The Rising Moon
look.
    "Who's Ryan?" Ramira asked as she turned to look at me.
    "He's Lia's new boyfr---" Emi started to say.
    "He's not my boyfriend!" I interrupted. "He's just a friend.” Emi rolled her eyes.
    “ Do I know his family?” Ramira asked, “Is he a boy from school?”
    I took in a deep breath. “I don’t think you know him. He’s from Wind River.”
    “ From Wind River?” She asked before she began to cough loudly. Emi quickly flew to her side handing her a cloth napkin.
    “ Grandma are you ok?” she cried.
    She continued coughing and then she replied, “I’m afraid I’m not going to be around too long, my little moonbeam. What will you do when I’m gone?” Her fragile knuckles were white, as she tightly gripped the napkin.
    "Stop talking like that,” Emi said as she held her grandmothers fragile hand. Nurse Fielding rushed in and offered Ramira a drink of water and medication.
    "I should go.” I got up from my seat and swung my bag over my shoulder. “I hope you feel better. I promise I’ll visit again soon." I walked over and kissed Ramira on her cold forehead. She didn’t look too well.
    Outside, the sun was beginning to set. The sky was a mix of orange red and dark purple blue. I headed home to get started on my homework. A couple of hours later I was interrupted by the chiming ring on my cell phone. The number was unfamiliar. It had to be Ryan. Who else would be calling my phone besides John or Emi? After a few seconds of debating with the idea of answering or rejecting the call, I quickly pressed the answer button.
    "Hello?" My voice sounded scratchy, like it hasn’t been used for days.
    "Hi."
    I was right, it was him. I smiled at the sound of his cheery voice. “Are you busy? Did I call you in a wrong time?" he asked.
    "No, I'm not busy," I said as I closed my book, "what's up?"
    "Can you meet me at Centennial Park?"
    I looked at the clock. It was nine o’clock. "Isn’t it late?" I sounded so corny. I rolled my eyes and pressed my lips.
    He chuckled, "come on Lia, it’s not late. I promise you'll be home before midnight."
    “ Ok. See you in a little bit.”

∞ Chapter 6 ∞
     
    AS I DROVE into the lot, I saw Ryan’s truck parked under a dimmed street light. His eyes beamed as he walked up to meet me. We walked along the paved sidewalk underneath a trail of cottonwood trees. The air was brisk, filtered by the canopy of branches.
    I was glad I wore a pullover sweater, because the wind was moderately picking up as we stopped at the multi-colored playground. I made my way to the top of the crescent shaped monkey bars while Ryan headed for the yellow slide. He stood as tall as the playground itself, but he didn't seem to mind. With two quick steps, he reached to the top of the slide. After a few seconds of tugging, twisting and pulling, he freed himself from the top and made it down unto the ground, bursting a whirl of dust into the air from beneath his feet. I shook my head and laughed at his childish behavior as he made his way to me and lifted me off the bars. We walked side by side on a stone paved trail and took a seat on a bench overlooking a pond.
    “ I’m going to be dancing at the powwow Saturday and I’d like it if you’d come see me dance,” he said.
    “ Sure I’d love to go,” I replied.
    “ Have you ever been to the Rez before?”
    “ My foster parents took me there for the Indian Days powwow four years ago. It was amazing.”
    “ Has it really been that long since you’ve visited Wind River?”
    “ Yea.” I replied, “aren’t there two tribes living at the Rez? The Shoshone and Arapaho tribe right?”
    “ Yea, my mother’s Shoshone and my father is Navajo,” he turned his eyes away from me. "I don’t live with my parents though. I live with my aunt and uncle---Denise’s parents.”
    “ Why don’t you live with your parents?”
    “ They divorced several years ago. My mom lives in
    California with her boyfriend and my dad lives in Arizona with his new
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