I hear a tap at the window and immediately know who it is. I rub my eyes to wipe the sleep away and stretch. The curtains are closed so I jump out of bed and run into my bathroom. I comb my brilliant red hair down, and put some lip gloss on. I look into my blue eyes, and scan my face. I see a pimple starting to grow by my nose. Aww man, I shouldn't have eaten that chocolate. I scold myself, knowing that eating chocolate always gives me a break out. I sigh, turn away and run back towards the window. I hear a more urgent tap, as I draw the curtains aside. A blast of light hits my face and blinds me. I blink a few times until I can see better, and then open the window. I'm immediately greeted with an urgent, sloppy kiss. I push the boy away, a huge smile on my face.
"Can't you wait until I'm outside?" I mock scold him, as I climb out the window.
"Come on America,you had me waiting for like five minutes," The handsome boy whines, "That's not fair!"
"Aspen, you said it," I take an exaggerated breath, "It was just five minutes. Its not like I took an hour to come out." I grab his hand and we start walking towards the tree house, that was originally built for my oldest sister, Kenna, and then it was passed down to Kota, then me, and then May. Now it belongs to Gerad, the baby of the family.
Aspen stops and turns towards me, I notice that there is probably three inches between us. I can't help but look at his lips when he whispers so softly I have to lean in to hear.
"America even a second away from you seems like an hour. I always think about you, even at work. The pain of having to carry heavy pieces of wood, and working in the hot son is overwhelming. But.. But when I think of you, the pain goes away, and a new pain comes and envelopes me until I feel like I'm choking. I miss you so badly America, I can't be far from you because I... I...I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you," Aspen gets down on a knee, and holds my hand.
"I don't have a fancy ring or anything, but that doesn't matter," Aspen looks into my eyes, "America Singer, will you marry me?"
Of course i'm surprised, we've been dating for a year, but I know the answer to his question. I've been dreaming of the day when he would ask me.
"Yes"
"Now, have you been practicing that? I can't imagine that you just suddenly came up with those words out of nowhere. You had to practice." I laugh, knowing that I'm right. Aspen isn't that good at being romantic.
"Wow, I can't believe, that you,of all people, don't believe me. I'm heart broken." Aspen gives me a toothy grin, and hands me his flashlight. I laugh, "So that's what blinded me at the window." and run towards the tree house.
The moment I do, I regret it. Aspen is poor, so poor, that he has two jobs that wear him out, and he still doesn't earn enough money for his family to eat a decent dinner. He has a whole family to take care of. His mom can't work, she has to take care of Aspens six siblings, who often go to bed hungry. Aspens father died from cancer, so now, Aspen being the eldest,is always providing, but not wanting anybody to provide for him. He must be exhausted. I can't believe I made him run. I noticed that I stopped at the foot of the tree. Aspen runs up next to me his face contorted in pain. I look at him, and he immediately wipes the look from his face.
"You beat me this time Mer, but you won't beat me up the tree." With that he climbs up the tree into the tree house. I climb up after him not thinking about how he must be in pain from carrying heavy pieces of wood. He works in construction during the day, and as a servant during the night. I pull myself into the little house and crawl over to Aspen.
"What the hell is this Mer?" He points at the food that I placed in the middle of the house a few hours ago.
"I thought you would be hungry, so I brought some food up here so you could eat." I scold, knowing that he wouldn't accept it. "Now if you love me like you say you do, you will eat, and you won't complain."
"Damn it America, you know I don't-"
"Oh no you don't, shut up and eat the fucking food, you need the strength!" I yell at him, angry that he won't accept my offer.
Aspen sighs, and pinches the bridge of his nose, "Fine, for you." He picks up the fork and starts eating. I watch as he eats. He must have not eaten for days; his eyes light up a bit, and he lets out a tiny barely audible moan. He eats really fast, but then seems to remember that I'm there.
He clears his throat, and pretends that he doesn't care for the food, "You know, the foods not bad, but I don't feel comfortable with you staring at me while I eat. Here." Aspen tosses me an apple. I catch it and bite into it. My mouth explodes with a sweet tartness. The juice of the apple slides down my throat easily, and as I chew, I notice how crunchy the apple is.
"Thanks Aspen," I whisper.
