James

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It had been the night of my tenth birthday.

Harlee and I were still at camp Fairington, and we were nearing the end of our double birthday celebration the counselors had put together for us.

There'd been an epic water gun fight, we'd had a pinata and played tons of party games, and we were now concluding the fun-filled day with dinner and cake by a bonfire.

Fairington definitely had its flaws with their lack of consequences against camp bullying and unkind counselors like Judy, but they sure knew how to do one thing right: throw a celebration.

"This one is gonna be my new wallpaper," I told Harlee then changed my phone wallpaper to one of the selfies we'd taken together that day.

"I love it," she remarked, smiling, "I'm gonna keep mine as the one we took last week. Hey, scale of one to ten rating for this birthday?"

"Ten. My favorite one ever," I told her, smiling, "' Cause this is my first birthday having a best friend."

"Well, it's about to get even better. Follow me." She rose to her feet.

"Okay," I agreed.

I set my empty paper plate down on the log then followed suit.

We started toward the picnic table where some of the counselors were standing, then Harlee paused and tapped her chin thoughtfully.

"Judy or Andrea. Andrea or Judy," she debated with herself.

"Andrea is nicer...But Judy will probably say yes 'cause she won't even care. Hmm, Judy it is," she decided.

We made our way over to where Judy was staring down at her phone as the other counselors were dutifully cleaning up.

I refrained from rolling my eyes just at the sight of Judy.

Why does she even work here if she hates the job so much? I wondered to myself.

"Hi, Judy," Harlee greeted.

Judy lowered her phone, and her mouth curved into a frown.

"What do you want?" she asked.

"Nothing really. We just need a counselor's permission to go get something from my cabin real quick," Harlee said.

I noticed Harlee crossing her fingers behind her back and wondered why that was.

"Why do you need to go to your cabin?" Judy raised her eyebrows.

"I left my phone in mine, and James and I wanted to take pictures.

But his phone's dead," she finished then gave Judy a polite smile.

Okay, I thought to myself.

Now, I see why she's crossing her fingers; it's because she's lying.

My phone wasn't dead; Harlee had just seen me on it.

And her phone was in her back pocket.

What was she planning?

Judy sighed then seemed to ponder over the request for a moment.

But after a few seconds, a ping sounded from her phone, distracting her before she could give us a reply.

She snickered, staring down at the phone screen, seeming to have forgotten we were even standing there.

"Um, Judy?" Harlee said, reminding her of our presence.

Judy sighed in agitation at the interruption.

"Alright, fine. Go ahead. But you better come right back," she commanded, still not bothering to look up from her phone.

I noticed Harlee's polite smile turn into a mischievous smirk.

"Of course. Thanks for the permission," she said sweetly.

"Whatever," Judy dismissed us.

Harlee turned on her heel and gestured for me to come along.

The moment we were out of Judy's earshot, she said to me,

"Wow. By this point, I can't tell if I'm just really smart or if she and Jasper are just incredibly stupid."

"What do you mean?" I asked, still confused as to why she'd wanted to trick Judy in the first place.

"She went for it. We're not supposed to be allowed to walk off alone at night."

"But why did you want to trick her? If we're not going to your cabin, where are we going?"

"On an adventure," she replied.

"In the dark?" I asked worriedly.

"The dark makes it more fun and mysterious, James."

I bit my lip as more worry began to creep into my mind.

Harlee picked up on my reluctance and pulled her phone from her pocket to give us some more light.

We were getting further and further away from the bonfire.

Once it was out of sight, moonlight and far off stars would be our only sources of light.

"Don't stress," she told me as we started walking again.

"If we get murdered by bears or something, Judy is totally going to jail," she said, giggling.

"Bears? There are bears at this camp?" I stopped in my tracks.

"James, I was just kidding. Are you afraid of bears?"

"Um, yeah? Who isn't?"

"I'm not. I love animals. My mom said I can get a pet when I turn twelve, and I still don't know if I want a cat, a dog, or a hamster."

