The whole family was playing in the backyard. Katherine had gotten watermelon for the kids to eat. It was kind of like a summer family tradition. Michael asked if he could invite Parker to come over and Katherine said yes without hesitation. Michael and Parker had been hanging out for the past two weeks and she was always welcome.

Michael and Parker sat in the shade under the lemon tree in the yard.

"Oh my gosh, I haven't had watermelon in years," Parker said with gusto.

"Really? Why?" Michael said as he spit seeds out onto the grass.

"My mom hates watermelon so we never buy it."

When they were done with their watermelon, they threw the rinds in the woods to decompose.

"That was really good," Parker said.

Michael looked at her face. She had a piece of watermelon on her chin. "Hey you got a little something on your face."

He reached over and pinched the piece of fruit from her face.

She blushed. "Thanks."

They stood there and smiled at each other.

"Do you want to see my room?" Michael asked.

"Sure."

They walked inside and went to his room. There were three sets of bunk beds. One on each wall. Also, there were posters and pictures of great singers and entertainers like The Temptations, Smokey Robinson, James Brown and Fred Astaire.

"Wow, you like all these people too?" Parker asked with the kind of enthusiasm you get when someone likes the same thing as you.

Michael nodded. "Yup! I want to be just like them one day."

"That is so cool-I literally will be the first person to buy a ticket to your concert."

They both giggled.

Parker spotted some records in a small wooden box against the wall. Next to it stood a record player that sat on a small table. "May I?" she asked pointing to the records.

"Yeah sure."

She walked over to them and flipped through them. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw it. Let It Be by The Beatles.

"Can I play this?" she asked.

"Yeah sure, of course."

She put the record on the record player and moved the needle to a spot on the record. She sat down on one of the bottom bunks, the one that just happened to be Michael's, and laid down.

"Join me," she said as she scooted over.

Michael obliged and went to lay next to her on the bed. She closed her eyes as she listened to the soft piano and Paul's voice as the title track filled the room.

Once Michael was situated next to her, she grabbed his hand and spoke.

"When this album came out, my dad bought it right away. He was a big Beatles fan. He used to sing this song in particular all the time. My mom would get mad sometimes but I knew she secretly liked it when he sang."

"Does he not sing it anymore?" Michael asked.

"No," she said. Her voice was beginning to get shaky. "He got shot on his way home from work. These men were running from a cop and they shot my dad and stole his car. The police found them and they're in jail but my dad didn't make it. He was pronounced dead on the scene."

"I found out when I came home from school and didn't hear singing. I looked for my mom and saw her at the kitchen table and I joked with her asking if dad had gotten tired of singing and when I walked up to her, I realized she was crying. I asked her what was wrong and she told me what happened. I didn't cry though. I knew I had to be strong for her because when my grandpa died, she went downhill and I knew she'd break down again for my father's death.

"She seemed fine- well as fine as you can be at a time like that. But after the funeral was when she completely shut down. She cried constantly, she went straight to bed after work, she stopped talking to people... I think it really set in that my dad was really gone and he was never coming back. My uncle suggested she go to this place where they help people with depression. He said she could go during the summer. I obviously couldn't be home all by myself for the whole summer and he couldn't take me because he traveled a lot for his job. Grandma Mayweather said she'd love to keep me for the summer so here I am.

"This morning when you came to see if I wanted to hang out with your family, I thought about my dad- I mean I think about him everyday but I really thought about him...I miss him Michael...I really miss him..."

Tears were furiously falling from her eyes. He let go of her hand and turned to pull her close to him. She sobbed into his shirt but he didn't mind. He wanted so much just to erase all her pain and grief but this was what she needed. She needed to grieve. She'd been holding in all this pain and now she could finally be free.

**********

They were laying on a blanket on the grass and held hands in Mrs. Mayweather's backyard. It was night time and the stars were shining bright. Katherine said Michael could stay out a bit later at Parker's as long as he came home before eleven.

"Parker?"

"Yeah?"

"You see that star over there that's really bright?" He said pointing to the sky.

"Yeah it's beautiful."

"Yeah, it reminds me of you."

Parker smirked. "What, you're calling me beautiful?"

Michael let go of her hand and rolled over on his side to face her. She rolled over as well to face him.

"I think you're gorgeous Parker. From the first time I saw you, I couldn't keep my eyes off you- I couldn't stop thinking about you. I've never felt like this before. Whenever I'm with you I get nervous and every time you say my name, I melt on the inside. I-"

"Michael! It's almost eleven, you should be headin' home now!" Mrs. Mayweather called from the back porch.

"Yes ma'am!" Michael said as he sat up. He turned back to Parker who was sitting up now too.

Michael turned back to Parker. "Meet me by the oak tree tomorrow around three. We're going to visit my aunt up in Griffith so I won't be home until then."

"Okay, goodnight Michael."

"Goodnight," he said as he got up.

"Michael..." she called out.

He stopped and turned around. "Yeah?"

"Thanks, you know, for earlier..."

He smiled. "No problem."