Shaking off her thoughts, Nina joins me and kneels beside me. Our legs touch, a fleeting contact sending me an unexpected warmth. Suppressing the urge to smile, I watch Nina skillfully twirl the screwdriver, securing the four screws. Leaning over her, I retrieve the bent leg. Our faces are mere inches apart, and I catch the scent of her breath, sweet like strawberries, her lips painted with a clear coat of lip gloss.
Fighting the urge to do something reckless, like licking her lips, I force my attention back to the task at hand. Attempting to bend the leg back in place, I only succeed in making it worse. Nina can't contain her laughter, quickly covering her mouth to hide her smile. A strange sensation flutters in my stomach at the thought that I made her laugh, a feeling so unlike the heavy doom that's lingered within me for years. I want to smile back, but I resist.
With the bent leg now secured, we stand back and admire our handiwork – a table on a noticeable slant. Placing a book on it, we share another round of laughter as it promptly slides off. 'What do you think Mr Thomson is going to say?' Nina giggles.
'Who cares? It was fun making it, but then again, I don't want another detention,' I reply, picking up the fallen book and cleverly placing it under the foot of the bent leg. 'There, problem solved. The table is now level,' I grin.
Our laughter continues, and the fluttering feeling in my stomach intensifies.
Mr. Thomson walks into the classroom. 'I hope the table is... finished,' he trails off, his gaze fixed on the bent leg propped up on a book. 'Magnus and Nina, detention again next Wednesday,' he declares, glaring at us with disappointment.
'But—' we both try to argue.
'I told you both to fix it, not mangle it more! Now go home before I decide to call your parents,' he admonishes.
At the mention of our parents, Nina and I gulp nervously and rush out of the room together. Living at the packhouse, we dart towards home in a pleasant silence.
Along the way, Nina's attention is captured by a baby bird chirping near a tree. Without hesitation, she rushes over to it, and I follow suit, observing as she gently scoops it up.
'The poor thing has fallen from its nest,' she says, her gaze fixated on the tall tree. 'I'm going to put it back in its nest.'
'You can't climb up there, Nina. This tree is taller than we would normally even attempt,' I caution her, the bird chirping softly in her hands.
It's undeniably cute, and I gently scratch its little head to comfort it. The bird relaxes, snuggling further into Nina's hand. I can feel our bodies radiating warmth and realise how close I’m standing to Nina. I take a step back, giving her space.
'Well, I can't leave it here, Magnus. So, I'm going up there with or without your permission,' she declares, gripping onto the first branch.
'Fine, but I'm coming with you only because if something happens to you, I will be blamed for it,' I assert.
Nina chuckles, now on the third branch. 'You won't get the blame for my actions, Magnus.'
Below her, I climb cautiously, positioning myself to catch her if she happens to fall. I don't want her to get hurt.
'Uh, yeah, I will. I always get blamed for anything you pull,' I retort as Nina ascends to the tenth branch.
Her laughter echoes through the trees. It’s the most beautiful sound I’ve ever heard.
'Don't be so absurd, Magnus. You think too highly of yourself. I get into plenty of trouble myself each day, although once upon a time, we used to get into trouble together, and we had so much fun doing so,' she reminisces.
I laugh. 'Fun? Anything we did as children was far from fun, from what I remember,' I remark.
'Well, you remember wrong,' she insists confidently.
We find ourselves at least forty branches high.
'Enlighten me then,' I challenge.
'Okay,' she begins. 'Remember when the entire laundry room overflowed with bubbles, and we would play hide and seek to find each other amongst the built-up soap suds?' She asks.
'Yeah,' I reply, the vivid memory bringing a smile across my face.
'Well, Magnus, that was your idea to fill the washing machine up with bubble bath and turn it on. If you remember, I took the blame for it,' she reveals.
I forgot she had taken the blame for it. She had to mop it all up and went to bed without supper. I felt bad and snuck into her room later that night to give her a sandwich.
'And then,' Nina continues, 'there was the night we wanted to watch the moon from the rooftop. We climbed through May's bedroom window, but when you tried to open it, it wouldn't budge. You used such force that the whole window fell out and crashed onto the pavers outside. You went and hid in May's wardrobe. You insisted on me hiding with you, but instead, I closed you in the wardrobe and took the blame.'
Nina is right. The memory rushes back vividly. My parents would have been furious with me for attempting to climb onto the roof, let alone breaking a window. I had run straight to May's wardrobe and hid inside. Even after Nina refused to hide with me, I remained concealed and watched through the crack as she stood there, taking the blame in my place.
'Well, as you know, I got in so much trouble, but I wanted to protect you because you were my best friend. I could recount at least another dozen times I took the blame for you,' she continues. 'The next morning, I heard the warriors say they would need to release some water from the dam that day. You were giving your mother, Astrid, a hard time, and she chased you throughout the packhouse, trying to get you to have a bath. So, I thought it would be funny to have you stand in the creek while the water washed over you. I knew you were twice the size of most kids, so the water would only reach your waist. Still, you acted so dramatically that day as if you were going to drown when you could have just stood up and watched it flow past you. And you never spoke to me again since, until now,' she finishes with a sad gaze, looking away.
The memories flood my mind, and guilt washes over me. I had severed ties with Nina over something so trivial, something she did out of fun and friendship and, in a way, to make me laugh.