Mr. Cheater and Ms.Valedictorian (20,000 words, English)

When They Were Seven

The first time that Grayson and Erin met was when they were just seven years old— just before the start of first grade.

The day that the Nieveses moved across the street from them was the first time that Grayson saw someone move into a house. From their front yard, he could see a large moving truck carrying furniture, appliances and boxes parked just across the street. He observes how the movers carefully unload the boxes from the truck, carrying them one by one inside the house. He can see that there is a car parked behind the truck. His eyes are fixed on the car as three people get out. The first two who got out reminded Grayson of his own mom and dad. The mom then opens the passenger side door and out hops a little girl. The seven year old Grayson couldn’t get his eyes off of the little girl. She looks sad. Though two men carrying a mattress may have obscured his view, Grayson could still see that the little girl is crying.

Grayson’s parents come out of their house carrying some brownies fresh out of the oven and some ice cream. His mom securely cradles the container full of brownies in her left arm and takes him by the hand. The three of them are now walking across the street, being careful not to get in the way of the men unloading the Nieveses’ things from the moving truck.

The Blancos smile and wave to the new family across the street.

“Hi! We’re the Blancos. My name is Christopher, this is my wife Linda and this is our son Grayson,” Mr.Blanco says warmly.

“Hi! We’re the Nieveses. My name is Antonio, this is my wife Mary and this beautiful girl hiding behind me is our little Erin. She’s a little sad right now,” Mr. Nieves introduces his family to the neighbors. They shake hands.

“Say hi Erin,” Mrs. Nieves tells Erin in hopes of cheering her up.

Erin sniffs a couple of times and waves hi. “Hi,” Erin says, still with tears in her eyes. She retreats back to hide partially covered by her dad’s leg.

The two sets of parents chuckle at the cute sight but Grayson doesn’t laugh. He can see that she is sad. Why would he laugh when this little girl is clearly not happy? So, instead, he extends his hand to her.

“Here. His name is “Brownie”. You keep him. He will make you smile,” Grayson says in all his childlike seriousness. Grayson just gave Erin his favorite teddy bear. This is the same teddy bear he had been playing with at their yard when the moving truck arrived.

Erin sniffs and wipes away her tears as she steps forward from behind her dad’s leg and takes Brownie from Grayson.

Grayson smiles at her. Erin hugs the appropriately named teddy bear tight and looks at Grayson. “Thanks,” she says with a sniff.

Their parents looked at the exchange and smile.

“Aw, they’re friends now,” Mrs. Blanco comments amusedly.

“Oh, by the way, these are for you. I made them myself. Our little housewarming present,” Mrs. Blanco hands Mrs. Nieves the home baked brownies.

“And this, I bought from the store,” Mr.Blanco hands Mr.Nieves the ice cream.

“Thanks, let’s go inside a bit and enjoy the delicious treats you brought,” Mr. Nieves invites the Blancos inside.

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Grayson and Erin soon became inseparable after that. They would play after school, eat ice cream and other delicious snacks together and play all day during summer vacations.

They’re also always together in school. They would share their snacks with each other, cakes, juice, sandwiches— all snacks that their mothers packed, they would eat together. Every time someone makes Erin cry, Grayson would step in to defend her. If he gets in fight, she would be at his side to console him. This is what bestfriends do and they were the best of BESTfriends.