A/N: Bernadette's school isn't a real one. I have made it up.
Bernadette placed her favorite book into her backpack. She was hoping to stay out in the woods longer than she would usually, but she was certain she would make it back in time for tea.
Being a mere four feet tall, successfully sneaking out couldn't be easier, especially because all of Bernadette's siblings would occupy her parents. At the age of eight-years-old, she had been sneaking out from her parents for now a year and a half, and hadn't been caught once.
As she approached the front door, her strategy was to keep low. She passed the living room to see her mother occupied with changing her youngest brother's diaper, so she wouldn't be a problem. Her father on the other hand, was entertaining himself with a beer in one hand, and the TV remote in the other.
She waved her hand over at her parents, who were oblivious to what was going on, before quietly shutting the door, making sure she didn't give away what she was doing.
In case her parents had heard the door, Bernadette didn't stand around. She immediately ran forward, keeping low as not to be seen by the neighbors, as if they saw her, they would immediately tell her parents.
When she became out of the neighbors view, she transferred to a speed walking pace.
Suddenly, as she stepped off the curb and into the woods, she felt as if she belonged there. As if that was her home. She felt as if her home was a prison, overcrowded and loud, and that the woods was her way of escaping.
She leant her back up against one of the trees, whilst retrieving the book from her bag. She immediately opened it to the correct page, and continued reading.
After a moment of silent reading, she poked her head up to the snapping of sticks behind her. She carefully placed the book away, as a noise behind her meant trouble. She cautiously stood up, whilst quickly forcing her arms through the arm strap of her backpack.
She had a gut-feeling to go up against the person, as she knew it wasn't an animal. The force was too strong. But she knew that, if it was anything like a few weeks ago, they could take her down easily.
She carefully peered her head around the back of the tree, to get a better look. She smiled as she noticed it was Howard.
"What are the chances?" She questioned to herself, keeping her voice low.
She began thinking about the chances of them running into each other again. She was lucky to have him save her from those eighth graders last time, but what brought them together again?
Bernadette began hesitating whether to approach him or not. What would she say? How would she greet him? A friendly hello, or a jump scare?
"Bernadette?" Howard gasped, while his sweet voice broke her large concentration. "What are you doing here?" He asked, placing his pile of sticks on the mossy path.
"I live down the road. The real question is, What are you doing here?" She quizzed, slowly approaching him from behind the tree.
"My grandmother isn't looking so good, so we're back down here." He sighed, whilst trying to keep positive around her.
"Oh, I'm sorry. Is she going to be okay?"
"Not likely. I'm just getting my mind off of it." He smiled.
'Wow, he can control himself. If my grandmother was in the same situation, I would be a blubbering mess.' Bernadette thought to herself, whilst smiling over at Howard.
She asked what he was doing with the giant pile of sticks. He didn't answer, but he did begin leading her past the thin trunk trees.
She immediately dropped her jaw as she saw a hand-made den that was beautifully decorated with the old-dried leaves, that were dropped by the fall breeze. The petals of Dahlia and Iris scattered across the front of the den. The scent of Rose Spray and Lily was surrounding the area.
"How long did you work on this?" Bernadette questioned, still amazed by his creativity.
"I've been in here all day, but most of the time was collecting the supplies." He mentioned, coming across manly, especially for his age, which Bernadette was still yet to discover.
"Howard, this is beautiful." She pointed out, with a giant grin on her face.
Howard blushed and pushed it aside, as if it wasn't a big deal. Even though he knew it was the longest he had ever spent on a project.
"What gave you the idea to make this?" Bernadette wondered, desperate to know the answer.
"I wanted to make it for you." He smiled, causing Bernadette to look over at him in confusion. "You said last time that you like getting away from your parents. I wanted to give you a special place to go."
Bernadette felt her eyes well up at his incredibly kind gesture. She sniffed as she felt the urge to hug him. Howard saw that she was crying and immediately thought it was because she didn't like it.
"I can take it down." He offered.
Bernadette shook her head. "No, I love it." She blubbered, her voice just able to be understood. "Thank you." She added.
She quickly approached him and hugged him tightly, so much so that he began struggling to breathe.
"You're welcome." He muttered, those being the only words he could get out.
Bernadette was still astonished by Howard's masterpiece. She knew that she was desperate to know more about him, but whenever she went to ask, her little shy shadow pulled her to the side.
"What school do you go to?" Howard asked, before offering her the extra sandwich that he had brought with him.
Bernadette kindly shook her head and declined his offer. "Saint Mary's Catholic." She mumbled, "What about you?"
He sighed, as if he didn't enjoy talking about this topic. "Weizmann Day."
"Oh, I've never heard of that one." She smiled, hoping he would continue.
"I doesn't matter anyways. I hate it there."
Bernadette nodded, agreeing with him. She had only known Howard a short amount of time, but she already noticed that he was the kind of person who would be picked on by random bullies, for their own pleasure.
She built up her confidence, fighting off her shadow, before asking, "So, how old are you?"
"I'm nine." He sighed, before asking her the same question.
"Eight." She answered back, feeling upset about him not being the same age as her, even though it was a stupid thing to be sad about.
Howard smiled over at her the same way he did when they first met. She uncontrollably found herself smiling back. It was cut short as she glimpsed her watch.
17:52
She knew she only had five minutes to get back into her bedroom without her parents knowing. At this time her father would still be engorged with the TV, and her mother would be in the kitchen.
She packed away her things in a hurry, as the longer she's at home before tea, the more homework she could get done before her parents question her about it at the table.
"I'm sorry it's quick with me leaving, but I don't want to annoy my parents." She sighed, as she made it obvious she would rather stay than go home.
Howard nodded over at her and walked out of the den area with her.
"I hope we see each other again." She smiled, honestly hoping that they would run in to each other unintentionally again.