Keeping You – Chapter One

Chapter One

1997

Erica

“Peaches.” I turned toward the voice that came up behind me. I’d grown used to the nickname. Momma said it was because Chase liked me. He wasn’t like the other boys who teased and pushed me around when they liked someone. Chase always made sure everyone knew he liked me by holding my hand when we walked from the playground back into our camp building every day.

Except today.

He pulled on my hand to stop us in front of the building where the rest of our friends were waiting inside for their parents to pick them up. Chase had a shy look on his face I had never seen before. He wasn’t acting like himself.

“What’s going on?” My voice was soft, unlike minutes before where I had been screaming with my friends as we ran around the kickball field. The Georgia heat couldn’t stop us even though it tried.

It was our last day of summer camp before going back to school and I wasn’t looking forward to it. The last two months had been what I was looking forward to most this year, and this day signaled the last time I would see Chase until next summer. Chase went to a private school and me public, which meant all we ever had were these few months.

This was a day we normally tried to make the most of, but something felt different today. I couldn’t figure out what it was, but Chase’s sad smile made my stomach drop.

“You look really pretty, Erica.” Chase stepped in front of me and took a strand of my shoulder-length, pitch-black hair; it was a complete contrast from his light brown hair. He twirled a strand between his fingers and the soft curl sprang away from his finger with a bounce.

I peered down at the denim dress my mom had put me in this morning and then over at the cargo shorts and plain white tee Chase was wearing. I had no idea where Chase was from. What he wore every day made it seem like he wasn’t from Atlanta, which would explain why I hadn’t met him until last summer. We never really talked about him, but he always asked questions about me. I didn’t mind because I loved that he wanted to know more.

“I’m all sweaty.” I giggled. My arms still had a layer of sweat on them. I probably didn’t smell the best since we had been outside for almost three hours now. Chase was staring off into the distance, not making eye contact. We were normally always comfortable talking to each other, but now, it didn’t feel the same. Telling him I was sweaty had me folding my arms over my chest.

“You’re still pretty.” Chase grabbed for another of my curls and let it go, making his way to every piece he could find. It was always his way of stalling time.

“What’s wrong, Chase?”

We stood there as one of our counselors came out to call us inside. We had an hour left until pickup, but when I chanced a glance behind Chase, I saw the familiar black car that came to pick up Chase every day. His mom was leaning against the car, with a phone to her ear, quietly talking on it.

“You’re leaving?” I asked him, curious as to why his parents were here sooner than normal. We still had time to sit inside and talk about our summer and what plans we had for the year. It was a way for us to know what we were doing without being there with each other.

“Yeah.” His answer was short. Chase still wouldn’t look me in the eyes. Our counselor was waiting by the front door. She waved for us to come in, but I didn’t move. I wanted to spend every second I could with Chase because I knew I wouldn’t be walking in that building with him.

Chase stared down at our shoes, which were practically touching. My dirty white Converse next to his brand-new Nikes.

“So, I’ll see you next summer?”

It wasn’t until I asked that question that Chase finally met my gaze. His bright green eyes held sadness. I bit my lip to stop the quiver I knew was going to start.

It never failed that each time I left Chase a part of my heart hurt, and last summer when he had left I’d cried for days. I had been preparing myself for this summer, but all the preparation couldn’t help with the real thing. My heart was breaking watching Chase stand there, knowing I wouldn’t get to see him for such a long time. A tear pricked the corner of my eye, but I looked away, trying to hide it.

“No.” It was his turn to answer softly. I snapped my head back to him, taking in what he was saying.

“No?” I questioned. I let my lip slip between my teeth and the up and down movement caused Chase to avert his gaze. My eyes watered again, but I stood a little straighter, trying to figure out what was happening.

I looked over at where his mom was still leaning against their car. I had always noticed the fancy things Chase had, but had never questioned them because Chase never made me feel less because of what I wore or what I owned. He always shared with me, which was one of the reasons I liked him so much.

Chase took my hand in his and we locked gazes.

“We’re moving.”

“To where?”

“Savannah.”

