Crush Crush

Just a short childhood memory of Lukas.
Sometimes, it is fun to write about children.
Fun facts: Red's real name is Benjamin, and Maroon's real name is Ashley.

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"Mama, can I go over to Ben's house?"

Lukas stared up at his mother, who was cleaning a window with a dirty rag and cleaner fluid. "Are his parents okay with it?"

"Yup!"

"Then you can," she said, pausing her work and smiling at him. Teasingly, she asked, "Why are you so eager to go to his house lately?"

Lukas' cheeks burned red as he turned his head away, pouting. "Nothing."

His mother lowered herself and pinched one of his cheeks. "You're blushing."

"Nuh-uh!"

"Yeah-huh! It's his sister, isn't it?"

"No!" Lukas cried, crossing his arms.

"It's okay, sweeite. It's cute when little boys have crushes on little girls."

"That's not it!" Lukas insisted.

Chuckling, his mother returned to cleaning the window. "Sure it isn't. Remember to come back before dinner."

Lukas ran out of the house and down the street, hoping his face would return to normal when he reached his friend's house. He stopped at each street and looked both ways, the continued to run. He jammed his hand in his pocket and felt for the piece of Starburst. He inwardly giggled and felt his cheeks heat up again.

Once at the foot of the door, Lukas pressed the doorbell three times, one after another. Lukas heard footsteps and was soon greeted by ben. "Yay, you can play with us!" Ben said, hopping up and down. In the distance Lukas heard more footsteps.

Lukas nodded vigorously and felt for the candy again. "B-but first, I wanted to give something to Ashley."

"Again?" Ben said disbelievingly.

"Give me what?" Ashley popped up from behind Ben, smiling with rosy cheeks.

The flames in Lukas' cheeks burned even brighter. He pulled out the Starburst decorated in a red wrapper. "I know how much you like Starburst and the color red, so I saved this for you."

"Thank you!" Ashley said, taking the candy and unwrapping it immediately. Lukas shyly placed his hands behind his back.

"Wait, I should get the red Starburst," Ben said, "because I'm Red!"

"Nope, you're Ben," Ashley said, popping the candy in her mouth. "You don't slay demons with a keyboard."

"But I wanna be called Red!"

"Too bad," his sister taunted, sticking out her tongue.

After Ashley swallowed her gift, the three kids ran toward the backyard. Red ran faster than the other two and stood on top of a risen slope. "Today, we're gonna play hide and seek. And Lukas goes first because he didn't give me candy!"

"You're a sore loser, Ben," Lukas whined, pouting again.

"It's Red!"

"Whatever."

Lukas took over Ben's spot on the slope and turned his back from the rest of the yard. Placing his hands over his closed eyes, he slowly counted, "Ten, nine, eight..."

He listened for footsteps carefully. One pair drifted a ways off before stopping while the other pair only pounded against the ground for a few seconds. Near by, he heard the rustling of foliage. He smiled as he turned around and shouted, "Ready or not, here I come!"

Lukas quickly surveyed the backyard cluttered with playing equipment and stared at the nearby bush. He envisioned Ashley crouched behind the big bush as she always did, each game. No matter what. Even though the boys knew she always hid there.

He shoved his arms into the bush and pulled some branches apart, and there he found Ashley's brown eyes staring at him. She giggled and crawled out. "Found me again!"

"It's easy to find you," Lukas said, scratching at his brown hair. He noticed a leaf in Ashley's black long hair and pulled it out. "I don't get how your hair is not tangled."

"Because I'm cool."

"Yup."

The two of them stood around, looking around from their spot. Ashley nudged Lukas and whispered with a sneer, "Let's go back inside and leave Ben out here."

"Good idea," Lukas said, and he beamed as they snuck back into the house.