"Well, bears aren't like housepets, Harlee," I said to her. "They can kill you."

"I know. But they wouldn't want to."

"Why wouldn't they want to?" I scratched my head.

"Has Jasper messed with you since I put him in his place?" she asked me.

"No."

"Have you ever seen Judy or anyone else at this camp cross me?"

"Uh, no. I haven't."

"There's a reason for that.
It's 'cause when you show people you're not to be messed with, they take notice.

I've made it clear who runs Fairington.
It's not Jasper Collins.

It's not Judy.

It's not even Andrea.

It's Harlee Yasmine Ramirez," she declared, her mischievous smirk returning.

I didn't know what to say that.

She was smirking, and her tone was playful, but she seemed to have genuinely meant what she'd said.

Did she really think just because people were intimidated by her, wild animals would be too?

I voiced this to her,

"I think you have a point about people not messing with you, Harlee."

She nodded.

"But bears are a different story," I finished.

"Huh," she said. "Well, James, I don't think there are bears here. Sorry, I said that. I didn't know that you are afraid of them," she paused a moment then asked me, "What else are you afraid of, James?"

"The dark." I gestured toward the sky.

"Heights," I went on,

"Water.

Jasper.

But you already know that.

Guns.

Thunder.

Contagious illnesses.

Clowns...those also freak me out.

And contortionists too, so I can never go to the circus.

Aliens.

Sharks.

Spiders.

Snakes.

Being the center of attention.

Oh, and...people that talk for long periods of time without taking a moment to breathe."

Harlee giggled at the last comment but then stopped.

"The last part was a joke, right?" she asked.

"No."

"Oh."

We both fell silent momentarily.

I wondered if she was beginning to regret becoming best friends with someone so cowardly.

I also wondered if I should have given it some more thought before agreeing to become best friends with such an avid troublemaker.

Harlee was fun, and I definitely admired her liveliness.

But her lack of concern for safety measures and following the rules were foreign territories for me.

"Wait, does that mean you're afraid of me?" she asked, finally breaking our silence.

"I kind of was when I first met you, yeah," I confessed.

"But now you're not, right?"

"Mostly not."

"So that's proof you can face your fears. Plus, you're outside right now, and it's dark," she pointed out to me.

After that, she started walking again, not seeming to have the slightest bit of concern about what possible dangers might lay ahead.

My mind told me to go back.

But my feet followed her.

She led us a few feet down the nature trail that went around Fairington, then stopped walking and started searching something up on her phone.

"What are you looking for?" I asked her.

"A map of Fairington from a satellite view," she told me. "I don't want us to get lost, so I need to make sure I know where I'm going."

After a few minutes of studying her phone, she started walking again, this time off the trail.

Veering off the marked path made me feel even more anxious, but since Harlee seemed to know where she was headed, I tried not to freak out and just continued following her.

I wonder if Judy has realized we aren't back yet, I thought to myself after a few minutes.

I mean, it was OUR birthday party, aren't people there eventually going to realize the guests of honor have vanished?

Maybe we should head back.

I was about to voice this to Harlee, but then another thought popped into my mind.

Then again, we both leave Fairington next week, what's the worst way they can punish us between now and then?

That last thought surprised me so much that I stopped walking.

I never had rebellious thoughts like that.

The most defiant thing I'd ever done thing in my life was slammed a door while my mom was talking to me.

And that was ONE time.

I glanced over at my new best friend and wondered if her free spirit was starting to rub off on me.

As I did, I noticed that she had stopped walked too.

And we'd supposedly reached our destination.

"They were right. There is one here," Harlee said to me, wearing a triumphant smile.

Before us, there stood what appeared to be an abandoned lighthouse.

Lantern dimmed and stair rails and handholds rusted, it looked as if no one had entered the structure in decades.

The building seemed ancient.

"Timothy told me his older brother used to come to Fairington as a kid," Harlee explained.

