“You seem awfully happy tonight,” said my mother as we cleared off the dinner table.

I shrugged and carried my plate to the sink. 

“It’s all that fresh air.” My father pulled me to his side and ruffled my hair. “Told you it would be good for you.”

“Right, Dad. That must be it.” Fixing my hair, I headed for my room. 

I closed the door and threw myself on the bed with a sigh. It had been almost a month since I started going to the campground, and in that short amount of time, I was actually excited to go. Sitting up, I thought about going to the hot pools again with Titus on Monday. I already had my bag packed for it. 

Grabbing my laptop, I flipped it open and clicked on one of my music video playlists before settling in for the night.

***

I opened my eyes to tapping. I looked around the darkened room and saw my computer had been moved. The scratching sound came from the window. Sitting up, I rubbed my eyes. The noise got louder. I scooted up against the headboard and turned on the lamp on my desk. 

Titus’s face appeared, and he gave me a wave. “Aden.”

“What in the world?” I climbed off my bed and went to the window. Flipping the lock to the side, I lifted it and put my head outside. I gave Titus a confused look. “What are you doing here?”

He shrugged and climbed into the room. “I came by to say hi.”

I glanced outside. There was a slanted roof and a good twelve-foot drop to the ground. “How’d you get up here?”

“It wasn’t that hard.” He flopped onto the mattress and put his arms behind his head. 

“You could’ve used the front door.” I closed the window.

“Your parents don’t know me”—he sat up—“and I didn’t want to be told to go away.”

I stood at the foot of the bed. “Okay, but how did you find me? Please don’t tell me you’ve been peeking into my neighbor’s houses?”

He laughed softly. “No, I saw your dad’s truck parked out front.”

I chuckled to myself. “That stupid thing keeps giving me away.”

“Yep.” He put his feet on the floor. “So this is your room?” Standing, he started wandering around.

“Yeah.” I shrugged. “It’s kind of boring.” I did a quick scan to make sure I didn’t have anything embarrassing lying on the ground. Thankfully, my mother had done the laundry yesterday. 

“I think it’s nice.” He examined my laptop for a moment. “Hey, what’s in there?” Titus pointed to my closet.

I jumped up and lay across the door. “Nothing.”

“Well, if it’s nothing, then you won’t mind me taking a look.” He nudged me to the side.

I grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Really, Titus. There’s nothing interesting in there.”

“We’ll see.” He opened the door and disappeared inside. 

“Titus, stop!” 

He reached for a box, and I dove for it. I knocked it out of his hand, and it crashed onto the floor.

“Great.” I dropped to the ground to pick everything up.

There was a knock on the door. “Aden?” my mother called. “Is everything alright?”

I bolted from the closet and ran to stop her from entering. My mother was halfway inside. 

“I’m fine.”

“Aden?” She narrowed her brows. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing,” I breathed. “I was getting something out of my closet, and a box fell.”

“Are you sure, sweetheart?”

I nodded. “Yeah, it’s nothing. I woke up, and I’m still a little disoriented, but I’m fine.”

“Alright, goodnight.” She pulled me down to her and kissed my cheek. “Get some sleep, okay?”

“I will. Goodnight.” I closed the door and leaned up against it. 

I’d never be able to explain having a random stranger in my room this late. I looked over to the bed and saw Titus sitting with multiple boxes around him. 

“Have you ever heard of privacy?” I tried to take away the sketches he was flipping through. 

“Aden.” He pulled me over to him. “It’s not that big of a deal.” Grabbing the bundle of papers from me, he glanced through them. 

Backing up against the wall, I waited for the sarcastic comments and sideways glances. Titus simply continued to look through my drawings. 

“I’m not very good.”

Titus spotted a book on my desk and went for it. 

“Wait—” I held up my hand. 

He didn’t listen and flipped it open. “Wow, you’ve really improved.”

I rubbed my arm. “They’re not very good,” I muttered. 

Titus shrugged. “I can’t draw at all, so I’m impressed.”

I shrugged. “I guess.”

He grabbed another box from the pile at his feet. I recognized the markings. 

“Titus, no!” I jumped on him and tried to wrestle it away.

“Come on, Aden.” He jerked it out of my hands. “It’s a little too late for that.”

I felt my face heat up when he removed the lid. 

“Did you make these?” He pulled out a wooden lion.

“It was a long time ago.” I clasped my forehead. “I was really into animals as a kid.”

Titus laughed softly.

My face blared red. I snatched it away from him and dropped it back in the box. I tried to take it away, but Titus wouldn’t let go.

“Aden, I didn’t mean anything by it. I just thought it was funny you got so defensive about them.” He picked up the wolf. “I really like them.” He handed me the wooden figurine. “This one is my favorite.”

I sat on the bed next to him. “You don’t think it’s stupid?” I ran my thumb over the wolf’s face.

“No.” He carried the box over to my dresser. “Why don’t you have them out?” He began to line them along the top. “It’s a waste to keep them in a box.”

I walked over and scanned the lines of wooden animals. “I don’t know.”

Titus took the wolf from me and examined it. “It’s almost lifelike. You’re so talented.”

With a sigh, I took it back. “The fur isn’t right, and I took too much off the arm.” I tossed it in the box.

“Hey.” He grabbed it and placed it with the others. “Why did you do that?”

“I’m too old for this stuff.” I scratched the back of my head.

“You’re not a very good liar.” He followed me to the bed. “What’s the real reason?”

I gathered up the sketches and loose papers. “Just because.”

“Aden.” He took the stack from me. “They’re really good.”

I wrung my hands together. “My friends would make fun of me when they came over, so I stopped. It’s kid stuff.”

“It’s called talent, Aden.” He flipped through the pages. “It’s not something you outgrow.”

“My friends think so.” 

“Don’t take this the wrong way, but your friends suck.”

“No, they don’t.” I started to gather up the books and put them back in their boxes. “They didn’t want to be friends with the artsy kid, so I quit. I figured it would be better to be the nobody friend of the popular kids than a nobody with a pocketknife and a block of wood.”

“Well, I think they’re beautiful,” Titus stated. “Like that stick, you carved the first time we met. I still have it.”

I couldn’t resist the smile forming on my lips. “My grandpa taught me. He gave me my first pocket knife on my seventh birthday. My mother wasn’t too sure about it. She kept lecturing me about being careful. I only cut myself a couple of times.” I laughed at the memory. It was never too bad, but she always threatened to take it away after she patched me up.”

“Would you make me one?” His eyebrows pinched together. “Please.” 

I walked over to the dresser and picked up the wolf. “You can have this one, and I’ll make you another one to go with it.”

His face lit up. “Really?”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you. I promise to take good care of it.” Titus hugged me tightly.

“You're welcome,” I whispered, laying my head against his chest. “I’ll get started on the other one tomorrow.”

He released me and stepped toward the window. “I better get going.”

“Yeah, you probably should,” I replied, chewing on my cheek. 

“I’ll see you Monday,” said Titus, straddling the window frame.

“Yep, Monday.”

“I’ll have everything nice and clean before you get there.” He gave me that cheesy smile before disappearing outside. 

“Bye,” I called after him. 

I stood there for a moment, staring at the wooden animals. They did look nice lined up along the edge. Smiling to myself, I picked up the boxes and stacked them next to my desk. After closing the window, I slipped into bed. The figurines could stay, for now at least.