Through the simple window facing the rising sun, Scout saw the world embraced with a beautiful morning glow. Birds were singing their sweet melodies and the colorful petals of the flowers in the garden she had finally been talked into planting were covered with dew. Though a breeze ruffled the leaves on trees that were wide awake for summer, it was calm outside. Calm and peaceful, but it wouldn't be for long. In mere hours, he would be back and the chaotic noise that came with him would be here to stay until he had to leave again.
Leaving was always sad, but Scout didn't want to focus on that. He wasn't even here yet. Instead, she visualized all the games they would play and sweet treats they would sneak out of the kitchen. Too, she thought of seeing what he looked like after a year. Three hundred and sixty-five days. It probably didn't seem like much to most people, but Scout knew that it could cause a lifetime of change between best friends.
Best friends.
It was a loaded term. No matter, Scout was ready to see him again. She missed her best friend.
Finding the nicest blouse she owned, she hastily threw it on and started calling for her brother. "Jem! Jem, we have to go. Now." Her left arm was stuck, but she kept trying to force it through the arm hole anyway.
"Settle down, Scout. His train isn't supposed to come in for a few hours," Jem laughed from his side of the room. A blanket had been hung from the ceiling years ago for privacy, but his voice carried straight through it.
"I don't care," She stated stubbornly because she didn't.
A knock at the door sounded before it swung open. There stood Atticus.
"You truely look like a beautiful young lady," He complimented wistfully. She could tell by the look in his eye that he was remembering something from long ago. Most likely what she had looked like the first time she'd gone to bring her best friend back here to his summer home. Scout remembered those days, too. With nothing but one of Jem's old t-shirts and a faded pair of overalls, only her honey-colored pigtails had given anyone a reason to believe she was a girl. It had taken a couple years for her hair to grow out once she started trying at age seven, but she had grown tired of being mistaken for a boy.
As she turned to examine herself in her mother's old cracked mirror, all that Scout had left of her, she knew with certainty that nobody would mistake her for a boy today. Thick, wavy hair framed a thin face that was graced with a smile. The baby fat, which she could have sworn was there just yesterday, was gone. Pink and luscious, her lips looked simply kissable. Laughing the thought away-who was she going to kiss anyway?-she moved her eyes down her reflection. Scout hesitated on her outfit. Although dresses were far more common on women, she had decided to risk wearing a blouse and skirt with a pair of her mother's old heels. Was it too much? Probably, but she didn't care. She wanted him to think she looked perfect.
She looked quickly over her reflection once again, making sure there were no wrinkles. "Are you sure I look okay?" She pointed to a floral dress laying out on her bed. "Would that be better on me?"
Atticus laughed kindly at her. "You look fine. Come on downstairs, Jem. I need your help."
"Just fine?" She called after him as the two men walked briskly down the stairs. "Jem, what do you think of my outfit?" She mocked a conversation with him. "Oh, I look good? But not too good, right? I don't want to look too eager. No? Okay, thanks."
She felt a pressure that she had never felt before. A pressure to be whatever he wanted her to be. She just didn't know why. Except, she did. All she wanted to do was talk about it with somebody but it wasn't something she wanted to discuss with Atticus and Jem wouldn't care. He'd just mock me like he had before. Last summer, she had cried bittersweet tears when he left. Jem hadn't stopped teasing her for days, saying she was in love with him. She certainly wasn't. He was a boy. A gross boy with boy germs that she didn't want. At least that's what the girls at school said about boys, though they all secretly pined for one boy or another. Maybe she was, too.
A few weeks before she had started preparing for his arrival, he had sent a letter. He wrote of everything everything he'd been up to. That included a new school with tons of pretty girls. Her heart had fluttered when she saw "Dear Scout" with a little heart next to it, but dropped roughly into her stomach when he mentioned the girls.
"Scout!" A voice beckoned her from her thoughts. She went to go see who was calling for her.
"What are you doing here so early, Ma'am?" She questioned when she got to the living room and saw Miss Rachel, his aunt, sitting on the couch next to Jem and Atticus. They hadn't really had some important task to do after all but only wanted an escape from her room. She scoffed.
"Just wanted to see if you were ready to go."
"Now?"
"Yes, now. He'll be there soon. I'm actually excited to see the rascal," She admitted reluctantly.
Scout answered with sympathy, "So am I, Miss Rachel. I'm readier than ready," Then as an after thought, I added, "If you're ready now, Jem."
"Of course I am."
Atticus didn't look up from the newspaper, but said, "Could you go tell Calpurnia to start on the treats she wants to make? Then you're free to go."
Without another word, she rushed to the kitchen to relay the message. She was ready to get to the train station.
Calpurnia immediately wiped her hands on her apron as she stepped away from the soapy sink. "What is it, Scout?"
