The Fall of the Aftons

075: Michael Afton

Michael stood around on the sidewalk, staring at his best friend. Today was the day that Noah and his family were moving to Nebraska, far away from Michael. How was he supposed to say goodbye? Noah had been his closest friend since he was three and Noah was four!

And now they were probably going to never see each other again...

Suddenly, Michael sprinted and tackled Noah in a giant hug, fighting to keep the tears in his eyes at bay. He buried his face in Noah's shoulder and closed his eyes, trying to enjoy his last few moments with his best friend as much as he possibly could.

"I don't want you to leave," he mumbled sadly. "I want you to stay here!"

Noah wrapped his arms around Michael in a tight hug. "I'm sorry, Mikey. But I have to."

"Why? Why do you have to go?"

"Because my family needs the money," Noah responded disappointedly. "We have twelve kids in the house and one source of income. My dad had to take the promotion so we don't have problems later."

A rebellious tear slipped down Michael's cheek. "I'll miss you."

"I'll miss you, too, Mikey," Noah promised. He reluctantly pulled away from the hug and gave Michael a sad smile before he hesitantly turned around and walked toward his father's car. But, just as he was about to climb inside, he stopped and rushed back to Michael's side, giving him one last quick hug. When he pulled away again, he dug something out of his pocket and hit it from Michael's sight in his hands.

"Close your eyes," Noah instructed softly, an excited smile starting to form on his face.

Michael obeyed and closed his eyes, politely folding his hands behind his back. He could feel Noah doing something with his hair. Maybe putting something in it?

Noah gasped and squealed, ecstatic. "It's perfect on you!" he exclaimed joyfully.

Michael opened his eyes and felt whatever Noah put in his hair. It was something small, and it felt soft. It had many thin, fragile layers like layers of tulle in a fancy skirt. And when he looked closer at his friend, he noticed that the pale pink flower clip that Noah always--and I mean always--wore was missing.

"You gave me your flower clip?!" Michael exclaimed, genuinely surprised. "Why? It's your favorite clip! You wear it every day!"

"Yeah!" Noah said happily. "Now you'll never forget about me." His grin started to swell wider and wider on his face. He pulled Michael in for one last quick hug, giggling happily.

"You won't forget me, right?" Michael asked quietly, his hand still lingering on the flower clip as he used his other arm to hug Noah back.

"I promise!" he exclaimed promisingly. "Here, I'll pinky-promise it." He reached out his hand, sticking out his smallest finger.

Michael gave a small smile as he interlocked his pinky with Noah's.

"I hereby swear on my little pinky finger that I will never forget you!" he bellowed, laughter filling his voice. Then he let go of Michael's finger and pulled Michael in for one more hug. "I'll miss you, Mikey."

"I'll miss you, too," Michael mumbled. His voice cracked as he spoke.

Noah pulled away from the hug, gave Michael a sad smile, then turned around and started to walk back to his car when Michael suddenly remembered something.

"Wait!" Michael called.

Noah stopped and turned to him, a confused expression on his face. "Yes?"

"You... You go by your middle name, right? You never told me your first name, but you promised that you would."

"I do go by my middle name," Noah answered quietly before he continued to walk to his car. He opened the car door and started to climb inside, but he stopped halfway and turned to look at Michael. "My first name is Mason."

~ ~ ~

Four months passed since Noah and his family moved. School was going to start in a few weeks. Michael was going to be in middle school while Evan was going to be in kindergarten. Michael was extremely nervous for both him and his little brother. The bullies in elementary school were ruthless and relentless. How bad would they get now that they were in middle school? And for Evan, what would happen to him? Would the bullies attack him, too? Would he be bullied or made fun of because of his speech delay?

Michael took a deep breath to calm his nerves. If Evan was bullied, he wouldn't be surprised. But he would do anything he could to get the perpetrators to stop.