“That’s not far.” I tried to appear happy that he was going to stay in the same state, even though my heart was breaking. My lip quivered again, trying to not let loose the tears in my eyes. I pulled my lips apart, though, and forced a smile. I needed him to see I was okay, even though I wasn’t. Chase was leaving and I had no idea what that meant for us. I had seen friends cry over crushes during the school year, but I had never known it felt like that because there was always a promise of next summer.

Now that promise was gone.

“I have something to ask you.”

—–

Chase

I wrapped another strand of Erica’s hair around my finger, just like how I knew I had her heart. I didn’t want to hurt her by leaving, but I didn’t have a choice with my father running for Mayor of Savannah, Georgia. He had been in local politics for years, but this was his first big break into doing more.

So, instead of dwelling on the worst of this situation, I was going to ask the question I needed answered most. The one that would hopefully let Erica know that no matter how far the distance, she would always have my heart.

“Can I keep you?” I asked the question with all I had in me.

When we had watched Casper weeks ago, the second the line came on, I knew I needed to ask her. You might ask, why would a nine-year-old ask a girl he had only known over two summers if he could keep her? One that is in love is what I would say.

I watched that movie, Casper and Wendy dancing together, and could tell how much he cared for her. I had seen the same thing between my parents my whole life. I felt it in my chest when I looked at Erica. I knew it was love, even if I was so young.

Erica put a hand over her mouth, as to not laugh.

“What are we, in a movie now?”

Her laughter spilled past her hand and filled the space between us. It was a welcomed sound because moments ago, there were tears in her eyes I couldn’t stand to look at.

“I’m not kidding, Erica.” I used her real name again, not something I normally used when we were talking. I had nicknamed her peaches the first day I met her. She had just finished eating three peaches and smelled like them the rest of the day. But now, I needed her to know the seriousness of all this. This conversation wasn’t a light one that ended with me coming back next summer. “I’m keeping you.”

I leaned toward her, my fingers taking another strand of her hair, and pulled my other hand from the pocket it had been stuck in. With it I pulled out a dog tag that was on a key chain. I had it made at the zoo last week, hiding it from my parents ever since.

I held out the metal to Erica and watched as she assessed it and took it from my hand. She ran her fingers over the words I had asked her. She held it up to her chest, holding it tight. I was leaving her and I wanted her to have something from me she could carry every single day.

“You’re crazy.” The words slipped out of Erica’s mouth and I laughed at how cute she looked. She was simple in the best way possible, and it was the exact reason why I liked her so much.

Black hair, grey eyes, pale skin, the perfect size to fit in my arms and the perfect hands to fit in mine.

“I am.” I placed my forehead against hers and closed my eyes. “But so what?”

The honk of my parents’ car behind me made us both jump, causing a space to grow between us. My mother tapped the watch on her wrist while still talking on the phone to most likely my father. He was probably still at home finalizing the move because it wasn’t like we were leaving in a week or two, we were leaving tomorrow morning.

My mother laughed me for the crush I had when I asked her to wait one more day before we left. That I needed to say goodbye to Erica, my peaches, before we moved away. The vans had packed up everything over the past three days to move us to Savannah.

We had moved almost every year since I could remember. Atlanta was the first place we had stayed longer and I was grateful for it. It meant I had gotten to spend more time with Erica. I hadn’t told her about moving around because I didn’t want her to think I would just move, but it was always in the back of my mind. I had been waiting for my father to say something, and when he brought it up last week, I knew it was inevitable.

And it was now or never to tell Erica how I felt about her.

“Why would you want to keep me?” she asked and the way her grey eyes looked at me made my heart skip. I felt like we were in Casper right now. That my parents, our friends, none of it mattered around us as we were floating in the air, enjoying us together.

“Because you’re my peaches.” I let my hand rest against her cheek and leaned in a little. I let a whisper of a kiss brush where my hand had been against her cheek and pulled away.

“You can always keep me, Chase.” The words spilled from her lips as I dropped my hand from her.

“You’ll always be mine to keep, Erica.”

I turned away, not chancing a look back at her. I knew what I would find if I did, a sad gaze and tears forming. I could barely hold it together when I first saw her lip quiver, but now I would absolutely lose it. I walked away with my head held high, knowing that one day I would be able to get back to her, but for now, all we had was words.

And those were forever.