Page 34 of Falling Too Late

The incline got steeper the farther we got into the subdivision.

“Do you know who else is going to be there?” I asked. Jonathan had gotten pretty popular in the few short months before summer break. He was kind and very friendly to everyone.

“Not sure. All I heard was pool, and food. Plus, this is going to be better than hanging out at the city pool.”

I didn’t mention that I hadn’t been to the city pool in years.??

I got lost in thought and only focused on the ground to keep walking. The school year had ended, Alex and I had spent most of the summer at his place watching movies, reading books, going for walks. It had honestly been a dream.

Lost in my thoughts, I ran into Alex’s back. “Sorry.”?

“We’re here.”?

I looked up. We were at a gate with a pin pad. We couldn’t even see the house through the stone fence and thicket of trees on the other side. I didn’t even know there were places like this in the city. I was used to our little old apartment next to the train tracks.

“Is this really his house?”

Alex smirked down at me. “Yeah.”

“Have you been here before?”

“All the time.”

I didn’t know anything like this could even exist. Alex hit the button, and a voice on the other side of the speaker spoke.

“Can I help you?”

“Hey, Burt, it's Alex. Can you come down to the gate to grab us?”

“We will send a cart to get you,” the voice on the other end said.

The gates slowly opened, and we moved to the other side.

“Well, Toto, I have a feeling we’re not in Kansas anymore,” I muttered to him. He elbowed me gently.

“It will be fun. Trust me.”

A few moments later we were in the back of a golf cart and whizzing up the path. The wind on my face felt nice for the short duration. It was a freaking stone mansion, with a circular drive and a fountain in the middle.

“Follow the path around back and you will see the party,” the man, in what seemed to be some kind of golf getup, said, pointing to the side of the house.

We got out of the cart, and it zipped away.??

“Party?” I said to him, and soon we could hear it. The music and voices grew louder.

Doing as the guy said, we followed the path and soon saw a big white tent with people all over the place. I stood with Alex, frozen. There were probably hundreds of people here, all wearing fancy clothes and chatting in groups.

“Hey!” Jonathan came bounding out from between some people. “You guys made it!”??

“Happy birthday, man.” Alex grinned.

“Thanks. Yeah. I told my parents I didn’t want them to use my birthday as a social event, but they never listen.” He was dressed in a button-down that had a few buttons open at his chest and swimming trunks underneath.

“Wait.” I frowned, confused. “It’s your birthday?”

“Yup!” Jon beamed, his blue eyes bright.

Alex hadn’t told me it was his birthday, and a part of me felt bad that we didn’t bring anything for him. I wasn’t sure what we could have gotten him. From the looks of it, Jonathan could have anything he ever wanted.

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