Wall Jumpers

It was a misty morning. The sun was completely covered by clouds. The forest soil was damped and the mud made my boots heavy and sticky. It was a very cold day and as I walked up the forest it got even colder.

It had become a habit for me to come up to hike at least once every week. Today I had gone out of my way to come on a Saturday morning. When I arrived at the place I was going to, I stopped and looked around. I grabbed a branch from the ground and stuck it on the muddy soil. The upper end of the branch split into two, making some kind of hook where I hung a bag and put a single white flower on the string from where the bag hung.

“It´s so damn cold!” I muttered to myself

“Why would you come up here then?” I was startled by the sudden voice that I heard behind me but I recognized that voice and fought back the flinch my body instinctively made

“I came to leave food for my stray kitten” I smirked wondering why I hadn´t heard her approach and why was she here this early

“Your…?” she tilted her head a little with a raised eyebrow. I noticed her hair was wet as if she´d just taken a shower and hadn´t dried her hair.

“Yes, my kitten” I smiled with the corner of my mouth. Often, teasing her was the best way to keep her talking

“Any other animal might had found it”

“I was willing to take that risk”

“Mh” she hummed and turned around, and then I saw a drop of water fall from her black shirt

“Did you fall on the river, kitten?” I asked taking a step in her direction. Her shoulders moved as if she was silently laughing but I failed to see what was so humorous in it.

“No” she finally said and I hurried to her and stepped on her way

“Here” I gave her my black jacket. She looked at it

“I won´t give it back” she removed her shirt, revealing a black top with thin straps as well as some of her smooth skin where the top ended and her pants started

“I don´t mind, it´s an old jacket” I passed my scarf around her neck

“I hope this one’s old too” she adjusted the scarf

“As most of my wardrobe, it is” I winked picking up the shirt she´d tossed to the ground. It had a known expensive brand. She said nothing but there was an almost imperceptible frown in her face “Don´t feel bad about it” I chuckled “clothing´s just that… but I could sell this one” I laughed as I motioned to her discarded shirt

“Ok” she was about to start walking when she looked back, then she glanced me and turned around back to the original spot where she had found me

“Curiosity killed the cat” I strolled towards her. She shrugged.

“I have a lot of lives” she took the flower and made it spin between her gloved fingers then she took the bag and peeked inside it right after that she quickly climbed on the closest tree.

“I´m not going to take away your prey from you, kitten” I chuckled as I looked at her from the ground

“I'm not sitting on the ground. It´s wet”

“Oh… so you are one of the Burgeoys´ fancy girls” I raised my eyebrow. She had just tossed her designer’s shirt but she didn´t want to stain her already stained pants. It felt something hit my forehead. It was a piece of one of the cupcakes that were in the box inside the bag. I knew Nichole enough to know she didn't like to be compared to the shallow girls in her school. I narrowed my eyes at her and she had a smug expression. I watched her eat the cupcakes.

“Are you expecting me to drop dead or something?” she said after a while

“Sure, I decided to put the poison in the second cupcake so you could enjoy the first one” I followed her lead. The way she worded her replies or questions gave me a general idea of what was going on in her life. She never spoke of it but it seemed she was always running to the woods and she was always too silent and I bet she thought I didn't notice the way her eyes became almost sad when she stared into the distance. Being over six months at the other side of the river made me aware of this.

“I left the second one for you” she said and stopped eating

“Did you like them?” I asked… I couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous but I had to keep my cool. When she didn´t reply I continued “Lola, my grandma, asked about you…” I started and the only indication that she´d heard me was her brown eyes on me

“She was getting worried at why I was coming to the woods weekly… -Nichole went back to looking at the other trees- so I told her I had a friend- I chuckled to myself because I would´ve never thought that this would only made Lola more suspicious- and she didn´t believe I could´ve met someone in the woods… even less a Burgeoys´ girl” Silence stretched between us

“If I found a line of these cupcakes –she was still looking at the distant trees- I might follow them…”

