Page 110 of Releasing 10
Lizzie
AUGUST 23, 1997
“LIZ, COME HERE, QUICK,” HUGH CALLED OUT FROM THE OTHER SIDE OF HIS STREET. “The sun is so strong, it’s melting the tarmac on the road.”
“It is?” Springing up from my perch on the footpath outside, I dropped the chalk I’d been playing with and hurried over to him.
“See?” Hugh poked the black tarmac with the stick he was holding. “It’s squishy.”
“That is socool.” Intrigued, I knelt down and poked the tarmac with my finger, thrilled when it moved. “I know the sun is hot today, but I didn’t realize it could melt theroad.”
“Tarmac is a lot like chocolate,” Hugh explained, crouching down beside me to investigate. “When it’s hot, it softens, and when it’s cold, it hardens.”
“How come?”
He shrugged. “It has a lot to do with its physical components and the effect on the tar when it absorbs the sun’s heat energy.”
Fascinated, I listened carefully to every word as he explained another one of earth’s mysteries to me. Hugh was good like that. He always knew the answers to all our questions. Not only did he know the answers, he explained them in a way that wasn’t boring. Even Gibsie, who hated school, enjoyed listening to Hugh break stuff down.
Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a familiar, dark figure lurking in the distance, and my stomach sank.
The scary lady.
She wasback.
I hadn’t seen her during the daytime in a very long time. The medicine I took helped me with keeping her out of my head. But she was here now. She had followed me all the way to Hugh’s house.
Blinking rapidly, I looked away before casting another glance in her direction, and this time she was gone.
Sadness bloomed inside of me because I didn’t want to start seeing the scary lady again. Not like the way I used to see her before the tablets. If that happened, my father would send me away again, and I didn’t want to get sick again.
“We should write our names,” Hugh declared, dragging me from my thoughts.
“Huh?”
“Our names,” he explained, smiling warmly. “We should write them in the tarmac.”
“Oh.” Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I offered him a bright smile and focused all my attention on him. “Okay.”
Using the pointy end of the stick he’d found, Hugh scraped the letter H into the tarmac. “Here.” He passed me the stick and pointed to the + symbol next to his letter H. “Make sure you dig your L deep. Otherwise, it’ll fade.”
Grabbing the stick, I set to work on carving the letter L into the tarmac next to his, while pushing my worries to the back of my mind.
“There.” Sitting back on the curb, I admired our handywork. “H plus L.” I grinned at him. “Together forever.”
“Yep,” he agreed, draping his arm over my shoulders. “And in twenty years’ time, when we come back here to visit, we can show this to our kids.”
“So youaregoing to marry me,” I teased, elbowing his side.
“I thought I already told you I would,” he replied, sounding confused.
“No, you asked me would I say yes,” I corrected, shifting closer. “But you never actually said youwouldask me.”
“Oh.” His cheeks turned pink. “Well, consider this conversation my confirmation on that matter.”
I choked out a laugh. “You talk so funny sometimes.”
“In what way?”
