“Make sure the yard is done before I get home, and don’t forget to figure out what you want to do for dinner. Unless you’re eating at Armin’s. Let me know if you do. No, I’ll just ask Jinyoung myself. You’ll forget.”

I nod and hold the phone between my ear and shoulder while Dad talks, drop an “mhm” and a “yeah, sure” in to let him know I’m listening. Well, I hear him. I tap my pen on my notebook and look out the kitchen window into the backyard. 

Part of me wants to let this homework sit at the bottom of my backpack until it’s due, but the other part of me knows I can’t do that yet. I don’t want to let myself get backed up on homework at the beginning of the year and then have Armin make me do those awful “study nights” that are really just him standing over me in my own kitchen while he screams at me German to do my damn homework or hollers in Korean telling me that I’ll get enough of procrastinating. 

The German makes him sound like his father, and Dad thinks it’s the funniest thing ever. The Korean makes him sound like his mom, and he loves the bit of fear it instills in my heart. 

The birds perched on the fence peck at each other and then turn toward the window. One of the birds chirp and I feel like it’s going “duh,” so I go “duh” back. 

“You’re not even listening. Finish your homework. I’ll see you tonight,” Dad says. 

“For sure.” I’m keeping up my staring contest with the birds until they hop and look over the other side of the fence. 

“Love you,” Dad finishes with.

“Love you too. Later.” 

The birds do another chirp before they fly off, and Dad ends the call. I let my phone beep and lay it face-up on the table to scroll it back open and ask Armin what his mom is making for dinner, not-so-subtly suggesting that her curry udon would be very delicious. 

I get up and wander over to the window while I wait for his response, glance out at the yard, and huff at it. The lawn does need cutting. I can’t get away with not doing it and saying I did. The birds are still around. They just went over to the big tree on the far end of the lawn and perched in the branches that hang over the fence. 

I grab my phone before I head outside and stay on the deck to look past the fence at Mr. Anderson’s lawn. 

He has red rose bushes in a neat row in front of his deck, a true apple tree. His vegetables are doing well, and it’s clear he takes care of them, tomatoes and lettuce in his little garden. Strawberries too. He’s even out watering them now. 

Wait, no that’s not him. I squint and though it doesn’t help, I really don’t need it to realize Mr. Anderson is quite a bit taller than that, his hair browner, his build a bit more stocky. 

That’s Lyle with his hand on his cocked hip, his head practically laying on his shoulder from how much he leans it over on his neck. 

My phone chimes again and I step down the stairs while I grin at Armin’s text. 

I’ll tell her you want to eat and she’ll do it. 

She was going to make curry anyway.

I stroll over to the fence while I send Armin a little pink heart emoji with sparkles, and he’s quick to send me back the eye-rolling emoji along with the two hearts swinging around each other. I shove my phone in my pocket before I hang over the fence to see Lyle standing in front of the apple tree with his arms folded and the watering can on the ground next to him, one foot pressed into the tree’s trunk. He’s staring at it like he’s having a conversation, and I’m tempted to say something. Instead, I push myself away from the fence and get the lawnmower. Thankfully, he’s gone when I get back. I sigh in relief, get it all set up, and as soon as I start the lawnmower, Mr. Anderson’s back door swings open. 

I’m not going to look. Every time I speak to Lyle we just get on each other’s nerves, and I’m sent packing with a bruised ego and bad attitude. I’m not even going to turn in that direction, purposely make up my path around the lawn so I don’t have to look over there no matter how much the feeling of eyes boring into the side of my face burns. It feels like I’ve been mowing for hours before the feeling goes away, but I know he’s still there. I know I should be polite and say something. 

I leave the lawnmower when I’m done and look over the other side of the fence into Armin’s yard as an excuse, deciding out loud that it needs cutting too. Armin’s dad is still in Berlin on business, and Armin isn’t the “cut the grass” type. All of this is futile though; I don’t care about the grass. I just need an excuse to look into Mr. Anderson’s yard without it being totally obvious I’m looking at Lyle. 

I trudge back to the other side of the lawn with my head down as if I’m watching my step, put my hands on the fence to look over and around before I let my eyes land on Lyle, and pretend I’m surprised to see him there. 

 Lyle is sitting under the apple tree now, his legs folded underneath him and his phone in his hands, headphones in his ears. 

“Hi,” he says and does a curt nod. 

He doesn’t go back to his phone like I want him to. He just keeps looking at me like he’s waiting for me to speak. I look at the vegetables again, the leaves on the tree, back at him.

“What?” He frowns. 

“Sorry for, you know,” I say. “Being an asshole.” 

Lyle stares through me, and I start to fidget. It’s like he’s waiting for me to crack under the pressure, and I can feel exactly that happening to me, my vision drifting over his head to look at the branches on the tree. 

“Just hanging out, huh?” I ask. 

Lyle does a chuckle and shakes his head. He locks his phone in his lap before he goes, “uh-huh.” 

“Uh-huh,” I copy him and his grin lingers a little longer. “I was just seeing if Mr. Anderson might need his lawn mowed too since, well, I’m out here.” 

“How generous.” 

I tsk at his sarcasm and smirk, lean more over the fence to look down the path to the driveway, and turn back when I hear the tree leaves blow in the wind. The weather is still a little too warm, but it’s cooling. Soon it’ll be cold enough for beanies and hoodie sharing.

“That why you were nosing around in their yard too?” Lyle asks and points behind me with his whole arm. 

I fold my arms on top of the fence and shrug. 

“They don’t mind. If anything, Jinyoung will come and ask me to take care of it while I’m out here. Call it payback for feeding me. Unless Armin tells me to, so he can take the credit. Call it payback for, I don’t know, his presence, maybe?” 

“Yikes.” Lyle pulls his legs up and wraps his arms around his knees. 

“Yeah. It’s cool though.” I bring one of my hands up to rub the back of my neck. 

I’m still expecting this conversation to go left. For one of us to say something to ruin how right this all has been. Leaves fall off of the tree with its shake and one lands right on Lyle’s head. He doesn’t even realize when he gets up and brushes off the back of his pants, and I suck in my lips to hold back a laugh. He squints at me. 

“What?” 

“Going back inside?” I bypass his question, still doing that goofy grin. 

He nods and steps in front of the fence, closer to me, and shoves his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie with his phone. 

“Well, looks like Mr. Anderson doesn’t need my sick mowing technique.” I look around the yard one more time and smile at Lyle. “Later.” 

“Yeah.” His eyes go a little bit wider for a second before he beelines it for the house and glances over his shoulder as he ducks into the side door.