"He told Timothy that there is an old lighthouse here that counselors used to bring the campers to.
But about a decade ago, they stopped bringing kids to see it.
No one knows why they stopped, though.
They just quit bringing people.
Maybe it was because the lighthouse is old.
Or maybe they didn't think this generation would care or even know what a lighthouse was.
Whatever the reason, they stopped. That's why it looks so abandoned."

She pocketed her phone, then asked me, "Want to go see if we can get inside?"

No, we should probably head back.
Our counselors are probably hysterical by now,

"Yeah, we wouldn't to come this far for nothing," my voice said.

Harlee's eyes sparkled at my response like she hadn't at all expected me to agree to it.

Then she grabbed my hand, and we hurried toward the lighthouse.

We started up the metal stairs to its entrance.

Each stair creaked with each step we took, and I found that terrifying.

Harlee found it exhilarating.

"This is so freaking cool," she whispered excitedly as we reached the door.

"I wonder if it's locked," I said.

"Probably. But it looks so old; there's probably some way we can get in.
I wonder if lighthouses have special kinds of locks," she said, then released my hand to retrieve her phone from her pocket again.

My eyes wandered to the wall left to the door.

There was a sign hanging there with enough moonlight reflecting on it for me to read what it said.

"No unauthorized personnel," I read softly.

I swallowed then said to her, "Uh, Harlee. Are you sure that this is legal?"

"Uhhhhh, what do you mean?" she replied, eyes still focused on her phone.

"Legal," I repeated. "We're not doing anything here that's against the law?"

"Oh," she giggled. "Yeah, I don't know."

"Well, I think it is because there's a sign right here that says no unauthorized personnel," I informed her, pointing to the sign.

She looked up and observed it for a moment then shook her head at me.

"That's a suggestion," she told me, "They have to put that right there."

I gave her a look of skepticism, wondering why the words she'd said sounded a bit familiar to me.

Then I recalled I'd heard them in a film before.

"Wait a minute, Harlee," I said, "I've seen that movie."

"What movie?" she asked.

"The one you just quoted."

"That quote came from a movie?" she asked, then lowered her voice, "I thought I just made that up for situations like these."

"What?"

"Nothing! Look, James, if we're going to be best friends, you need to understand something about me.
The way I see it, there are two types of rules in this world.
There are rules that are created to keep people from hurting others and hurting themselves.
And then there are rules that are created just to control people and boss them around."
She rolled her eyes.
"The rules that fall under the second category are the ones that I tend to bend...and break."

"Huh," I said, thinking over the statements for a moment.

"Well, I think this one is one of the rules from the first category, Harlee.
If they only want certain people here, maybe they're trying to keep others from getting hurt."

"Or they're trying to keep them from having fun."

Right then, she placed her hand on the door handle.

The door became ajar just from the light action.

Either it hadn't been locked at all or the lock was broken.

Harlee instantly pushed it open the rest of the way.

"I guess now we're gonna find out which one it is," she said, making her entrance into the lighthouse.

Yet again, I was left feeling conflicted about whether or not to follow her.

But I wasn't conflicted for long because I didn't want her in there by herself.

We're best friends now, I told myself mentally.

Best friends stick together.

As Harlee and I walked through the lighthouse and up the indoor stairwell together, I observed it wasn't nearly as scary inside as I'd anticipated it was going to be.

There were a few papers scattered on the floor, and dust decorated the walls, but there weren't any rats, snakes, or bats occupying the place like I feared there'd be.

Honestly, the place seemed so forgotten and neglected that it felt kind of sad.

A building that was once a literal beacon of light had all but faded away from everyone's thoughts, recollections, and memories.

I was so distracted by my pity for the lighthouse, it didn't even cross my mind that with each step, we were getting further and further away from solid ground.

My fear of heights was momentarily gone from mind.

From my mind, anyway.

But not from Harlee's.

"We're at the top," she said to me.

I paused upon realizing we were on the top stair.

"I want to take a picture and see how much of Fairington I can see from here.
But you can just wait right here since you don't like heights, okay? I kind of feel like I've dragged you into enough tonight."

