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Buttermilk Creek was probably the only place in the United States that had gone untouched by human hands. At least, that’s how it’d seemed at first glance — the greenery was overgrown so much so that it threatened to overthrow the creek it’s spot was named after. Nikki, Max, and Neil had first discovered it sometime after their freshman year of high school had began, having grown tired of walking along the bike path in their town. Three and a half years later, they had walked it so much that a path in the weeds had been bored into the ground, following the creek for as long as it ran unaccompanied.
Nikki had always favored walking along the stones in the cold water of the brook, doing her best to stay dry as she hopped from stone to stone. Neil had been wrapped up in interviews for college for as long as she had cared to remember, leaving her to walk the stones with Max only. Fridays had been their routine hangout day, and it almost felt pointless without all of them there.
It felt more like a date. Nikki and Max had started dating maybe a few months prior, not that either of them bothered to keep count. It had been mostly casual, and after their first date turned out to be a total disaster and ended with them getting kicked out of the movie theater, they’d decided maybe dates weren’t their thing.
But this — walking along the stream as it began to get dark — felt like a date. And it felt awkward.
“You decide what you’re doing after school yet?” Nikki asked, balancing on the small dry spot of a smooth stone before jumping to the next.
“Nope.” Max responded casually.
“Oh, come on! You at least thought about it right?” She asked, and Max shook his head.
“Not at all.”
Nikki pouted for a moment, then smiled. “Miss Kim’s gonna kick your ass when you go to her with that answer.”
“Let her. I’m doing it just to spite her.” He stuck his tongue out as he talked, imitating the woman. “’You have so much potential, Maxwell, college could be so good for you, let me list all the shitty jobs an education could give you.’ God knows they don’t give you one in that school.”
Nikki snorted. It was pretty in character for their guidance counselor; Miss Kim always called her ‘Nicolette’ or ‘Miss Kaligan’, and it made her skin crawl every time she said it.
“You finally make a decision?” Max asked.
“Coach has been helping me put together some videos of my best stuff during games. He wants me to send out some emails over the summer, try and get some scholarships for next year using my soccer stuff. I’d rather do something else.” The more she thought about college, the more she loathed the idea. She didn’t want to be stuck with all the girls she tolerated high school with, and she especially didn’t want to be trapped in a dorm with one of them. “Anything else.” She groaned, thinking about it.
Max shrugged, watching as she hopped to the next stone, them beginning to turn invisible in the new darkness. He knew that she would jump from stone to stone until she fell, just as always. Maybe this time he’d do something about it. “You could always do community college, try to get into a trade or something.” He suggested.
“Is that what you’re gonna do?” Nikki asked, prodding again. Every time she asked, he would change the conversation, and she knew he had to have thought of something. Lord knows he wasn’t planning on staying with his parents.
But he shook his head. “Nah, I’d probably get electrocuted or something.”
After that, the conversation went quiet, and Nikki still had no idea how to get Max to tell her what he wanted to do.
“You should probably get down from there before you fall. We’re almost at the island anyway.” The island was a nickname for a spot the creek forked around a small patch of grass, coming to meet again not far away and creating a small spot protected by the river. It was their usual stopping point before they turned back, getting ready to head home.
Nikki refused to diverge from her normal path, straining to see which rocks were dry, and with a hesitant movement, she jumped to the next stone. Her foot slipped from under her, the small layer of creek water that ran over it catching her off guard, and she yelped as she fell.
Though she’d expected to fall into the shallow waters of the creek, she found herself being clumsily caught, Max catching her and giving her just enough time to get her feet on the ground before she could fully fall. Her new touch of balance helped her get back onto her feet with the help of Max, who huffed and muttered as he did.
“Jesus Christ, I warned you.” He said bitterly, and Nikki smiled, completely ignoring the annoyance in his voice.
“Aww, you did something nice!” She cooed, and Max groaned.
“Let’s just get out of the damned river already,” he muttered. “My shoes are fuckin’ drenched.”
Nikki laughed, smiling as Max took her hand and dragged her to the path along the side of the river.
When they finally made to the island, they both sat down on the grass, glad to rest for a while. Though the mosquitoes would bother them, they had been down here enough times to prepare with bug spray.
“There’s got to be something you’re doing.” Nikki said, breaking the silence. “If you’re not doing college, and I know you wouldn’t stay with your parents, what is it?”
“Nothing.” Max said, but now he sounded less sure.
“Please just tell me?” Nikki asked, promising to herself that after this time, she’d stop asking. She just wanted to know what was happening after all of this, wanted to know Max would be able to get out of his parent’s house and find someplace better.
Max groaned a small bit, not responding. She thought that was the end of the conversation, but then Max spoke up.
“Probably gonna pack my shit, throw it in the car and then drive to the east coast.” He said, quietly. “Right on senior sign out day. Gonna try and find an apartment near Boston and just work from there.”
“You’re just gonna leave?” Nikki asked, surprised. “No plan? No goodbye?” When Max turned away, she continued. “Were you even gonna tell me?”
“No. I mean, yes, but I- I don’t know!” He stuttered, throwing his hands in the air. “Look, it’s not like my parents’ll ever help me pay for college, and I can’t get any scholarships or anything, and like Hell am I just gonna stick around here. I just- I didn’t want you treat me any different. I don’t want to act like this’ll be our last few weeks together.”
Nikki looked at him, frowning as he looked away. “But it is.” She said quietly. “You can’t just leave. You gotta visit, right? It’s not like you can just be gone.”
He didn’t respond, nothing to say in response.
“Your life was my life’s best part.”
It was that that made him turn, looking at Nikki’s silhouette in the darkness. The far away light of house lights barely illuminated her, but on the edges of her image he could see a thin trail of tears.
“Shit. Shit, I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have-” He backpedaled, but Nikki interrupted him.
“No, no, I’m glad you told me, but…” She knew that graduation probably meant the end of the friendship she’d had with Max and Neil, but she thought they could at least try. Or maybe she just hadn’t thought about it at all.
“It could be your ‘anything else’.” Max suggested quietly, and Nikki paused to think. “I don’t know. Maybe it’s stupid. You could come with, though. Find a college out there instead.”
‘Anything else’ had never seemed so great.
She smiled widely, scooting to sit closely to Max. “Yeah.” She closed her eyes dreaming about it. “And then when Neil gets into Harvard, we can go and harass him as much as we want.”
Max laughed. “I’m sure hell appreciate it. He’s got some mad scientist in him.”
“Do you think he’ll finally learn to modify my DNA so I can have claws?!” She exclaimed, back to her normal self.
“Hell yes!” Max said with a devious smile. “We should get going, it’s fuckin’ cold out here.”
As they left, he still held Nikki’s hand, walking down the path back up the river without a word. The stars had finally begun to shine, the sun having dipped beneath the horizon long ago, and with a hush voice, Nikki spoke.
“I can’t wait for ‘anything else’.”
Max smiled, quiet when he responded.
“Me neither.”