I slowly oozed into consciousness as I burrowed my face deeper into my pillow. I stretched luxuriously beneath my covers. It was Sunday morning and I just didn’t want to get up. The spring, Sunday morning light was drifting through the blinds. There was no way I was getting out of bed until noon.

There was a knock on my door and then with a squeak, it opened.

“Hey squirt. You need to get up,” announced my aunt. “You have a visitor. And you need to get up anyway.”

I pulled the covers over my head. “Tell whoever it is to go away.”

She poked my shoulder a few times. “That’s not very nice. It’s Aaron. He thought you might want to go bicycle riding. It’s an absolutely gorgeous morning. You might was well get up. I’m not going to let you sleep all day.”

I poked my head out from under the covers and scowled at her. “I hate you.”

Aunt Christine chuckled. “You just made my day. Come on squirt. Rise and shine.”

I pulled the covers back, sat up and rubbed my eyes. “Why is he here at the butt-crack of dawn? Why is he here at all?”

Aunt Christine grunted. “It’s after nine-thirty. And he likes you. That’s pretty obvious. And don’t try to tell me you don’t like him.”

I frowned at my aunt. “He’s okay.”

My aunt grinned at me. “Get dressed. I’ll tell him you’ll be out in about ten minutes. No arguing. You spend way too much time indoors.”

I frowned at my aunt. “Maybe I like being indoors.”

Aunt Christine sighed. “Just get dressed.”

I stood there and pouted at the now closed door. I don’t want to go outside. I don’t want to see Aaron. And as far as that goes, I don’t want to be a little girl. I felt a chill as I stood alone in the middle of my room. I’m actually terrified of what I’m going to become. This is nothing new. I’ve dreaded my future ever since waking up as a girl. But now that future is one step closer. I have a boy waiting for me.

I tossed my pajamas on my bed. I opened my dresser drawer and started to pull out a t-shirt. I stopped when it occurred to me I should probably put on clean panties. It sounds stupid as he’s never ever going to see my panties. But how can I meet someone, especially a boy, and not have clean panties on? I kicked my panties off, across the floor towards my laundry basket.

I took a moment to stand in front of my mirror – naked to the world. It’s not the first time. But I can ever get used to the fact that I’m looking at me. Soon I’ll have breasts and I won’t be such a little girl anymore. It was bad enough to view a little girl standing before me in the mirror. How the hell will I be able to handle seeing a young woman? The thought sent a shiver down my spine. A woman! That’s where I’m headed. Intellectually I always knew that, of course. But standing here, naked, the thought hit me like a ton of bricks.

Can I handle that? In a few years, will that image in the mirror be that of a teen girl nervously checking her appearance before leaving the room to greet the boy taking her out to dinner? Can I stop that from happening? And should I? I shook my head as I reached for a clean pair of panties.

Aaron stood up and grinned at me as I entered the living room. “Hey Chrystal. I thought you might like to go for a ride. It’s a nice morning.”

I stepped up close to him and smiled. “Sure. My bike’s in the backyard.”

Still grinning, Aaron said, “Great. Are you ready?”

I nodded. “Let me get a couple water bottles to put in my bag and we can go.”

As I slung my bag over my shoulder, my aunt said with a toothy grin, “You kids have fun. Be sure to be back in an hour or so, so you can get ready for church. Pe-Paw wants to go to Taco Bueno after church for lunch.”

Aaron said, “Yes ma’am.”

I sighed as we went out the door. Going to church mean putting on a dress. A couple of months before her wedding, Mom started having us go to church with Oliver and family.

As soon as we got outside, I ran to the backyard gate and opened it. I rolled my bike out and threw my leg over the seat, not bothering to close the gate.

“Let’s go. I’m following you,” I said to Aaron. “I’m not familiar with this neighborhood.”

As he mounted his bike, Aaron said, “Okay. Follow me. We’ll go down to the old hill.”

As we started down the street, I realized too late I should have put my hair in a pony tail. But I decided I enjoyed having the cool morning air flow through my hair. I found myself smiling as my senses were assaulted by the smell of fresh lawns, plants and flowers and the buzz of insects, dogs barking and all those magical sensations from being out in the spring air from back when I was a kid. All those things you lose contact with as an adult going to college or going to work or just not getting outside as often. Childhood memories flooded my mind as I rode beside Aaron.

I was surprised after going a block or so when Aaron stood on his pedals and began pumping furiously, pulling quickly away from me. Ah geeze. Is he showing off or something? Not to be left behind, I pumped my pedals faster as well and got behind him as he raced up onto the sidewalk. A moment later, I saw where he was headed and giggled.

A tree root had buckled the sidewalk, forming a ramp. I followed Aaron as he raced up the sidewalk ramp into the air, clearing the curb and landing back in the street. We both laughed as we zoomed around parked cars and back up onto the sidewalk. Why have I been resisting being a kid?

I rode my bike next to Aaron as we rushed down the street. I loved it. The breeze in my hair. Hearing the whir of the chain spinning the sprockets. Hearing us both giggling. I honestly didn’t want this moment to end.

“Let’s go over to the hill!” shouted Aaron. I had no idea what that was, but I fell in close behind him as we raced through the streets. After several minutes, I followed Aaron off the pavement and on to basically a dirt road running across a vacant lot towards a large mound. I guessed the mound was this hill.

Halfway up the hill, Aaron laughed as he jumped off his bike leaving it to tumble into the grass and dirt. I stopped and gently lay my bike on it side and ran after him. I stopped next to him; both of us trying to catch our breath.

Aaron bent down placing his hands on his knees. In a breathy voice, he said, “Here we are. The hill!” I stopped beside him and looked around. Despite not really being all that high in altitude, the change in perspective did provide a great view of a busy four lane street running near the vacant lot. In another direction was the campus of a middle school. Also nearby was a church.

Aaron sat down cross-legged in the dirt at the very top of the hill. I sat down next to him, our bare legs touching as we both were wearing shorts. We sat in silence for a few minutes. It was oddly quiet on the hill. I was surprised I couldn’t hear any traffic sounds from the nearby street.

After several minutes, he took my hand and held it. Not looking at me, he said, “This is my sanctuary. Other kids don’t come here very often. But when I need to think about things, I come here. It’s yours too, if you want it.”

I looked down at the traffic for a moment. “Kinda like a fortress of solitude.”

He looked over at me quizzically for a moment. “Oh yeah. Superman.”

I looked over at Aaron and smiled. “It seems private here, even though it isn’t.”

He flashed a smile and looked straight into my eyes. He said, “Yeah.” He slowly leaned towards me. I closed my eyes and leaned towards him. I didn’t try to avoid him this time. Our lips softly touched. It was wonderful.

We pulled back and looked at each other. Giggling, we both softly kissed again.

Still holding my hand, Aaron said, “I guess you need to get back home.” I nodded.

To be continued…