James' idea hadn't even occurred to me.

But now that it was in my head, there was no getting it out.

I giggled at him, "James, that actually wasn't even my plan."

"Oh." His eyes widened. "Good, then don't go getting any ideas."

"Too late!" I exclaimed, bolting from the window and into my closet to find some clothes to change into.

This is going to be awesome, I thought.

"Harlee. Harlee, what are you doing?" I heard him asking worriedly over the phone.

I put on a pair of denim shorts, a striped t-shirt, white footies, and black low-cut sneakers. I hadn't untangled my hair after my shower, so instead of bothering to try and deal with it, I simply stuck a few bobby pins in it to keep it out of my face. After changing into my clothes, I hurried back over and grabbed my phone, then said to him, "Get dressed; we're going out!"

He immediately started shaking his head.

"Harlee, absolutely not. This is just way too far. Sneaking out only results in disaster."

"You only live once, James," I said back while trying to figure out how I was going to escape the house without my parents noticing.

"Duh, there's a window right in front of me," I said to myself as I opened up my window.

"You only die once too," James argued back.

I ignored him and yanked the flat sheet off my bed.

After tying the sheet to my bedpost, I tossed it out the window to act as a rope for me to climb down.

James' eyes became wide as saucers.

He didn't believe I'd actually do it, though.

"You wouldn't. Your parents would ground you until you're eighty. You're just bluffing," he told me, sounding like he was trying to convince himself of the statements more than anything.

"My parents are asleep; it's nearly midnight," I said, glancing at my phone clock. "Besides, they would only ground me until I'm seventy-five; eighty is a little intense," I joked.

James rolled his eyes at me again.

"Harlee, come on; stop pulling my leg. We are not sneaking out," he said sternly. His bossiness only made me want to be more contrary.

I put my hands on my hips and glared at him.

"I don't know what you're doing, but I'm climbing out this window. Whether or not you follow me is up to you."

With that, I hung up the phone.

I gave James a salute before I started climbing out of my window.

He opened his window in panic at the fact I was actually doing it. I didn't know why he was so surprised. Nor why he always underestimated me.

"Harlee, go back inside," he commanded frantically whilst poking his head out of his window.

"Almost down," I sing-songed, looking up at him. "Once I get to the ground, I'm heading to Town Centre. Want me to bring you back an ice cream cone?" I teased as I came closer to the ground.

James let out a frustrated groan then disappeared from his window.

For a moment, I thought he'd actually given up on talking me out of it, and I felt disappointed that I hadn't been able to rope him into my plan. I didn't really want to go out at night alone; even I knew how dangerous that could be.

My feet finally touched the ground, and I resolved I should probably just climb back up to my bedroom. If James wasn't coming with me, there wasn't even a point in going at all. But a few seconds later, I saw his bedsheet fly out and begin dangling from his window.

An eager smile formed on my face.

He hadn't abandoned me.

James glanced down at me, seeming nervous at the distance he had to climb.

"Come on!" I whisper-shouted. "It's not as hard as it looks."

He sighed, and I felt a bit guilty for pressuring him into all this. After a few more seconds of hesitating, he started climbing down the makeshift rope. He almost slipped on his way down, and I almost thought about calling the whole thing off. But then instead of freaking out, he slid down the rest of the way landing on his feet, like he did this kind of thing daily.

My mouth dropped at the athleticism he'd just exhibited.

He steadied himself, then walked over towards me.

"Wow! That was epic! You looked like you should be a featured competitor on an athletic game show or something!" I gushed.

He smiled a bit at my remark. Then his face went serious again.

"Okay, we proved we're bad or whatever you were trying to prove. Can we go back inside now?" he asked, turning like he was going back into his house.

I grabbed his arm to stop him.

"I didn't want to prove anything. I wanted to have fun," I said simply.

"That was fun," he said, gesturing up towards our windows.

"In hindsight, it was a fun thing to do as long as we never do it again.

What won't be fun is if our parents come to check on us during the night, and they discover our beds are there, but we aren't in them!" he exclaimed frantically.

I knew he was right, but still, that didn't change my mind.

Call me immature, call me reckless, but knowing we could get in trouble wasn't enough to talk me out of it.

"One hour," I pleaded.

"What happened to one week?" he countered, raising his eyebrows.

I sighed, feeling deflated. "The week isn't over yet, James," I said quietly.

"But I won't drag you into anything you don't want to do. We can go back inside if you really want to."

James stared at me for a moment like he was weighing his options.

Go back inside and go to sleep, or go on an adventure.

I had a feeling he was going to pick the former.

"I do want to go back inside," he said.

I nodded understandingly.

"But since, you mentioned ice cream, I kind of want that more," he finished, giving me a playful smile.

I smiled back at him excitedly.

He really was an amazing friend.

"James, speed up!" I giggled, lifting my feet off the pedals of my bicycle as we biked down the hill at the entrance of Town Centre.

James rode faster and caught up with me, panting, "Or you could just slow down. It's nighttime, Harlee; cars can't see us as easily."

"Okay, okay," I complied, braking a bit as we came to a stop sign.

