" i can't believe i'm stuck with her all summer ! " picky thought harshly to himself as he had a staredown with the girl over the white picket fence.
" he looks conceited. " tracy thought, her grip on the fence growing tight.
" what a total bummer ! " picky finally said. " if we're lucky we'll both get chickenpox. "
she had no reply to that. she stuck her tongue out at him, before pulling away from the fence. " watch it. " she stated, the nine-year-old crossing her arms over her chest.
" how i'd like to run. " he stated dryly, rolling his eyes. tracy couldn't tell, though, since his hair covered his eyes. they continued to stare each other down until tracy's mother called for her to come inside and get her bag.
picky stomped towards his own house, shoving the front door open. his brother was leaning against the wall, fiddling with something in his hand. picky didn't care. he snatched his bag up off of the ground, and looked up when his mother walked in.
" good news ! i don't have to drive you. ness' mother is instead. " lardna seemed overjoyed by this. considering she never cared for her kids anyways, she'd kill for the chance for someone else to take them elsewhere.
for once, picky was less than excited to be going to summer camp; much less, with tracy jones herself. he trudged towards the gate, pushing it open and stepping out onto the dirt road. ness was friendly enough, but tracy?
he was sure that she hated him.
he watched as tracy flounced down the steps of the porch, which was decorated with a few hanging plants and wicker chairs and a table. picky found it much more inviting than his own home. upon reaching the yard, he could see her mouth drop to the floor when she realized what was happening. and picky could hear pokey snickering behind him.
" this isn't my idea of fun. " he mumbled under his breath as he slid into the backseat next to her, dropping his bag in the floorboard. tracy crossed her arms and looked out the window.
the car ride there was torture. ness and pokey were making jokes and laughing. his mother was humming along to some tune on the radio, and tracy was glaring at him the whole time. picky started to reach into his pocket, but tracy had a good idea of what he was doing.
next thing you know, he's half-screaming and half-getting choked out.
. . .
every year since then, picky and pokey were driven to summer camp by ness' mom. they went almost every year, and every year it was the same. torture tracy, and get choked out. he started to enjoy the reactions he was getting from her.
not like he'd admit that, or anything.
" when picking teams, or friends, i never choose her. " picky stated.
" you'd think she'd take the hint and learn to read. " pokey mumbled, scribbling out " NO GIRLS " in black marker and hanging the piece of paper out the window, right for tracy to see.
" this really isn't fair ! " the blonde complained, placing her hands on her hips, staring up at the treehouse with a deep frown.
" we really couldn't care ! " picky shouted down at her, making a face in the process.
tracy glanced at a board that was the only thing keeping the treehouse up. she kicked it, and shouts from the brothers could be heard as it started to crash to the ground.
tracy didn't get out of the way fast enough, though.
on the car ride back home, all three of them got a stern-talking to, on the topics of bullying and putting others lives in danger because they wanted to retaliate.
tracy didn't care. she felt satisfied.
" honestly picky, one more year of summer camp won't kill you. " ness mused, adjusting his baseball cap. " i really think you sorta like her ; fess up. "
picky frowned, sinking further into the chair. " i'd like her better if she'd lose at cards. " he mumbled. he was usually the king of slapjack, but since tracy had started playing, he'd lost his throne quickly.
picky couldn't ignore the feelings he did have for the girl though. despite all of their quarreling and teasing, he did ... sort of have a crush on her. picky didn't know what it was; but he couldn't fight the butterflies that formed in his stomach whenever he saw her.
" besides, i'm turning sixteen. we could just, y'know? skip camp this year. " picky suggested hopefully.
" tracy won't. "
he had a point. he could stand one more year, at least. tracy stomped out onto the porch ; tying her hair up with that stupid red scrunchie in the process.
" hey heather. " picky mumbled.
. . .
picky leaned up against the white picket fence, running his fingers through his hair. his cheek was still sore from the previous night, but other than that, all was good in his world. he looked up when he saw feet crunching against the fallen leaves.
tracy.
a smile was on her face. a genuine one, too. he turned around, leaning over the fence, arms dangling over it.
" hey trace. " he said. his heart started to race, and he felt those butterflies fluttering around in his stomach. she had to stand on her tiptoes just to reach the top of the fence. " or should i say ... shortie? " he teased, resting his head on his arm. she stuck her tongue out at him.
" watch it, minch. " she murmured, rolling her eyes. tracy felt herself blush. where did he even get all of these nicknames from? it wasn't that she hated them ; she had actually grown to like them over the years. she hadn't heard him use nicknames on anyone else, either.
" is that a challenge, jones? " he asked, poking her in the forehead. she swatted his hand away with a grin.
" yes, it is. " she responded, turning away from the fence slightly, crossing her arms over her chest. picky sighed, before climbing over the fence. tracy's eyes widened.
" i didn't mean it, picky ! " she stated quickly. it didn't stop him from continuing to walk forward. she was walking backwards, just out of his reach in case he planned to grab hold of her.
picky tried to fight the grin that was sliding across his face. he reached out, and shoved her back in a playful manner.
" ha. i got- " he started to say, but was interrupted by the fact that he just tripped over his shoelaces. he fell forward, nearly knocking tracy over as she caught him.
he looked up her at her, a light blush settling over his cheeks. he hadn't been this close to her before. they stared at each other for a moment, before picky started to stand to his full height.
" tracy i- "
picky was interrupted by tracy grabbing the front of his shirt and jerking him forward.
" shut up, you dork. "
and then she kissed him.
it was unexpected. picky didn't react at first, but then he kissed her back. he could've done this forever, but eventually, they pulled away from each other.
there was an awkward silence. aside from the loud cheering that could be heard coming from tracy's house. presumably minnie and mimmie.
" was there something you wanted to tell me, heather? " picky asked, tilting his head. tracy started to think twice. what if he didn't like her back? " the kiss .. said a lot. " the blonde added quietly, peering at her from underneath his thick bangs.
" i-..it's just- i've liked you for a long time, y'know? and- " she wrung her hands together, a nervous laugh leaving her lips as she looked down at the ground.
picky grinned a bit, running his hand through his hair. " for a while there, i thought you didn't feel the same. but now i know. " her head snapped up, eyes widening once again.
" did .. i hear you right? " she asked softly. picky nodded slowly, reaching out to smooth back a stray curl that had escaped from her ponytail.
" yes. " picky confirmed in a quiet voice, kicking at the grass underneath his feat. tracy threw her arms around his neck, leaning into him.
" then why all the teasing? " she asked, looking up at him.
" 'cause it was fun to see you get mad, trace. " he mumbled, wrapping his arms around her hesitantly. he wasn't the best at hugs, in his opinion.
" well, i wasn't really- " tracy was interrupted by another voice.
" hurry up and kiss again ! we've been waiting for this moment for years ! " mimmie shouted, quickly being hushed by her sister, minnie. picky snickered in response, turning his attention to the twins for just a split second.
" we should give them what they want. " tracy suggested quickly, her face turning red.
" should we? " he asked. without waiting for an answer, he leaned in, and pressed his lips against hers for a few seconds, before he pulled away.
" c'mon, you dork. " he mumbled, grabbing her hand as he stepped away. " let's go inside. we already have ' spectators. ' " he raised his voice with the last sentence, causing the twins to burst into giggles from the window.
" a dork? really? "
" that's what you are, tracy. "