White Space Season 1

late.”
    “No way! She’s it,” Jonny said. “You’re not bailing now. It’s her turn.”
    “I’m not bailing,” Cassidy said. “I just have to pee. Then we’ll play one more round.”
    “Mom’s not gonna let us back out if you go home to pee now,” Sarah said.
    “I’m not going home to pee. I’m gonna go over there,” Cassidy said, stepping deeper into the woods, looking for a spot out of sight.
    One of the boys laughed, but she wasn’t sure which. They all sounded sorta the same when they laughed their stupid laughs. Cassidy found a spot, made sure nobody could see her, then pulled her pants down and squatted to pee. She finished, pulled up her pants, and went back to the group.
    “You took forever. You sure you weren’t pooping?” Tommy said. Tommy was eight, the youngest of the group, and chubby and slow, which made him fun to chase. Tommy was sometimes “it” for three or four rounds in a row, usually until someone felt sorry for him — usually Sarah — and let themselves get caught.
    “Ha, ha,” Cassidy said as she headed to home base. “You’re so funny.”
    “I think we should go, Cass,” Sarah said, her voice growing whiney as it always did as nighttime approached. “If we’re late, Mom’s not gonna let us out tomorrow.”
    “One more game,” Cassidy said, “don’t be such a goodie goodie.”
    “I’m not a goodie-goodie,” Sarah whined.
    Tommy and Eric laughed and Cassidy cringed. She hated having to bring Sarah along when they played with the boys, especially since Jonny and Eric were two of the coolest kids on the island. Sarah always embarrassed her. Times like these, Cassidy wished she was an only child.
    Cassidy leaned against the tree, burying her head into the nook of her arm, and started counting loudly. “One … Two … You all better run!”
    She heard the others take off in every direction.
    Cassidy finished counting, then scanned the darkness. The purple sky that wasn’t purple had given way to black, and if it weren’t for the light from the full moon above, she wouldn’t be able to see anything.
    “Ready or not, here I come!” she shouted, hoping she’d see Tommy somewhere and end the game quickly. She wasn’t really in a rush to get home. It wasn’t as if their mom would even notice if they were late. She was probably good and drunk by now, asleep in front of the TV. But she didn’t want to hear Sarah whine anymore, either. So it was best to get the game over as fast as possible.
    Footsteps slapped the ground behind her, and Cassidy spun around, shocked to see fat Tommy touch the tree and shout “Safe!” wearing a giant grin.
    He must’ve been hiding like right behind me or something!
    She growled at him, then scanned the trees for any sign of the others. Now that Tommy was safe, her next best bet was Eric, or maybe Sarah.
    She saw a shadow rush past her about 10 yards north. It was Jonny making a break for home base.
    Crap, crap!
    She had an angle on him, and might be able to catch him if she could move fast enough. It would be pretty awesome to end the night catching the fastest player. She ran, pushing her legs as fast as she could, fire burning through her thighs and calves as she drew closer, three yards away.
    Jonny’s eyes widened as he looked back, his tongue sticking out playfully. He sped up, about 10 yards from home base and quickly closing in, laughing.
    Now I have to catch him!
    Cassidy forced herself to run faster, grunting as she pumped her legs faster, quickly catching up with Jonny, now just three feet away.
    He was almost at home base.
    Cassidy gave herself one extra push, launched forward, hands reaching out, and grabbed Jonny by the shoulders, yanking him down. She was moving too fast to slow down, and rolled over, on top of him, the two of them tumbling through the leaves in a tangled knot.
    They rolled to a stop just inches from home base, Cassidy straddling Jonny, who was lying there with his eyes closed. After a few seconds passed, she was certain she’d hurt him. Then his eyes opened and met hers. He opened his mouth with a giant laugh.
    “Good God, girl! You playing football?!” he said.
    Cassidy breathed a sigh of relief and then stood and offered her hands to help him up. He took her hands, and she pulled him up with a big grunt.
    “You’re it!” she shouted, beaming proudly, secretly relieved she hadn’t hurt him. She also felt herself blushing a bit, because she was pretty sure that as their eyes