"Atticus told me to tell you that we're leaving in a few," She stated. Then decided to tell Calpurnia what was really on her mind. "I want to get out of this house! He's on his way. He's my best friend," Scout quickly added as she received a You're Crazy For Him look.
"Dear, are ya sure he's just ya best friend? Ya both have probably grown up a lot this past year. A lot could change." Looking Scout up and down once, she added, "Ya even changed outta those atrocious trousers ya usually wearin'."
Scout wasn't sure she liked the way her friendship was being challenged, especially when the same thoughts had been running through her head for weeks.
"Nothing has changed," She assured not only Calpurnia, but herself.
"Okay, Scout. Well, when y'all get back here, I'll have ya a few dozen treats, 'kay?" She hugged her, then promised that the kitchen was the first place she would bring the new arrival. Calpurnia smiled then set her off towards the living room.
"Okay, Scout. We're ready to go," Miss Rachel trilled.
Excitedly, Scout made a rush for the door. Playfully, Jem grabbed her sleeve and pulled her back. He ran out of the door first, looking back to laugh. Scout spit in his face and dashed out ahead of him, reaching Miss Rachel's new car first. She laughed, trying to catch her breath. When she finally got a nice, big gulp of air, she could have sworn his scent was in the air.
TKAM
The group reached the station within minutes of his deignated arrival time. Scout ran ahead of Jem and Miss Rachel, wanting to be the first thing he saw when he exited the train. However, when she got to the gate, she saw that he wasn't here yet. With an exasperated cry she fell to the ground. Glancing up when she heard footsteps, she saw the other two pass her to go sit down.
"He should be here by now!" She sighed, feeling very impatient.
"Scout, it's only just turned three," Jem said simply, pointing to a big clock on the wall as she walked over to join them. It was conveniently hung over the place Dill's train would stop at.
"Well, he's supposed to be here at three!"
"Trains are never exactly on time," Miss Rachel cut in. She looked at Scout with sympathy in her aged eyes. She knew that the younger girl probably wanted to see her nephew more then she did.
When the siblings had first met him, the three of them were just friends-nothing real special. As the summer progressed, though, they'd all grown very close. Scout was only six, he was seven, and Jem was ten. The next summer, the boys had ditched Scout and she was heartbroken. They were to old to play with a little girl. At least that's what Jem thought. However, the other boy's opinion wasn't as set in stone. He'd play tough with Jem, but when he was alone with Scout, it was where he wanted to be. One time, he swept her body close to him, asking her to marry him. She had smiled, bright and beaming, saying yes. After that, whenever Jem wasn't looking, he would pull her close to him or tell me he'd love her forever or kiss her soft cheek. The summer Scout was eight, the three of them joined forces again. Jem was going through a lot of changes, though, so she was alone with her "fiancé" quite often. They grew very close that year. Where he was, she was. If Scout's name was called, along he came. It was the way of things. No one in the neighborhood contradicted that. The next summer was the year Jem's accident happened. He had been pretty much avoiding the other two during the summer. Not that they really cared. When he went home, Scout realized that she'd have to start hanging with her brother again. She was bummed, but would be forever grateful that Jem had accompanied her to the Halloween thing at school. She could have been killed without him. Ever since that summer, though, Jem had been drifting farther and farther away from everybody, leaving Scout alone with the other boy. That brought them to where they were today: five years later and still best friends.
Scout shook her head violently, trying to rid herself of memories. It's not that they were bad. She just didn't like to think of how much had happened those years; everything from rape to puberty to near death expiriences. Nowadays, it was much calmer. She liked it better that way.
"Scout, look," Jem said softly, pointing to a train that was slowly coming to a stop. Her heart seemed to be beating a thousand beats a minute. She closed her eyes tight, then opened them again when she decided she didn't want to miss her Dill.
She realized then that she had been avoiding his name in her head. he couldn't now, though. Dill. It was all she could think. Dill was finally coming. He was almost here.
She looked at the door until a voice proclaimed, " 'Bout time I got outta this stuffy thing!"
"Dill!"
He was finally there and all hers for the summer. She ran towards the train. She stopped as she saw him walk slowly out. Beaming, she saw his eyes land on her.
"Oh, my God... Scout?" He asked, a little unsure that it was really her. She nodded enthusiastically.
"Yeah, it's me," She grinned. His voice was just like she remembered it; music.
"You... You look like a girl," He said after a few moments. By now, he'd dropped all his stuff and was looking her up and down, up and down, up and down. Suddenly, she felt like kissing him. She restrained myself though. That would be taking my recent almost-discovery too far.
"Darn right, I look like a lady," She giggled, doing a little twirl as he wolf-whistled.
She couldn't wipe the smile off her face, even as she finally took her turn to check him out. She look him all in, remembering to remember it.
