“Hello?” He answered.

Shit. I thought to myself. How big of a dumbass am I? I called and yet I wasn’t expecting him to answer? “A-Aaron? It’s me, Shelby.” I finally spat out.

“Shelby?” He exclaimed. “Oh my, gosh! Hi!” He sounded almost too excited to hear from me. “Wow, I haven’t talked to you in such a long time!”

“I know, it’s been a while,” I smiled at his enthusiasm. “How have you been?”

“Really busy, but good,” I could tell he was grinning from one ear to the next. “I was kind of bummed when I went to your old house to see you and your mom and found it deserted.”

“Oh wow, I must have forgotten to tell you,” I bit my bottom lip. “I’m living in Orlando now and my mom moved to Wilmington a few months ago. Remember I told you she got married to Richard?”

“Yeah, I remember that,” he replied.

“Well, his job took them to Wilmington, North Carolina. I’m, actually, moving up there next week to be closer to them,” I explained. I felt terrible for not telling him, but it wasn’t like we were talking once a week anymore. More like once every few months.

“Wow,” Aaron sighed. “I had no idea.” He almost sounded hurt.

“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you…” I trailed off. I glanced around my bare apartment. It was lacking so much life and color. That was something Aaron always brought to my old house. I remember the time when we were four and we decided to finger paint my bedroom. That went over really well with my parents.

“Hey, it’s no big deal,” he tried to hide the disappointment in his voice. “On a brighter note, I’m in Tampa! I’m here for a week.”

“Wow, a break from the life from hell?” I joked.

“Actually, no. I’m stuck at home with my mom,” he laughed softly on the other end. I broke out into laughter. Aaron and his mom weren’t very close anymore. It was sad to see, to be honest. Growing up Miss. Jane – as I called her – was like a second mom to me, just like my mom was a second mom to Aaron.

“Wow, must be pretty harsh,” I sighed sarcastically.

“It really is,” he muttered. “That’s why I was calling you. I wanted to know if you wanted to hang out or something. Orlando’s not that far. Maybe an hour and a half from where I am.”

“Oh, I see. I’m the backup when your mom gets boring,” I said sarcastically. “I love you, too, Aaron.”

“I didn’t mean it like that, Shelly,” he remarked. I tried not to laugh at his sorry attempt to throw a comeback in my face.

“Nice job, Carter. Going back to the maturity level of a ten-year-old, are we?” I laughed. I had forgotten how much I enjoyed talking to him. He always brought out a different side of me…a side of me that I liked.

“Who said I ever matured past ten?” He shot back, joking, obviously.

“Yeah, yeah,” I rolled my eyes. “So, what exactly did you have in mind for tonight?” I may as well do something with him. It’s not like there was anything else to do.