Aspen moans, loudly. I giggle, "Shh, Aspen, you'll wake everyone up. I should really get going now." I look down towards him. I pass a hand through his dark black hair, and caress his cheeks. I notice how the light of the dim candles make his cheekbones sharp. Aspen is handsome, the most attractive guy in town. I can't believe he's with me. I'm not beautiful, like he says i am, and I certainly don't have great curves. I have the curves of a fourteen year old. I place my forehead on his, and look into his green eyes. I sigh. I get up off him, and turn to leave, but Aspen grabs my arm. I look towards him.
"Stay for a little while longer, please" Aspen pleads, looking up at me. Before I can answer, he pulls me down next him. He rolls over, so now he's on top of me. He looks into my eyes.
I laugh, "You are evil. You didn't give me time to answer, and now I can't move."
Aspen chuckles, "You shouldn't have told me that." he grabs my face and kisses me, as if his life depended on it. I feel his hand travel down toward my thigh, and sigh as he rubs it with his hand. He starts kissing my face, and slowly travels down my neck, towards my collarbone. He stops and looks at me. "I truly love you Mer."
"And I love you." I say as I reach up towards him and kiss him. I can feel his tongue explore my mouth, and I use my own tongue to push his out.
Aspen looks at me, "Whats wrong."
I place a hand on his chest,"I just realized that we've never had sex."
Aspen laughs, "We can't Mer, you know we can't afford protection, plus technically that's illegal."
I sigh knowing he's right. Aspen is eighteen and I'm sixteen. Sexual activity between an adult and a minor is illegal. "No one would know. Aspen, I want this."
Aspen looks at me and shakes his head, standing up. "America, no. What if you get pregnant? Our families don't even know we're together. You know, I love you but I won't have sex with you until after we're married."
I stand up, annoyed that he's right. "Fine," I smooth down my hair. "See you next week." I climb out of the tree house, and make sure that my pajamas, aren't ruffled. I smooth my hair down some more, just in case.
"Mer! Mer!" I hear Aspen call out to me in a loud whisper. I ignore him, and climb back into my window. I close the window and the curtain. I sit on my bed. I think about what he said, we can't afford protection, I sigh and lay down. Compared to Aspens family, my family isn't poor. But the truth is, that my family struggles with money. We're not poor like Aspens family, but we have just enough money to survive. We don't have the money to buy personal items, just for whats necessary.
One winter, we had to decide between food, or warmth. My family chose food, so our stomachs would be satisfied, but we wore all the jackets we had, plus a few blankets; inside the freaking house. We could see our breath, and poor Gerad. He was just a toddler. He could have died, but my father gave up his blankets for him. My father caught a cold, and we were afraid that he would die, just like Aspen's dad did. But he didn't. After winter, he got better, and now, he's back to his full health.
Unlike Aspen's mom, my mother works. My mother, and I sing, and play instruments. We're not famous of course, but people hire us to sing at church, or at small parties. People who can't afford someone famous to sing for them hire us. I love music, and I'm happy for what I do, but the only bad thing is that I rarely perform alone, and when I do perform alone, the money that I earn is for the whole family. The money is not mine. That's okay though, even though I'd love to keep the money that I earn, I'm happy to support my family. I stand up and walk towards the window. I look out and see a dark silhouette moving away from my house. Aspen must have left. I open my window and climb out, hurrying towards the tree house.
The sun is barely rising and I'm distracted by the beautiful colors that cross the sky. A warm orange, and a bright yellow. A dull red, and a faint purple. It's so beautiful. I take one more look at the sunrise, and then climb up the tree house.
I put the plate, and fork in a little picnic blanket that's inside the little house. I grab the burnt out candles and the food, and put it all on top of the blanket. I then grab the blanket and pick it up, carrying all the stuff with me. Before I go down, something catches my attention. I bend down and look at it. It's Aspen's flashlight. He must have forgotten it. I sigh. I can't leave it here. I pick the flashlight up, and put it in the blanket. I carry the blanket down the tree and towards the house. Once I'm inside my house again, I place the blanket in the back of my closet. I jump into my bed, and wrap myself with my worn out wool cover. I close my eyes, hoping for a few hours of sleep.
