She was the one who suggested hiding in the pantry.
It was late, nighttime, and the sound of the adults yelling had woken her up. Will came to find her in their guest room, and he’d suggested they go play out back on the swing set. But even though it was almost summer now, she still felt cold at night. And besides, she didn’t like the swings. She didn’t like the weightless feeling of the up and down, the oak trees spinning around her as she swung her feet, pushing higher and higher. And it felt too late to go outside now. At home there was always a rule she had to be inside the house before dark.
The pantry was in a long hallway in between the laundry room and the garage. It was large, quiet, warm. Away from the adults, and it felt like a fort. Besides that, it was filled with snacks. All the Goldfish crackers and warm Capri-Suns they could want. (And even though she struggled with the straw, Will was good at it. He helped her.)
They tiptoed down the stairs together, and got past the adults who were too busy yelling at each other in the kitchen to notice. She opened the pantry door, crawled inside and sat far in the back, underneath a shelf of dry pasta, tucking her knees to her chest. Will shut the door and then squeezed in next to her, two Capri-Suns already in hand.
He put the straw in for her and handed it over. She took a sip. Fruit punch. Her favorite flavor. “Why do you think they’re yelling at each other?” she whispered.
He took a sip of his own juice pouch and shrugged. “Adults are stupid.”
She nodded. That one simple sentence explained a lot about her life right now. Everything, really. The divorce. Why she had to live in Chicago. She wondered if whatever yelling was happening in the other room meant that she and her mom would be going back to Pasadena. But instead of that thought settling happily inside of her, now she glanced at Will and wondered if after they left, she’d ever see him again. “If they can’t find us, they can’t make me leave,” she said to him.
Will laughed. “I wonder how long we could stay in here?”
There was food and there were Capri-Suns and it was nice and warm with plenty of room to spread out. It would get boring, sure, but Will was good at inventing fun games in times like this.
Let’s count all the foods that start with the letter P in the pantry.
Let’s think of a number between one and twenty and see if the other person can guess...
Then, suddenly, there was the sound of shattering glass. And all the yelling stopped.
It was very quiet. Too quiet. A pit of dread expanded in her stomach. And she clung to Will’s arm.
“I’ll go see what’s going on.” Will moved to stand up but she refused to let go of his arm and pulled him back to sitting with her.
“Don’t go,” she whispered. “Let’s just both sleep in here tonight.” The adults would calm down by morning. The glass would be swept up, and she was not ready for her mom to pull her away right at this very moment and to never see Will again.
In the darkness, Will turned to look at her, and she blinked her eyes to try and see the expression on his face. But it was too dark. She couldn’t tell if he was scared or sad or hurt.
“Let’s play another game,” she whispered. “Let’s see how long we can stay here without the adults finding us.” It would serve them right for waking her and Will up with so much yelling.
Was she old enough to understand that her mom would be worried if she went up to the guest room to kiss her good-night and found the bed empty? She was. But maybe she wasn’t old enough to care. She giggled softly in the darkness. It would be funny to fool them all. To make them worry and search. And all along, they would be right here, right inside the house, underneath their noses inside the pantry.
“Okay,” Will said. “I’m putting on my stopwatch. I bet we can go twelve hours without them finding us. No one knows I hide in here.” He hit a button on his watch and it glowed green for a few seconds before she heard a small beep. Time ticking away.
“Twelve hours?” It felt like forever, and maybe this was a stupid game. But she wouldn’t say that to Will now that he was actually interested in a game she had come up with. Usually it was the other way around.
“If we fall asleep, the hours will go by fast,” Will said.
She finished off her Capri-Sun and threw the empty pouch in the corner, and then she leaned her head against Will’s shoulder and closed her eyes. She really was tired, and it was warm and comfortable in here, leaning up against him. Will was right. All she had to do to win the game was fall asleep.
“Annie? Annie!”
She opened her eyes again when she heard her mother calling for her.
Her mother’s voice sounded like it was coming from very far away, like she was shouting through the entire ocean, underwater.
She tried to sit up, but her head hurt and her tongue felt thick, and there was a horrible smell.
Will was lying on the ground next to her, and she nudged him with her foot. “Will,” she whispered. “Will, wake up.” She nudged him harder. But he didn’t wake up and he didn’t even move.
Then she started to cry softly, and she wanted to call out for her mother, but she picked up Will’s wrist and hit the button on his watch to make it glow green. Only two hours had passed and Will had wanted to make it twelve. If she yelled now, they would lose the game.
And, anyway, she was so, so sleepy. It was so much easier just to lay her head down and go back to sleep.