Best Friend

Chapter 1

'We'll always be together'

That was the last thing my childhood best friend said before I never saw him again.

My best friend is a world-famous actor, to the world he was Harry, but to me, he was always Harrison, the goofy and loud kid next door who followed me around.

Harrison and I were inseparable ever since we were babies, we grew up together, and even lived next door to each other, so we spent a lot of our youth growing up together, it was us against the world, we were always together.

But when Harrison turned 14 it all changed, he stopped coming to school, and then eventually he started appearing on TV more, first as an extra, and then as the main lead, until he became world famous.

Now everywhere I look, there he is, the pride of our small town, he will always be known as 'the kid who made it big, my own mother even loved him more than she ever loved me.

When we were kids I was jealous of how everyone always talked to Harrison like he was a golden boy who could do no wrong, everywhere he went people wanted to talk to him, he didn't even have to try, unlike me.

It's been ten years since I've seen Harrison, I'm no longer that 18-year-old who lived in his shadow, I was a working woman in a job I loved with people who respected and valued me as an individual.

"Charlotte, I can take over if you want to leave early?" My coworker Benji says, coming into the room.

I had sweet baby Joey in my arms, fast asleep, and as much as I needed to leave for the bus that was leaving in ten minutes, a huge part of me wanted to stay longer again today, but as rules go, I needed to take time off for all the overtime I built up.

Gently, I hand over Joey to Benji. "Thanks." I say quietly. "He should be out for another twenty minutes." 

"I got it from here." He says with a smile. "See you in two weeks?" He asks and I nod my head, taking my apron off and hanging it up.

"Two weeks."

Two weeks alone in my apartment with nothing to do and nobody to see, I couldn't wait.

Going into the staff area, I grab my coat and bag and wave goodbye as I pass the windows of the classrooms, where my coworkers and friends are waking the children up from their afternoon nap.

I loved my job, the kids were great and the people who worked here were all like one big family, and to me, this made it feel like the greatest job in the world.

Making it to the bus stop, my bus pulls up and I notice on the side of the bus is a familiar face, a face I have watched grow ever since he left.

Harrison was advertising his new movie, 'My darlings', and given he was from here, everyone had made it their mission to put his face on every bus, wall, and window, making it near impossible to escape him.

For as long as I remember, I resented Harrison for how easy he got it, from my family preferring him over me, to people getting close to me just to be friends with him, it felt like nothing I did was ever good enough.

Despite that, he was still my childhood best friend, and when it was just us together, it was like all that resentment, and jealousy washed away when we just gamed or watched movies together.

Those were the moments I missed more than I want to admit.

As I grew older, and the reality of Harrison not coming back was obvious, I eventually stopped replying to his texts and ignoring his calls, and after a year they stopped altogether, and we had both moved on.