Forever Changed

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Meredith POV

When Meredith was 7…

“Will you stop crying?” my best friend Nick said boringly while sitting beside me in a crouched position, supporting his face on his palm and glancing at me with concern. I sobbed more, sniffing continuously, thinking about how my father lashed out at me just a few minutes ago, simply because I asked him to take me to the zoo.

Nick’s father, like many others at my school, takes his kids wherever they want, but my father never does that because he doesn’t have time for me. Sometimes, I secretly envy Nick because he gets whatever he wants. His father never complains about him and is always smiling. He even takes us out on weekends and lets us watch movies together, unlike my father, who is always grumpy, scolds me for nothing, and never lets me watch television.

It was dusk, and Nick and I were sitting under the huge tree behind my house near the riverbank. It’s our secret haven. We come here every evening to watch sunsets. Nick loves sunsets, but I still don’t understand why they fascinate him. He always watches them with sparkling eyes and a wide smile. But today, he was watching me with a worried look.

“He—he scolded me again,” I complained, wiping my non-stop tears. “I wish Peter Pan would come and take me to Neverland, far away from my father…” I sobbed.

“You know, my mom once said that if we wish for something with our whole heart, even heaven will come to help us. So don’t cry. Maybe one day your Peter Pan will come to save you, just like you wished,” he said with a soft smile playing on his lips.

I blinked twice at what he said and asked, “Really?” with wide eyes, trusting his words.

He nodded, smiling widely. “Mom would never lie. I wished for my favorite pasta, and guess what? Tonight, I’m having pasta. I saw my mom preparing it…”

My tears stopped, and a smile spread across my face. But it instantly dropped when I realized something, and tears formed again.

“Now what?” Nick asked, frowning.

“When Peter Pan comes, will you also come with me to Neverland? You’re my only best friend, and I can’t go anywhere without you. I will miss you…” I cried, and he laughed, making me frown.

“You’re going nowhere without me, dumbo. I will stay with you forever…”

“Promise?” I held out my pinky finger.

“I promise. Nick and Meredith together forever,” he said, wrapping his pinky around mine.

I literally jumped on him, hugging tightly, and in the process, we both fell to the ground. Then we both started to laugh.

Present Day

Nick was a liar. None of what he said had happened. Peter Pan never came to save me, and Nick left me all alone three years ago. Today, I was sitting under the same tree, bawling my eyes out, while he was sleeping peacefully three feet under the ground.
That sweet liar—he didn’t have to be stuck with me forever, but at least he could have been alive. But no, he chose to leave his loving parents to grieve and me to live alone with my grumpy, controlling father and unbothered brother. How cruel of him.

He not only promised he would be there with me, but he also said he would take me somewhere far away from my father once we graduated. Even on his deathbed, he held my hands and said...

A Year Ago

“Will you stop crying? You look like a mandrill monkey…” Nick tried to joke, as he always did whenever I cried and my nose turned red. I used to laugh at his silly jokes, no matter how sad I was, but today, looking at his almost lifeless body lying on the hospital bed, with tubes and wires connected to him, only made me cry even more.

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