My Best Friend is Back

Prologue

Prologue

"I can't believe they're making you go. Why can't you just stay here with me until we go off to college?" 

It was hardly fair that Aiden's parents were uprooting his life like this in the middle of our sophomore year when had already planned out our lives together, and this wasn't part of it. The things people will do for a job. 

We're both supposed to fly under the radar until we go off to Berkeley. That's where we would become super popular, and the most awesome people on campus, for the next four years we went there. After that, we would graduate and get jobs in the same town, by neighboring houses that we would raise our kids in who would grow up together and, everyone would live happily ever after. Nice story isn't it? 


"As amazing as that would be, I don't think that my parents would be okay with me living apart from them for the next year and a half of my life." He chuckled.

It’s not as if they’d even notice. They were both doctors and workaholics, so that’s why Aiden had spent most of his childhood at our house. Beth and James had to work most evenings and every weekend, so my mom offered to let him stay with us to help them out. Thus, the beginning of our friendship.

"You never know until you ask." I hinted.

Of course, I knew what he said was true, but I just couldn't let him go without trying. I just felt, so helpless that I couldn't help him. 

"Look, it's only two hours until I leave, and I’d prefer not to spend it plotting useless ways to convince my parents to let me stay. Instead, let’s make the most of it." 

"Okay," I sighed disappointingly. 

I guess I should give him what he want's considering it was our last day together. Plus I had to admit he was right. We should spend all the time together we can. 

I had known Aiden long enough to know what he would want his last day here. There was only one place that could cheer us both up no matter the circumstances and it seemed to be the perfect place to spend our remaining hours together.

"Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" I grinned.

He nodded his head before we both said it aloud.

"Cold Stone."

I loved the ambience of the ice cream shop. It was ‘our place’. Even though it was a public place it just felt like it belonged to us. We had some memorable times here.

Like when Aiden’s Grandmother had passed away. He was extremely close to her, so he took her death pretty hard. He spent many nights cooped up in his room avoiding the world. When I’d finally convinced him to come out, this was the first place we visited.

Another memory of us coming here was every summer for the ice cream, and air conditioning. During the week,  both of our parents worked- some more than others- so we would go the park to pass time then when the heat became too much we would walk here and come inside to eat ice cream till sun began to go down.

And of course I couldn’t forget about last year when I lost my cat, Snickers. Aiden had brought me here and bought all the ice cream I wanted in an effort to cheer me up and though it didn’t bring him back, it did lift my spirit a little. An hour and way too much ice cream later we were leaving the shop and guess who I saw just outside the door? Snickers!

Some lady was about to take him into the animal shelter when we stopped her. She said that he had wondered over to her house to play with cotton-which was her cat- and since he didn’t have a collar on she couldn’t call the owner to collect him. I was more than relived to take him from her. I never wanted to let him out of my sight again after that. However, Aiden just suggested I get him a collar instead, and even offered to pay for it.