“I live in Harper’s Creek.”

His face lit up.

“My best friend is a descendant of the people who founded it. It’s weird, though.” I leaned back on my arms. “The creek is actually a river, so I never really understood the name.” Sucking in my lips, I glanced at him. 

Titus shrugged and sprawled out. Taking a deep breath, he clenched his abs. The more things I noticed about him, the more I concluded that he had to be an athlete. So, yet again, I was going to be the sidekick friend to another Chris. 

“What sports do you play?” I put my chin on my knees.

“What?”

“At your high school.” I lay my head to the side. “Are you on the football team?”

Titus laughed hesitantly and sat up. “I’m not on any teams.”

“Really?” I looked forward. “Hmm… the coach at my school wouldn’t leave you alone until you joined. He did that to Chris. He won't let you quit once you’re on the team.”

“I’m not a sportsperson,” said Titus. “What about you?”

“I tried, but I’m not exactly football material.”

“Nothing is wrong with that.”

“I guess.” 

Titus went back to soaking in the sun. “So, are you in a relationship?”

“I wish,” I muttered under my breath. “I just got out of one. Things weren’t working out between us.”

With a smile on his face, Titus relaxed even more and sucked in his stomach. 

“Well, I think I’d better go.” I stood and dusted off my hands. “My dad will probably be ready to leave soon.”

He shot to his feet. “Where to?”

“I don’t know.” I backed away. “He’s dealing with all the camp managers’ complaints today.”

“Can’t you ask him if you can stay?” Titus moved in closer. “And he can pick you up later?”

“I don’t know.” I took a couple of steps back. 

“Please.” He hovered above me and grabbed my hand. “Do you really want to sit in a truck when you can hang out with me?”

“I can ask.” I pulled my hand free. 

Titus’s face broke into a grin. “Yes!”

“But I don’t know if he’ll say yes,” I quickly added.

“You’re going to ask, though?”

I didn’t know what to make of this. “Yeah, I said I would.” I rubbed my arm. “Umm… just wait here. I’ll be right back.” Slipping past him, I hurried to the truck. I was starting to doubt agreeing to do this. I didn’t really know Titus. 

My dad was waiting by the truck when I arrived at the campground.

“There you are.” He opened the door. “I’ve gotten everything taken care of here, so on to the next.” He motioned for me to get in. 

“Actually, I wanted to see if it was okay if I stayed.” I tugged on the bottom of my jacket. “I found this spot by the creek.” 

“Are you sure?” He leaned on the door. “A lot of these campers have dogs. Are you sure you’re up for it?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine.” I wasn’t as fine with it anymore after he mentioned that. 

“Okay.” He slid into the driver’s seat. “I’ll be back in two hours. Do you have your phone, so you know what time it is?”

I patted my pants pocket. 

“Be waiting for me by the road. I’d rather not have to come looking for you.”

“I’ll be there.”

“Alright, then.” He put on his sunglasses and, with a wave, pulled out onto the main road. 

As soon as the dust settled, I started back to the creek. Two hours, what was I going to do with Titus for that long?

“You stayed!” Someone jumped out of the trees and hugged me. 

“Titus, Titus, stop! Titus!” I turned around and pushed against his chest. “Let go! You’re overstepping every personal boundary invented. Let go.”

He released me, and I shot back, falling onto the ground.  

“What was that?!” I glared at him. “Titus, I don’t know how your family does it—” I took a deep breath as he gave me a confused look. “There’s this personal space thing.” I motioned to the area around me. 

He tilted his head to the side.

“I’m not a big hugger, okay.” I blew my hair out of my face. “Just don’t do that again.”

“Alright,” he said with a grin, offering me his hand. “I was simply happy to see you stayed.”

“I said I’d ask.” I grabbed it and let him help me up. 

“I know. I was still surprised you decided to.” He headed for the creek.

I felt like an idiot as I followed behind him. I didn’t think anyone would know how to react if a half-naked man jumped out of the trees and attacked them. We reached the bank. I went to sit down, but Titus grabbed my arm and pulled me upstream. 

