Free What If by Rebecca Donovan

down the front of my purple dress. “Um… I guess. I have to do my homework first.”
    “Okay. See ya,” he responds, adjusting his glasses on his nose before running off toward his house.
    I watch Cal run down the street. But as I turn to my house, I realize I can’t play on the tire swing with him. Richelle isn’t home, which means I don’t have play clothes to change into. And it’s very important to my mom that I stay clean, so that we can look nice for Daddy. I try to decide what to do while I finish my homework. Maybe we can play something inside instead.
    “Momma, is it okay if I go over to Cal’s house to play with him and Jules?” I ask. Cal’s sister, Jules, is in kindergarten. She’s too little to play with us. But it will make my mom feel better if she thinks Jules is playing too.
    “Did Mrs. Logan invite you over, honey?” she asks from the kitchen. I hear the oven door plunk shut.
    “Cal did,” I tell her.
    “Let me call first to make sure it’s okay with his mom.”
    I wait quietly while she calls Cal’s mom. When she gets off, she tells me, “Okay. She says you are welcome over. Be sure to use your manners, and please be home by five thirty so you can help set the table for your daddy’s dinner.”
    “All right, Momma,” I call before pushing the screen door open.
    Cal is waiting for me in his driveway. He has his hands in his pockets and is scuffing his sneaker into the pavement.
    “Hi, Nicole,” he says. “I know you can’t get your dress dirty, so if you want, I put some clothes in the bathroom so we can play on the tire swing. My mom says it will leave black marks on clothes, and I didn’t think you’d like that.”
    I can feel my face get hot. “
Your
clothes?” I’m thinking that maybe I should just go home. I can’t wear a
boy
’s clothes.
    Cal shrugs like it’s no big deal. “It doesn’t really matter who they belong to. When they’re on you, they’re yours.”
    I think about what he said for a second and then smile. He looks up from the ground and smiles too, just a little.
    “Thanks, Cal,” I tell him. “That’s really nice. I’ll be right back.” I walk toward his house to change.
    Cal is about the same size as me and Richelle, so the shorts and T-shirt fit. The shoes are a little big, but that’s okay. I decide it doesn’t really matter that they’re boys’ clothes, even if it has a basketball on the shirt.
I
still look like a girl.
    When I come back outside, Cal doesn’t say anything about how I look. We just walk toward his backyard, cut across the wildflower grass and into the woods.
    “Wow,” I say when we get to the biggest tire I’ve ever seen. “I think six of us can fit on that thing.” It’s a giant black tire hung from a big, thick branch high above by chains, keeping it flat like a doughnut.
    “I think that’s kinda the idea,” Cal says. “Get on. I’ll push.”
    I have a hard time getting up on the tire because it’s so big. I think it must have come from a dump truck.
    “Here, let me help you.” Cal stands next to me and laces his fingers together. “Put a foot on my hands and I’ll give you a boost.”
    I’m a little nervous, but I do it anyway. He lifts me up easily. I didn’t realize he was so strong. He doesn’t look very big. I grab the chains and crawl onto the gigantic tire to sit, dangling my feet through the hole in the center.
    “Are you ready?” Cal asks. I hold on tighter and nod. “Okay, I’m going to spin you. Tell me if you get too dizzy.”
    Cal walks the tire around and around, and I watch the chains twist above my head. When it’s too hard to push anymore, he says, “Ready. Set. Go!” And he steps back.
    The swing starts to unwind slowly. But the next thing I know, it’s whipping around really fast. Everything blurs by me and the wind blows my hair. I start laughing, and I don’t stop until the swing does. My head’s fuzzy. The world still feels like it’s spinning really fast.
    When I can