Summers 1

Nico Summers

Professor Andaluz

English 100

07 October 2021

All I Wanted Was to Go for a Walk

The squawks of crows flying above me were drowned out by the music that drifted out of

my headphones.

Where I've been where I'll be

Turn back time, oh, oh

Gonna hit rewind

It was three o’clock; I had an entire hour before I had to be back to the house. I was

leaving for a walk, and it was going to be wonderful.

The sun was high in the sky and the air was dry. It wasn’t dry enough to hurt my nose,

but it was dry enough that I wanted to jump in the river. The ocean above me was a blazing blue

full of cascading sunbeams; the kind that made me grateful for my sunglasses. My combat boots

stood out against the gray sidewalk that I walked upon, and the plants in my neighborhood were

varying shades of green.

I walked past the hemlock tree and across the cul-de-sac that I learned to ride my bike in.

I was headed towards the path that led to the forest, but before I could continue through the

neighborhood, I saw a familiar face.

 Summers 2

Was that Warren? Warren Moon? I thought I’d recognize my old friend’s dad, but I

wasn’t sure. If I didn’t say hello after not visiting Washington in over a year, and he recognized

me, it’d be awkward. Plus, I liked Warren; he was pretty nice, and I loved going over to his

house to watch football with my dad when I was younger. It seemed worth it to say hello.

“Warren?” He had a confused look on his face.

“Wait a minute, is that Katie Summers?” Yep. That was me.

“It is.”

“I thought for a minute there that your dad had a new roommate.” A lot of my dad's

roommates were students at the nature school that Warren worked at. A lot of them were also a

bit queer. He didn’t recognize me. Did that mean that I didn’t look like a girl? That I passed?

“No, he doesn’t have a new roommate. I’m just visiting from Hawaii.” I said.

“I didn’t know you were back in town.” Yeah. I didn’t really tell anyone. I figured if I ran

into any old friends, we could catch up and hang out, and if I didn’t, I didn’t. I was tired of

scheduling my break and having plans get canceled.

“Oh. I guess I forgot to mention it.” I lied.

“Well, how long are you here for?” He asked.

“I fly back on Monday, so two days.”

“Cassidy starts cross-country camp tomorrow. You should go say hi to her.” Shit. That

wasn’t a suggestion; now I had to. I didn’t want to waste the precious hour that I had catching up

with an old friend when I could be taking a walk. I’d have to smile, talk about school, and how

“life in paradise” was.

 Summers 3

I sighed, turned around, and headed toward the Moons’ house. After crossing the street, I

cut through their shady yard and headed up the wooden stairs. Before I could ring the doorbell,

sharp barks echoed through the air. Even though Nellie, the Moon’s dog had already told

everyone I was here, I still pressed the doorbell to be polite. it responded with a familiar chime:

The same chime from when I was six and had a costume ready to film our talk show. The same

chime from when I was eight and came over to swim in the pond. The same chime from two

summers ago when I wanted to see my friends again, but they didn’t have time for me. I’d never

heard another doorbell like it. It had this almost musical tone to it.

The muffled noise of footfalls on soft carpet meant that the door would soon open, and it

did with a squeaking noise. M’Liss answered the door with a condescending smile that made me

feel like a child.

I had forgotten how much I disliked her. With my dyed hair and combat boots, I looked

like a teenage rebel; the kind of person she wouldn’t want Cassidy and Kylah to be around. I

definitely couldn’t swear today, or I’d get a “Young lady! Watch your mouth.”

M’Liss took in my outfit.

“Aww, look at you. With your short hair, and wearing your sunglasses. Thinking: maybe

they’ll recognize me, maybe they won’t.” No. I was wearing my sunglasses because I was going

for a walk, bitch. I couldn’t say that though, so I smiled

“Oh, I was actually going for a walk, but then I ran into Warren who said I should come

over and say ‘Hi’.” Gods. Why did I raise my voice for that? Why did I make it so high?

“Well, the girls are downstairs. Kylah’s just finishing up taking a shower.” She gestured

for me to come in.

 Summers 4

“Um, I’m feeling a little under the weather. It’s not Covid; the people we got it from got

tested, but I don’t know if I should come in…” I didn’t want to either.

“Kylah’s a little sick too. I think there’s something going around. Don’t worry, come on

in.” She replied. Well, there went my nice long walk.

“Okay.” I took off my sunglasses and stepped inside. I looked at the pistachio green walls

as I walked down the stairs. M’Liss followed me.

“Cassidy. Look who’s here!”

“Hii!” Cassidy popped her head into the hallway and smiled. I walked down it and into

her room. Relax. It was going to be fine. I’d say a quick hi and then I’d leave.