“Even out of the woods…?” I was glad she´d picked up on what I wanted to ask

“Maybe…”

**

“Lola, we have a visitor” I raised my voice as I opened the door the next Saturday after the cupcake Saturday. My Lola came out of the kitchen with a cup that I recognized as her coffee cup. It was old and had been painted by me in fourth grade as a mother day´s gift

“Good morning, Ms. Cooper” Nichole greeted as she entered the house. Lola replied then glanced my way

“Lola, this is Nichole, my friend from the woods… Kitten, this is my Lola” I had already told Nichole the only family I had was Lola and Theresa, my aunt and her husband. My uncle didn´t count because he had never came back or called since he left.

“Nice to meet you, Nichole… I thought my boy had started to have imaginary friends again”

“Nice to meet you too. I´m Ashley´s imaginary friend” Nichole vowed causing a laugh from grandma

Lola insisted in making breakfast for us even after Nichole told her she had already had breakfast but for Lola milk and cereal was no breakfast.

“Now that I know you´re not the product of Ash´s imagination or his dealer…”

“Lola!” I said with a frown and she snickered

“I want to know if you have permission to leave school to come here… specially on the day your parents are visiting” Lola raised one of her eyebrows to Nichole

“My parents are not there being left alone, so it´s ok”

“I thought they didn't give permission to go out on family visiting days” grandma said and Nichole took a sip of her orange juice… I wondered if she did that to avoid answering

“Lola?” I also wondered how she even knew of that

“You don´t have permission to go out, do you?” she questioned my friend

“Was the back road door still open when you went there?” Nichole said and I swear my jaw dropped to the floor. Grandma laughed

“I think they closed it because of me –she laughed some more –and I think they made the walls higher too”

“Oh, so it´s you I have to thank that for” Nichole smiled

“The future generations will thank you for the electric fence and the guard dogs”

“Lola, were you a Burgeoys' girl?” I interrupted their teasing. Lola smiled her gentle smile to me

“Yes, Ashley, I went to the school on the hill…” she said as if remembering those days I knitted my eyebrows “It was a long time ago”

“But your high school diploma says you went to the same high school I go”

“That´s where I graduated”

“Wow… why hadn´t you told me…?” It was always interesting to know things about Lola´s youth

“It was a long time ago…”

“But you always told me about you and grandpa when you were in high school”

“Well, my boy, I had planned to take my dirty little secret to the grave but you found yourself a wall jumper and I had to make sure if you weren´t going to be together with one of your cousins” she said… I guess she meant a relative not exactly a cousin since she was not my mom though to me she was and for her I was her son too.

“Lola! You tricked me to bring her!” I gasped and Lola´s eyes gleaned with satisfaction

“I might be old but I still got a trick or two”

“Well, is she my cousin?”  I asked keeping my voice the same but hoping she was not. I had started to like the girl a lot and it was going to be bad if we were related like that

“I don’t know. Since my parents disowned me I haven´t talked to my sister even though at the beginning I tried… Would you mind telling me your grandma´s name?” Lola smiled to Nichole who politely smiled back

“I don´t think I´m related to you… I didn´t get in through family ties… I´m the first generation that gets in” Nichole explained

“Oh, then we´re good” Lola smiled to me “just don´t get caught” she smiled to Nichole who seemed to find it odd that my grandma was condoning her coming out of school without permission and to be honest I was twice as surprised as her if not more.

“I won´t” Nichole replied and grandma chuckled shaking her head. I was just glad that Lola seemed to like Nichole and that Nichole had agreed to come, without her I wouldn´t have found that about Lola. 

**A/N***

surprise, surpise, I decided to put the A/N at the end. I thought of this one a while ago as I told my friend Saku I felt like writing something for her. I wish I could´ve done something better though but hey, it´s a miracle that I actually wrote it -I have no excuse for not to write, really- I hope at least some of it makes sense and I hope Ash does´t feel too different in this one.
That A/N makes me nervous, well the story does...