Pinky Promise

Chapter 1;Aaron Returns

16 years old
I wasn't aware of the boys presence beside me. I didn't notice the black hair or the slight dusting of freckles that looked strangely familiar. I did notice the way he regarded me with a slight tilt to his head and a lopsided smirk.
I did think it was strange, and just a smidgen of a bit uncomfortable, that he followed me home after school in a sort of purposeful way.
Although it wasn't until later that I realised the purpose of his familiarity.
***
Aaron had once told me that one in every three things people told you was a lie. This was after he told me his mum was a unicorn and was only accepted into society for shits and kicks, and that was also after he stated that he'd come back within three months.
The last one, I had decided, was the lie of them all.
He'd never been a good friend, Aaron had his moments of bravado and advice-mastery, but most the time, a rock would've been better to joke with than Aaron.
I don't know why we stuck around each other. See, we were complete and utter opposites.
He had black hair, I had auburn. He had perfect white teeth, I had braces that corrected my crooked not-so-pearly-whites. Aaron liked strawberry ice-cream, I liked vanilla. Everything about us, everything about our personalities, was different, maybe so much so that as soon as we started to really interact, we both started to change... and not necessarily for the better.
When Aaron turned thirteen, he and I started getting into more trouble than usual. He was pulling more pranks in school, disobeying his mum more, just generally rebelling, and with me as his right-hand woman, he was convinced we were unstoppable.
This also led him to promptly become an absolute ass.
***
The slight movement from the window adjacent to mine, the one that had been vacant for two years too long, had just caught my eye. It wasn't unusual to see Aaron's mum dusting or wearily looking over photos of Aaron and I, but this one was different, fleeting, and at two o'clock in the morning.
I got up, dusting flakes of chocolate off of my black jeans and pushing aside the assignment that was due about a week prior to now. What could I say? I was a procrastinator and a sweet talker. I'd learnt those two things from Aaron.
I lean over the cluttered windowsill and see the light flicker on for a brief second, see a shadow and a pair of shoes fly across the room. I shrugged off the flicker of hope that flew through my stomach. Since Aaron had left, his cousin, Danny, had been crashing in his room when he was smashed.
I sighed and sat back down. This assignment wasn't going to do itself, and besides, I'd know if Aaron was back. If there was one thing Aaron knew how to do, it was a dramatic entrance.
***
Cool breeze hit my face as muttering and curses registered inside my head. My brain was groggy and slow, so snail-like, in fact, that I didn't see the figure crouching on my windowsill.
My first instinct was to scream "BLOODY MURDER" at the intruder until he/she decided I was insane and left, but when I saw the way the figure looked so utterly at home, I instead found myself staring, my jaw on the floor.
In the faint light of my study lamp, I could see a sharp nose, pale skin with dots scattered like sprinkles, black hair falling over the sapphire blue eyes I knew too well. I had so much to say, but all that came out was "Holy fucking shit on a stick. Aaron?" Aaron stepped down from the windowsill, he eased himself into my room, an "at home" expression on his handsome face.

"Miss me Jord?"