“Where are we going?”

“I want to show you something.” He let go and stepped into the water. “Take off your shoes.”

I plopped down on the ground and yanked them off. I wasn’t into the whole barefoot thing, either. Titus waded over to a deep section of the stream.

“What are you doing?” I rolled up my pants and noticed the blurred fish swimming under an overhang. 

He put his finger to his lips before slipping his hands into the water. With a quick flinch of his muscles, he lifted the salmon out of the water. It fought to get free, but Titus had a good grip on it.

“Wow.” I had to admit that was pretty cool.  

He smiled and held it out to me. “Do you want to touch it?”

I ran my hand along the slimy surface. “How’d you do that?”

“A lot of practice.” Titus placed the fish in the water and released it. It darted upstream. “I could teach you if you want.” He puffed out his chest. 

I watched the salmon splash over the rocks. “That’s okay. I wouldn’t be very good.”

“Next time we see one, I’ll show you how.” Titus grabbed my arm and pulled me into the water.

“It’s freezing.”

“It’s warmer than usual.”

I shifted my weight from foot to foot. “It is usually ice. I can’t feel my toes.”

“It’s not that bad.” He held on to me as we waded through the current to a rock bar on the other side. It was a good thing, too, because I nearly fell a couple of times.

“My feet are numb.” I sat down and started patting them dry.

Titus chuckled and sprawled out across the rocks in his normal position. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath. “You smell better today.”

“Very funny.” I put my cold feet on his side, making him flinch. 

He sat up on his elbows and rubbed his stomach. “What was that for?”

“It’s not that bad,” I mocked.

“Whatever.” He returned to lounging in the sunshine. “You’re definitely a different one, Aden Perri. Very different.”

“Says you. I’m not the one running around with no shoes.”

“You don’t have shoes on, either.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “You told me to take them off, idiot.”

He shrugged and settled back on the rocks. I didn’t understand how he thought that was comfortable. Just sitting there was making my butt hurt from all the edges digging into me.

“Who’s this Chris guy?”

“Hmm….” I peered over at him. “Chris?”

“Yeah, you mentioned him. I’m curious what your other friends are like.”

“Well, he’s Chris. He’s hard to explain.” I scratched one of my mosquito bites. “Think of someone good at everything,”—I sighed—“gets everything he wants, and whose parents have tons of money, and you’ll have Chris.”

“Hmm… you don’t sound too fond of him.”

“Sorry.” I rubbed my neck. “We’re friends, but he’s kinda going out with my ex right now.” I chucked a rock across the creek. “We’re not on the greatest of terms at the moment.”

Titus sat up. “He sounds like a jerk to me.”

My shoulders rolled forward as I wondered if I told him too much. “It’s fine. I kind of have a history of failed relationships.”

We sat in silence for a few minutes, watching the water flow across the rocks.

“Ever tried wild huckleberries?” asked Titus.

I tried to hold in a smile. “No. I’ve never had the chance.”

Jumping up, he grabbed my arm and yanked me to my feet. “You’ll love them.” 

***

“So you’ll be at Beaver Lake Thursday?”

“Yep,” I replied as we walked back.

“I already have something planned that we can do.”

“I’m there to work, Titus. Not mess around.”

He bowed his head. “I know.”

We stopped along the roadside. 

“Where’s your car at?”

“Oh, umm…” He scanned the area. “It’s on the other side of the campground.”

A cloud of dust was coming toward us, and I could make out the front of my dad’s truck. 

“I’d better be going.” Titus headed off into the trees. 

“Bye,” I called after him. 

He didn’t turn around and only lifted his hand. The truck stopped, and I climbed inside.

“Who was that?”

“A guy I met by the creek.”

“Did you stay out of trouble?”

I nodded and stared out the window. My dad turned the vehicle around. As we drove past, I spotted a very sad-looking Titus wandering through the trees.

“Titus,” I whispered to myself. “You’re definitely different.”