We were a few blocks away from the Dairy Jester, and although it was so late, I was overflowing with energy. James failed to match my stamina, but I could tell he felt the exhilaration too.

There was just something about sneaking out on a summer night with your best friend that made you feel so exuberant and so alive.

We rode up to the ice cream parlor and parked our bikes in the bike rack.

I remembered the last time we'd been here together and how different things felt now. It didn't feel like there was a distance between us anymore.

The gap had been closed.

James opened the door for me then followed me in after I walked inside.

I felt grateful to the owner of the Dairy Jester for keeping the parlor open until very late hours during the summertime. You never knew when you were going to need a late-night sugar rush, and the boxed and carton stuff at the grocery store just wouldn't do.

"Well, hello, James, and Harlee. What are you two doing here?" Leslie, the middle-aged waitress that had served us on numerous occasions before asked.

Leslie was James' and my favorite Dairy Jester employee. She'd often give us extra ice cream in our milkshakes at no extra charge just because she was kind like that.

Her bright blue eyes sparkled curiously as she asked,

"It's a little late for a shake; is it not?"

James shrugged nonchalantly and replied,

"It's never too late for ice cream."

I giggled, and Leslie laughed with me.

"That is very true," she remarked, leading us to an empty booth.

Well, technically, all the booths were empty. James, Leslie, and I were the only ones in the parlor. Which made sense, considering it was now after midnight.

"I haven't seen you here together in a while, though," she said, handing us both an ice cream menu. I knew she'd only done that out of duty because she knew both of our regular orders by heart.

"Yeah," was all James said to her observation.

"We just started hanging out again for the first time in a long time," I said simply. "But hopefully, things can go back to normal now."

I met James' eyes when I said the last part.

He just smiled at me in response.

Leslie nodded and replied,

"Hopefully, because you two are one of my favorite couples to serve."

My eyes widened at the fact she'd just call us a "couple."

James' face went redder than the cherry-colored booths we were sitting in.

"Um, we aren't-" he tried to correct her.

I shook my head to stop him from doing so.

For some reason, I just didn't want him to.

He looked confused by my action but stopped talking.

"So, am I serving up the regulars? One chocolate chip milkshake for James and a strawberry shortcake milkshake for Harlee?" Leslie asked.

James nodded his head, still seeming confused.

"You got it," I smiled at her.

"I'll be back in just a moment then," Leslie smiled then walked off to prepare our orders.

I giggled, "Can you believe that? Yet another person shipping Jarlee in this town."

"Yeah, haha," James deadpanned, staring down at the table.

"If it weren't so unrealistic, I'd be okay with the ship name. It makes us sound like some sort of celebrity couple. Hashtag Jarlee, can't you see it trending?" I laughed.

James didn't laugh with me, though. In fact, he was silent until Leslie came back to the table with our ice cream. I blamed it on the fact he was probably still anxious about having sneaked out. Not wanting him to stress, I decided to try and hurry things along.

Leslie sat our drinks on the table, and James reached into his pockets to try and pay her, but she shooed the cash away.

"It's on the house, Jarlee," she smiled before heading back over to the counter.

James nearly choked on his milkshake at her calling us that.

I wondered if she'd overheard me calling us it or if she had just come up with the name on her own. Or thought she had anyway.

James was coughing, still trying to recover from his shock.

"Gosh, it really does catch on," he mumbled.

"I guess so," I said, smiling.

"But you don't like the ship name, and she called us a couple. Why didn't you want me to set her straight?" he asked, looking at me in wonder.

His amber eyes were brighter than usual when he spoke, and I was momentarily lost in them, distracting me from the question.

The truth was I wasn't one hundred percent sure how I felt about the idea of James and me being a couple. Deep down, I had a slight idea of what my true feelings might be, but the thought of them scared me so much I couldn't ever delve into them.

But I definitely wasn't telling James any of that right then.

So, I just picked up my glass and raised it in the air at him.

"Here, since everyone won't stop calling us it, cheers to Jarlee," I said.

"Cheers to Jarlee," he smiled back softly.

Our glasses clinked, then James lowered his glass and bent his head to try and sip from his straw again, but I stopped him.

"Wait," I said.

James paused and lifted his head, "Yeah?'

This was the perfect time to take the final picture for our photo album.

I called Leslie back over and asked her to take a picture of us.

"Now, let's try that again," I told him.

James nodded.

Leslie took the photo right on time as we clinked our glasses, smiling.

She leaned over to show me how it turned out, and my smile grew bigger.

I felt victorious that my mission for one last adventure had been accomplished.

But I also felt maybe it wouldn't be our last adventure together.

After that night, I had a feeling we were going to last.

🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖🏖

ϙ: ʜᴀᴠᴇ ʏᴏᴜ ᴇᴠᴇʀ sɴᴜᴄᴋ ᴏᴜᴛ ᴏғ ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴏᴜsᴇ? 😄

ɪ ʜᴀᴠᴇ ᴜsɪɴɢ ᴍʏ ᴡɪɴᴅᴏᴡ. 🤣