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Since it’s raining today, I know where I’ll find Autumn. The cafeteria is busy. Even though I hate being in here, I will happily sit inside for Autumn. She finds it difficult to concentrate when it’s noisy, but it’s so wet outside we can’t go to our favorite spot under the tree.
At our corner table, I watch Autumn scribble her notes. I know she enjoys the sound of rain falling on the roof. She once told me it makes her heart happy.
Over the past few years, I’ve noticed her smile more. When she was younger, the pain in her eyes used to make my chest hurt. But slowly, she’s become a happier, carefree girl. I hope that it’s also because of our friendship.
She means a lot to me. Even though my folks haven’t met her yet, her mom has accepted our friendship, and she always makes me feel welcome when I visit their place. After her dad died, her mom had to move, and they found an apartment not too far from the park; which is good since we can take walks without my folks seeing us.
It’s not because I don’t want her to meet them, but I know they won’t be happy with me having a friend who isn’t rich. Autumn and her mom may not have a fancy house or go on vacations every few months, but there’s something warm about their apartment. It feels like a home.
“Hey.” I drop beside her. Autumn’s eyes widen as she regards me. Suddenly, she bursts out laughing, which only confuses me, but I grin as I ask her, “What?”
“You look like you’ve been through a car wash,” she tells me with another little giggle that makes my heart soar. When I hear her laugh, my heart does stupid things. I don’t even think she’s noticed, but I have—she’s growing up, and she’s prettier every day.
I want to tell her that I like her more than just friends. But I can’t. Even though we promised each other to always offer the truth, I know it will only make things weird between us. That’s what we said, our pact. We said that forever friends always tell the truth, no matter what.
Shrugging, I tell her instead, “It feels like I did. My dad dropped me off two blocks from school because he had a meeting.” I roll my eyes in frustration, and the moment I say it, I notice the sadness overtake her expression. My heart hurts when she looks at me like that, and I want to hug her, but I don’t.
“JD and Autumn sitting in a tree.”
“K-I-S-S-I-N-G.”
The taunting starts, and it makes me nervous. If the kids keep doing that, then perhaps Autumn won’t want to be my friend anymore. That makes me sad. I glance at her, noticing her eyes shimmering with tears, and I know if I don’t do something or say something, she’ll start crying.
“Leave us alone, idiots!” My voice echoes in the big cafeteria, and the kids who were teasing us run off, laughing. “Ignore them,” I tell her with a grin before I place her candy bar on the table. “That’s yours.”
“A whole one? For me?”
“Yeah, my mom bought them for me, and I grabbed an extra one. I knew you would need one because it’s raining today.” My heart does strange beats in my chest when she looks at me like I just told her that I’ve bought her a puppy. I always listen to her. When she told me about her fear of being out in the rain but enjoying the sound of it, I was confused at first, but then I got it. I don’t know how, but I just smiled and nodded, knowing that I’d be able to calm her down and distract her if she was ever scared.
“Thanks,” she says, smiling as she rips the wrapper and takes a big bite of the crunchy, chocolatey goodness.
“Any time, Snickers,” I laugh, calling her the nickname that I gave her not long after we met. She's always loved her candy bars, and I enjoy seeing her smile when I'm the one to bring her one every day.
“You going to get lunch?” she asks me in-between bits of chewing and swallowing.
“Yeah, you want anything?” I ask, looking at her empty lunch box. She shakes her head, looking rather happy with her chocolate, so I leave her to finish up her homework and eat her candy bar.
She’s my best friend.
My friend forever.
Chapter Three
Autumn
Thirteen years old
I hear my momma come home from work. She enters my bedroom moments later as I am just finishing up my homework for math class. It’s been so long since we moved into this apartment, but I still can’t get used to the smaller space.
Our home was beautiful. Daddy bought it when he and momma got married. It was the heart of our family, and when Dad died, we couldn’t afford it anymore. The upkeep became too much, and we moved.