“Hello.” I walked inside and stood awkwardly in the center of the room. It hadn’t

changed much. The big, brown dresser still rested in the corner. The wood floors still had

colorful, fluffy rugs on them. The walls were still turquoise, and her window still looked out into

the pond in her backyard. The crystal that used to reflect rainbows all over the room was gone

though, and the fluffy chair had been moved to one of the corners. I sat down in it. It was still

comfy.

“Wow! I had no idea you were here this summer.” Cassidy said

“Yeah, I guess I forgot to mention it.”

“How much longer are you here for?”

“I fly out in two days; I’ve been here for about three weeks,” I replied.

“Wait, you’ve been here, across the street for three weeks, and we haven’t noticed?”

“Well, we did go up to a cabin for a bit, but I go on a lot of hikes and walks.” That or I

was in the house or backyard.

 Summers 5

“That makes sense. Well, how have you been?” Cassidy asked. Well, I had a gender

crisis, and my mental health wasn’t doing great.

“I’m pretty good. How’re you?”

“Well, I’m going to a cross-country camp this week. That’s why I’m packing.” She added

another shirt to her suitcase.

“Cool, cool.” I looked around the room and avoided eye contact; it bothered me these

days. That was part of why I wore my sunglasses, the other reason being that it was pretty damn

sunny in the summertime. My eyes landed on the shelves that Cassidy had kept her lego sets on.

We made a lego city once.

“I got a summer job at Remlinger.” Ah yes, the local amusement park.

“Oh wow.” Jobs. Those were terrifying.

“Yeah, it’s really fun helping all the kids onto the rides.” She smiled. Remlinger seemed

like the perfect job for her. I was glad that she was happy.

“What’ve you been up to this summer?” She asked.

“Not much. I’ve been hanging out with friends and chilling. Oh, I was also working on a

Minecraft project in Hawaii before I came to Washington.”

“Oh, that sounds cool.”

“Yeah.” Should I have gone into more detail? She didn’t play Minecraft, so she might’ve

thought that my project was stupid.

“Hey Cassidy,” M’Liss popped her head into the room. “The grandparents are coming

over for dinner later, so I need you to set the table soon.”
 Summers 6

“Okay. Let me just finish packing.” Cassidy placed another folded tank top in her

suitcase.

“Um. I should probably head out.” I mentioned. The rectangular clock on the shelf read

3:24, so I didn’t have much time left for my walk.

“Oh, no you’re fine Katie.” M’Liss waved her hand towards me. Katie. Right, that was

me. That was my name, or at least it used to be.

“Besides, you haven’t even talked to Kylah. Hey Kylah! Katie’s here; she’s in Cassidy’s

room.” M’Liss shouted.

‘She.’ That was wrong. Should I have come out to them? Should I have told them I’m

not a girl? Did I really want to explain how genderfluid people worked? They’d probably be

accepting. No. It was too stressful. I just wanted to go on my walk.

“She is? Oh, hi Katie! I like your hair” Kylah pointed out. ‘She.’ I just smiled. It was

fine.

“Thanks, Kylah. How’re you?”

“I’m good! I’m really excited for college to start!” Was Kylah already in college?

“Oh, right. You’re going to college now!” I said.

“Yeah! I’m going to UDub.” She replied.

“When I get my license, I’m going to visit you.” Cassidy teased Kylah.

“No, you’re not. I want to have The ‘College Experience’. You’re all going to act like I’m

across the country.” That was kind of weird of Kylah, but sure, why not?

“Okay, okay fine.” Cassidy sighed.

“I need to grab something from my room,” Kylah mentioned.

 Summers 7

“Oh yeah, Kylah remodeled. You should come to see her room.” Cassidy stopped

packing and walked out of the room. I followed her.

Kylah’s room had white walls and one navy blue one. The carpet was slightly brighter

and softer than the rest of the carpet in the house. There was a white desk in the corner where

Kylah kept all of her makeup. I remembered when she got her first eyebrow pencil.

“Notice anything different?” Cassidy asked.

“I don’t remember that wall being blue, and I think more photos were added, but I was

here when you moved the furniture,” I remarked.

“Oh yeah, that was a while ago,” Cassidy replied.

“Well, it was really nice to see you guys, but I should head out; I need to be home soon.”

I also just wanted to go on a walk.

“Okay, well it was really nice to see you!” Cassidy said.

“Bye Katie!” Kylah added.

I flashed them a smile and then headed up the stairs and out of the door. Jeez. That was

like turning back time. Everyone seemed to be doing pretty good though. I put my earbuds in and

turned my music back on. A new song played:

Now that interstate is paved with memories

Of a past life I lived when I was 18

And every winter, I think back to what we used to be

In that past life we lived at 18

 Summers 8

A past life. I smiled and continued my walk.