Grow Up!

When I Close My Eyes

* This story is dedicated to my childhood friends, they have been with me for years and years. And, here's to many more.

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The hardest part of growing up is accepting that you are growing up. It's the hardest thing to accept because now you have to say goodbye to some of the things that made you feel that you were at your happiest and nothing else mattered in the moment. Maybe it was a well loved toy that you outgrew, maybe it was an imaginary friend that now you can no longer see and you slowly forgot over time, or maybe it was a person, or people you were so close to once but you just happened to get older and older every day and things began to change.

One day, you were playing games with each other during recess. One day, you were on your first phone talking to people you knew late at night. One day, you were in your first car late at night with those people you knew. And one day, you were all getting ready to get your diplomas and get a taste of that true freedom. But, what comes next after that? It's the hard part you were pushing in the back of your head when you were growing up with those same people you knew most of your life. Now you all have to decide what you are going to do after graduating from that high school you spent years together at. It's the hardest decision to make but it's just a normal part of life.

"We did it!"

"We did it?"

"We did it!" He exclaimed once more, clasping his hands together with a grin. Jamie has had a lot of enthusiasm since graduation, he was ready to move on to the next part of his life.

"So, are you scared of moving so far from home?" Tyler asked. The video call they were in was able to pick up on his loud typing and clicking. The price to pay when using a microphone that can pick up nearly any sound in your room.

"No, no." Jamie answered. "Well, actually, just a bit but let's not talk about that before I start getting second thoughts." He covered his mouth with his hand as he let out a small 'hmph' when he stifled his chuckle. Jamie tended to be the more nervous one of the group but that never really stopped him from taking on what he wanted. "What about you, Sir?"

Tyler's clicking was put to a halt when he leaned close to the camera on his computer, just enough for everyone in the call to see his toothy grin. "Focus on my music career." He said, almost like it was a secret with how he hushed his answer.

"Of course you are." A different voice said. It came from the third box of the phone call that lacked a face but instead an icon of what appeared to be a white rabbit. This voice belonged to Jamie and Tyler's friend Morgan, one of the shortest out of the three boys.

"Mchht, are you ever going to turn on that camera?" Tyler asked, licking his lips as he sat back in his chair so he was not so close to the screen. "Boy?"

"I don't feel like it right now."

"Why? Are you crying because we're all about to do our own thing?" Jamie teased.

"No, I just look like shit right now." Morgan waved off that idea of him crying. It wasn't new that he was the more sensitive one. Out of everyone in that call, he's probably cried a thousand times more than them. At least back in elementary he probably did. Now, not as much.

"Look at us!" Tyler patted his chest with his hands and even tugged his shirt to make a point. "We're over here in our pajamas, a damn gray shirt and just boxers for me! And, Jam-."