"Oh, yeah." I nodded, it finally dawning on me how high up we were. "I'll just stay right here."

Harlee nodded amiably then walked over to the lighthouse edge.

She placed her hands on the handheld, then paused to scope out the view.

"Wow. You can see more than just Fairington," she remarked. "You can see some of Winnington from here."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yup. Not a lot. But you can see some of it."

Her observation piqued my curiosity.

I wanted to check out the view, but I also really wanted to get down.

I sighed and stared down at my feet, wishing so badly I was born with more curiosity and courage inside of me and less fear.

"You're already at the top, James. It's just a few more steps forward," a voice in my mind said.

I looked up to see Harlee had turned around and was staring at me then realized the voice hadn't been in my head.

She must have noticed the debate I'd been having with myself.

My legs shaking with each step, I started walking off the top stair.

I made my way over to Harlee and immediately rested my hands on the handhold upon reaching it.

A proud smile appeared on Harlee's face.

"See, I told you you can face your fears," she said.

I laughed softly and smiled back.

Our eyes stayed locked on another's for a second, then we both took in the scenery.

Lake O'Ryan, all of Fairington, and a bit of Winnington were all within view.

Treetops looked tiny, and cabins looked miniature from above.

Surrounded by night sky, the shimmering stars and full moon almost seemed as if they were right beside us up there.

"I've never done anything like this before," I said to Harlee, my voice nearly a whisper. "I was really scared at first, but...now I'm glad we came."

Harlee's eyes met mine again.

"I have. I do stuff like this all of the time," she said,
"But it's like you said earlier about your birthday, it's never been with a best friend before, and that makes it more awesome."

"Yeah, it does."

Knowing that this experience felt as special for her as it did for me made the moment even more unforgettable.

In more ways than one, this was a height I'd never reached before.

This night was the first time in my entire life that my sense of adventure had been stronger than my feelings of fear.

I hadn't even known Harlee a month yet.

But because of her, something was changing inside of me.

She was unafraid but didn't judge or make fun of me for not being built like that.

And all the while, she encouraged me to try new things and face what I was afraid of.

"Maybe, we should always do this for our birthdays since we're almost birthday twins," I told her as we made our way back to the bonfire a little while later that night. "Go on an adventure of some kind."

Harlee's olive irises glittered with excitement at the idea.

"Oh my gosh, definitely! You want to sneak out of school or something next year??" she asked.

I laughed at that. "Well, maybe not always sneaking out, but some type of adventure together."

"Yeah, okay. I love that idea," she agreed. "And since our birthdays usually fall in the same week, maybe we should have them for an entire week so we can do lots of fun and different things to celebrate."

"I like that even better than-," I started.

"Harlee and James!" an infuriated female voice addressed us, cutting me off.

We looked over to see a fuming Judy marching toward us.

That was honestly nothing new to me at this point, so I just remained still.

Harlee didn't seem shaken either.

"Do you two have any idea how much I have been panicking over here?" Judy said, stopping in front of us. "Where have you guys been??" she demanded.

"At my cabin. I told you that," Harlee said, tone calm.

"Oh, yeah, right! How stupid do you think I am??" Judy yelled.

Harlee bit her lip, and I could tell she was trying to refrain from either laughing, making a sarcastic comment, or both.

"I have been searching all over Fairington for you two!" Judy folded her arms.

"Why didn't you ask anyone to help you?" I asked her, starting to feel bad we'd put her through that.

"Hello? I don't want to lose my job, James." She glared at me.

"Wait," Harlee said,
"So you thought we were lost and were freaking out, but you didn't tell anyone because you want to keep your job? What if something horrible had happened to us?"

"Exactly. I'd have gotten fired," Judy said.

"So, you weren't panicking about our safety; you were panicking about losing your job?" I asked.

"Well, when you say it like that, you make me sound like a terrible person," Judy scoffed.

"Now, I don't know where you guys really went, but you know you're not supposed to walk off like that."

"Just like you know you're not supposed to let us walk off like that," Harlee pointed