goodbye ~ jschlatt

prologue

MAY 28, 2009 - SIDNEY, NEW YORK

It's been a week since my 10th birthday, and I've yet to see my best friend, Jonathan. He didn't even show up to the party.

I walk out my front door, soaking up the sun as I walk to my garage.

I hop on my bike and ride out towards Jonathan's house, my bike bumping across the small, gravel roads. As I ride down his block, the familiar smell of Upstate NY fills my nose. Fresh-cut grass and the faint scent of wet wood and smoke.

When I reach Jonathan's house, I see a sign with 'SOLD' written in bold red letters. The huge moving truck's engine in front of his house rumbled. Jonathan walked his bike into the truck, making eye contact with me.

"Hailey!" He says, his face lighting up. He runs to me.

"Hey Jon," I start. "What's all this?" I say and raise and eyebrow, looking at the truck.

"Oh..." he sighs. "Well, my dad got a job in Brooklyn." He says, his voice small.

Jonathan was always shorter than the other kids, but now he seemed smaller.

"What?!" I half-yell, upset. "I thought you would've just been moving a neighborhood over!"

"Yeah... hey! We can still hangout." He says, unsure.

"Are you nuts?!" I yell. "It's a 3-hour drive!"

"Bu-" Jonathan was cut off my his mother. "Jonathan! We're leaving, get in the car!"

I press my lips together. "I guess this is goodbye."

He looks down. "Yeah, I guess so." He sighs and hugs me as tight as possible.

I hug him back, squeezing his upper back and burying my face in his neck. "See you never, Hailey."

I smile and wave as he walks away, into his car.