I’m not usually up right now,

But I guess I am today. I had a hard time sleeping last night, and so I was half awake when Sam knocked on my window. It was dark then, but now the horizon has cracked open with new light. She had been embarrassed, but I don’t know why. I followed her out here but she won’t tell me where we’re going.The air feels sharp on the patches of skin that aren’t covered by my pajamas, but there’s still a little wisp of warmth left from my bed. Sam’s body is warm too as we walk.

“Where are we going?”

I ask, as she stares down at the pavement in front of her.

“Um…”

She whispers.

I sigh.

“That’s not an answer!

You have to tell me!”

Sometimes I can’t stand how hard she is to decipher. Next to me her face turns red and I’m instantly guilty. Why can’t you just say what your thinking? I try to force this thought into her head so I don’t say it out loud and feel mean again. It’s probably a good idea to change the subject.

“What came first the chicken or the egg?”

She doesn’t answer. How am I supposed to talk to someone who doesn’t even try to talk to me? I groan.

“Well?” I say a bit sharply “what do you think”

Her eyes focus on mine.

“I don’t know if every question needs to be answered”

I hide my annoyance and we walk on, the silence crawling up my back. (The answer is the egg)

But then I realize we are in the park, and I hadn’t even noticed. A statue of a Lady on a bike perches on a stone tablet, and Sam walks up to it and mimics the posh expression. I laugh off a bit of my tension, and when we are walking again I try one more question.

“Why are you always quiet? It seems like I can never have a real conversation with you, because you just—don’t talk”

“I talk”

I roll my eyes.

She turns me around towards her.

“No. Really. I do… I’m just not that good at- words. Here.”

She gestures toward a bench and we sit. We watch silently. I fidget and I am about to get up and leave, but the I notice the sunrise. The light fills my eyes as the liquid gold pours over us. She smiles and gently pulls her fingers through my hair. And we listen to the world together.