Sweet Tea and Gods Graces

1

Nine year old Annabelle was sat upstairs in her bedroom, her parents were having their friends over later and she couldn't wait for them to show up. Her parents' friends, Scott and Andrea had two kids, Taylor and Austin, Taylor was her best friend. They were a little younger than her, Taylor was 7 and Austin was 5, which was perfect because that meant him and Jude were best friends too. But despite them being slightly younger she really enjoyed their company. She especially enjoyed Taylor's friendship. Annie loved the nights when the grown ups would make plans so her and Taylor could hang out.

Annie went downstairs to find her parents preparing dinner.

"Are they coming soon?" Annie asked. Annie had asked about 6 times now. She was getting tired of asking, just as she assumed her parents were tired of her asking.

"Honey, we told you, they're coming at 6:00."

Annie glanced at the clock on the stove. "32 minutes" she thought to herself before groaning as she turned and traveled back to her room.

The Swift family lived just a couple houses down from them which had been great for Annie, because it meant her and Taylor could hang out often outside of school. That's exactly the reason why she was always so excited to go to bed. The earlier she goes to bed, the faster tomorrow will come and the faster she can see Taylor again. Obviously the young girl had other friends and hobbies but nothing could beat Taylor in her eyes. Taylor, her best friend, was the most exhilarating, intriguing person she'd met.

She laid on her stomach on the bed, her book underneath her, and continued glancing out her window every few minutes to see if the Swift's were walking over yet. It felt like the longest 23 minutes of her life. She'd read a couple lines of her book, check the driveway, and look at the clock, only to find out it had only been 3 minutes since the last time she checked so she'd go back to her book and repeat the cycle. Eventually though, she saw the family coming up the driveway and she hopped out of her bed immediately.

"They're here!" She yelled as she ran down the stairs two at a time. Annie swung the front door open just as Taylor was about halfway up the driveway. She was way ahead of her family. The blonde couldn't wait to see her best friend either.

"Belle!"

"Tay!" The girls hugged as though they haven't seen each other in years.

"I'm so excited." Annie said. "We can go in the pool, and the treehouse and we can play twister and... and... we can just do everything."

"Let's go!" Taylor grabbed Annie's hand and pulled her towards the back door. "Hi Mr. and Mrs. Miller!" She added as she ran past the kitchen.

The rest of the family gave a much calmer greeting than the two girls did. Their fathers, Scott and Mike quickly settled in on the couch with a couple beers to watch the game, and Andrea had offered to help Elenor in the kitchen. Andrea opted for some white wine, pouring Elenor a glass as well. The parents had been friends since they were teenagers, so at this point this had just been a normal Friday night for the two families. Fridays were Taylor and Annie's favorite day of the week.

Up in the treehouse the two girls decided first that they would play pirates. They remained up there, in their own world for quite some time.

"Teffy, can we play?" Austin yelled from down below. Him and Jude weren't allowed to climb the ladder by themselves so they always liked it when the girls stayed out of the treehouse.