He'd obviously hit a growth spurt in the last year. He was several inches taller then Scout now. His short blonde hair had grown out a little; he now had curly blonde hair down to his ears. His face looked the same as it had last year, yet somehow older. She looked down to his body, seeing his toned chest pressing against his casual shirt, crying to be let out. He looked like a grown-up man now. He was no longer the little boy next door.
"You look amazing... ly grown up," She complimented nervously. She smiled even bigger as he laughed. His laugh was simply amazing and contagious.
"You just look plain amazing," He smirked. He suddenly pulled her into a hug. She squeezed him with all her might. His breath left his mouth with an 'oof' as he felt the impact, but she couldn't bring herself to let go. Finaly, he stopped her.
"As much as I've missed you, I need to breathe," He gasped out, pretending he was dying. When she let go slowly, his eyes seemed to change emotion. It was something she'd never seen before.
"Oh, I've missed you too!" She chirped as she grabbed his hand and lead him towards Miss Rachel and Jem. She noticed that they were both eyeing the hand she had laced in Dill's. Quickly, she pulled her hand away and he went to hug his aunt. Scout reluctantly went to Jem's side; looking at Dill all the while.
After too many greetings and tears of joy, the pack set off towards the house. Dill and Scout sat pretty much in the same seat in the back; Jem sat on the other side of them. Miss Rachel would glance in the rear-view mirror every so often, giggling at the sight of her nephew and his best friend. Scout saw her, but didn't care. Summer was officially here and she was ready to spend it with Dill.
The ride back home took about a half hour, so she sat back and relaxed. Of course, relaxing meant getting sleepy. She eventually laid her head on her best friend's shoulder, feeling the pressure of his hand rubbing her back. It was like the missing puzzle piece in her life had finally been found. She opened one eye to see if Dill felt the same way, but saw that he'd fallen asleep. When she glanced around the car, she saw that Miss Rachel was the only other one awake.
"Dill," She whispered, leaning up to his ear. She knew he wasn't going to wake-up, but had to be completely sure. "Dilly."
Silence, breath. Silence, breath.
"'Kay, well since you're not awake, I have to try something," She breathed nervously. Suddenly unsure of herself, she had to ask herself what she was doing. Before she could talk herself out of it, though, she brought her face towards his. Slowly, she pressed her lips against his cheek. She almost moved to his lips, but saw his eyes blink open. Quickly, she jerked away from him, looking out the window, acting like nothing had happened.
She was mortified that he had awoken. They hadn't shared a kiss since the year before Jem's accident. They'd grown up, so what if he'd started liking one of those girls from his new school? It'd be horrible to lose his friendship to some other girl. She had absolutely no idea what she would do.
She subtly turned her face towards the front of the car, checking on him through her peripheral vision and saw him gazing curiously back at her. Before either of them could say anything, she leaned her head against the window and pretended to fall asleep. The act obviously hadn't worked because before she knew it, he had thrown his arm around her shoulders and was using his new muscles to pull her in close like old times.
Scout struggled to release her body from his grip, but gave up when he didn't weaken. She finally let herself burrow into him, enjoying the feeling his touch was causing her. It was almost like he was acting as her guardian. Of course, she knew that he would. With that thought stuck in her mind, she glanced up at him.
He was still gazing curiously at her, with that adorable twinkle in his eye. She couldn't help but smile when he caught her eye. His face morphed to a smirk as she felt her cheeks heat up.
"You could have just woke me up. I would've enjoyed that if I'd been ready," He closed his eyes again as her smile fell. Whether he was serious or not, she wasn't sure. Before she had time to think much, she felt a slight flutter on her forehead. Dill was kissing her.
"Are you two done over there?" Jem whispered, leaning as far away from the two of us as he could get.
"Yes!" I answered, jumping away from Dill. She hadn't noticed Jem wake up. She had nothing to be embarrassed about-a kiss between friends was normal-but couldn't help but blush again.
"Yeah, we are," Dill said at the same time, pretty much falling to the floor.
"Don't let me interrupt. I was just wondering," Jem snorted as Dill sat back on their seat.
"Sorry, Jem," Dill breathed, laying his head on top of Scout's. Her brother just shook his head, trying his best to slide even further away from the two.
He must be feeling so left out, She thought sadly. Getting a good idea, she pushed her feet against the door next to her. She and Dill (A/N Proper grammar there? I don't know.) both were pushed over onto Jem. Surprisingly, and working with her plan, he let them stay on his lap. He ended up placing his hand lightly on Dill's head. She had a feeling that he was forgiving them for acting so weird, and they were forgiving him for growing up. For the slightest moment, it felt like she was six again.
A/N It's been awhile since I read TKAM, so I don't know exactly how accurate their personalities are. I tried, though!(: Hope you enjoyed.