Page 104 of Middle of the Night

Ethan reminds himself that’s what he wished for when he was huddled alone in the tent before Billy arrived. A different version of his friend. But now that a more subdued Billy is in his midst, Ethan has changed his mind. He longs for the old Billy, and if hashing out the events of that day will make it happen, he’s willing to do it.

Still, he waits.

Until after his dad raps on the side of the tent and says, “Time to get ready for bed, boys.”

Until after he and Billy go inside to brush their teeth and wash their faces.

Until after his mother comes out, wine on her breath as she pokes her head into the tent and asks if they need anything before they turn in.

Ethan waits until he turns the lantern out and it’s just him and Billy stuffed into their sleeping bags, the silence as thick and stultifying as the July night. Finally, when it gets so unnervingly quiet that Ethan thinks he might scream if it continues for one second longer, he says, in a voice that’s little more than a whisper, “Did you get in trouble for today?”

“What do you mean?” Billy says, when he knows exactly what Ethan means.

Ethan sits up. “For getting caught. What happened? What did they do?”

“Nothing.” Billy says it with such boredom. As if he can’t believe Ethan’s bringing it up now.

“That guy in the suit wasn’t mad?” Ethan says. “Helookedmad.”

“He wasn’t,” Billy says, again leaving Ethan wanting more.

“What did he say, though? Whathappened?”

“Nothing,” Billy says, stretching out the word for emphasis.Naah-thing.“They told me I shouldn’t be there and let me go home.”

Although the answer doesn’t satisfy Ethan, he knows it should at least relieve him. If nothing happened, there’s no need for him to feel guilty. No harm, no foul. Yet Billy’s demeanor suggests there was harm. Or at least something that changed him dramatically.

“So your mom doesn’t know what happened?”

“No.”

“And they didn’t call the police?”

“No.”

This leaves Ethan with only one question left, regarding not earlier that day but the one before it.

“Why didn’t you tell me you went there yesterday?”

“Why do you care?” Billy says, finally sitting up so he and Ethan are eye to eye.

Ethan flicks on the lantern, not caring that his parents might see the tent glowing from the house. From the weird way they’ve been acting, they probably won’t care even if they do.

“Because we’re supposed to tell each other stuff like that.”And it hurt my feelings that you didn’tis what he wants to say, but pride, youth, and a refusal to be vulnerable even in front of his best friend keep him from doing so. Instead, he says, “So why’d you go?”

“You won’t believe me,” Billy says.

Ethan’s heart sinks. Because he knows what Billy’s talking about. The thing that everyone but him understands isn’t real.

“You think there are ghosts there.”

“I know there are,” Billy says.

“Ghosts don’t—” Ethan stops himself, frustrated. He wonders if maybe he really did mean it when he wished Billy would change. All day, he’s felt their bond slowly unraveling. Like rope that’s been worn down to the snapping point.

“Why did you leave me there?” Billy says, whispering the question Ethan’s been expecting.

“I didn’t mean to.”