𝚂𝚊𝚛𝚌𝚊𝚜𝚖 𝚒𝚜 𝙼𝚢 𝙱𝚎𝚜𝚝 𝙵𝚛𝚒𝚎𝚗𝚍 (Complete)

𝙿𝚎𝚗𝚗𝚢 𝚊𝚗𝚍 𝙻𝚒𝚎𝚜

Four years ago.

"We're friends, aren't we, Andy?" Penny asked, looking up through her eyelashes with a smile.

We sat on a bench together, our lunches resting in our laps, legs swinging back and forth. I used my fork to poke at the now cold pasta. It looked unappetizing resting in the buttery sauce.

Penny and I had been friends since preschool. She was my best friend and the only friend I needed.

Silence.

"Andy?"

I blinked, looking up from my lunch. "Of course, we are," I replied with a smile. "Why do you ask?"

"Am I your only friend?" she pushed. She put her fork down to look me straight in the eye.

"My first and only friend."

"And friends like to help out other friends, right?"

I paused, setting down my fork as well. "I think so," I answered thoughtfully.

She pursed her lips before setting her lunch on the bench space beside her. She twisted her body to face me. "Remember how you told me you have stage fright?"

I nodded skeptically. I wasn't at all worried she had told someone about my secret, but her serious expression had me on edge.

"Gosh, you worry too much," the girl says teasingly, waving her hand nonchalantly. "I was just thinking that I could help you with that little flaw of yours. You know, in return for your many years of friendship and all that."

In return for my friendship?

Penny had lots of friends. Was my friendship more significant to her? Was I an important friend to her? Did being friends with her help her in some way?

"Why?" I found myself asking.

"Because you're such a loyal friend, silly."

"What did you gain from our years of friendship? I don't understand."

"Is there a reason you're being so suspicious of me?" She folded her arms and pouted. "Don't you trust me?"

"I'm not suspicious," I reply quickly. "I just want to understand. What do you gain from our friendship?"

"You make me smile, Andy. You make me laugh too. Isn't that enough?"

Her words that day made everything that much more painful. Her constant laughter now cut through me like millions of blades raining from the sky, coming from every direction and breaking my skin.

What do you gain from our friendship?

A younger version of Penny suddenly stands before me, her wide grin stretched across her bright face. Suddenly it turns into a frown as her face stretches and thins out, creating an older, more mature Penny.

"Are you good enough, Andy?"

Are you good enough to be called great?

"Greatness is something some are born with and others are not."

No, I'm not great.

That is the honest truth.

How could I be? I've never even tried.

"It doesn't matter how long we've been friends, Andy. In the end, it always ends like this. You needed help with your fears, so this is what I did. I taught you the first lesson of the world."