Bright As Night

Bright As Night :: chapter one

I pulled a picture frame out of the box and put it on my nightstand, where it belonged. It was a picture from when me and my best friend Chloe were seven. I stood on the right, my crooked smile not yet fixed by years of braces and my hair a dirty blonde fluff on my head, since it had not yet darkened to it's now chocolate brown. Chloe stood on my left, straight teeth and perfect blonde curls. Her grayish-blue eyes stood out, giving her an innocence that only added to her charm.

Even then she had been perfect. Her family ran a hotel where big executives stayed while in the city on business, and they had lots of money to show for it. Somehow, Chloe had found me crying behind the swings in the first grade, after Mikey Everett had called me a freak for having to wear sunglasses outside, despite the not-so-brightness of the day.

She had reassured me that he was a jerk, and then asked why I wore the sunglasses, anyway. She was the first person besides my parents I had ever told of how the sun made my eyes hurt. Later on, I would learn the term for my condition was photophobia, and that it wasn't some freaky vampire kid thing.

Years later, I still could barely make it out of the house without sunglasses if the sun was shining and we were still best friends at now fifteen.

"I cannot believe your parents are going through with this," she exclaimed as if our favorite ice cream place, Lily's, had stopped making butterscotch cheesecake flavor, something that Chloe always swore she would die without. "I mean, it's two months into the school year, and you're, like, moving." Chloe sat on my bed, playing with her charm bracelet unconsciously, as if her brain had to check to make sure it hadn't disappeared.

Last year, we had gone to an out-of-state theme park that was supposed to have the one of the coolest water slides ever. At the end of the day, soaked and laughing non-stop at how pathetic we looked, she had pointed to a stall a few feet away saying, "I'm making you one of those."

I had looked at the charms that, according to the lady, were all hand-crafted and smiled. "I'll make you one, too," I said, looking proud of myself. "They could be, like, corny friendship bracelets or something." She laughed and we started making them. After a while, we had exchanged them and promised to wear them everyday, vowing that we'd be friends forever.

"I always thought," she continued after a few moments, "you know, we'd at least have until college before one of us move away."

I sighed and grabbed my alarm clock out of another box, putting it next to our picture. "I know what you mean, 'Lo. It's like we just got told that Tony was going to die in this season's finale, and it ruins all the hopes we had for him and Ziva." I grabbed my old leather-bound notebook and set it on top the alarm, going across the room to get the lamp.

She scowled at the comparison. "Tony is not allowed to die," she declared. Then she tacked on, "Neither are Gibbs or Abby. It's like, a universal law. NCIS would suck after that." She popped her gum angrily and glared murderously out the window.

I heard the front door open and close, declaring loudly that someone had entered. "Bridget, honey, I'm home!" my mom yelled from doorway, her footsteps telling us that she was coming this way. I put the lamp down on my nightstand just as she entered.

"Hi, Chloe," she said in surprise. "Will you be staying for dinner?"

Chloe looked at me for a second, her eyes communicating a clear message to me. "Hey, Mom?" I asked quickly. "Can Chloe spend the night?" Her jaw tensed and she looked thoughtful for a moment.

She nodded and told us, "Just don't be up too late, girls. Our plane leaves at noon tomorrow." She began to walk out before pausing. "Bridget, please stop unpacking the boxes. It's not going to stop us from moving. You're father got a really good job offer in California and it'll be good for us."

"Whatever," I muttered darkly, not looking her in the eye. She shook her head and walked out of my room.

Secrets by OneRepublic blared insistently from Chloe's pocket. She pulled it out and looked at the screen. "Ugh, it's Craig again," she said and her nose scrunched up. "Seriously, I went on one date with him and now he won't leave me alone."

I gave a slight chuckle. "Why would you accept a date with Craig Snyder? Even his name is awful." We laughed and I grabbed my glass of water off the nightstand., taking a small sip.

"Why would anyone name a kid Craig, anyway?" she asked, her giggles dying down. "It's such a geeky name." She looked thoughtful for a moment before adding, "Well, unless it belongs to Craig Kimball. He's a major hottie."

I thought of the muscular football player in the grade above ours. "Yeah, but he's a total druggie. And that kind of ruins it." She furrowed her eyebrows before shrugging.

Her phone stopped ringing and she opened it hesitantly. "Should I actually listen to the voicemail or just delete it?" she asked before her phone started blaring again. This time, her face lit up and she hit the answer button immediately. "Hey, Tommy!" she beamed, more excited than I'd seen her in weeks. Her older brother was stationed over in Afghanistan and only could call once every few weeks. Most of the time he called their home, but every now and again he'd call Chloe's cell and they would catch up the way they couldn't if the 'rents were in the room.

She smiled at me brightly and I mouthed 'be right back' to her before going in the hall to give them some privacy. I looked at the wall full of pictures of my family. All of them except one had been taken in Seattle, where I had lived all my life. Where, eighteen hours later, they would force me to leave, possibly kicking and screaming. The other one had been taken on our ski vacation this past summer, my baby sister, Savannah, slightly blurred because she kept fidgeting in my mother's arms.

'Vannah would turn two in a few months. In California. Sunny California. My eyes hurt just thinking about it.

"I'll talk to you next week then, bro," I heard Chloe say, and I took that as my cue to go back in. She had the biggest smile on her face when I walked in. "Guess what!" she exclaimed, her voice echoing around us in excitement. "My brother's coming home on leave next week!" She did a little dance that made me fall into a fit of laughter, ending with both of us clutching our stomachs, trying to stop laughing.

"That's so"-giggle-"cool"-snort-"Chloe," I managed to get out after a while.

She looked at her shoes. "He said he might be able to drive me down to Cali sometime while he's here. He'll be home for about three weeks."

I smiled at her. "You don't have to do that, 'Lo," I said. "Spend your time with Tommy and we'll web chat on Saturdays like we planned."

"And call on Tuesdays," she said. She frowned slightly. "I'm going to miss you, Bridget."

I felt a tear roll down my cheek. "I'm going to miss you, too, Chloe," I said quietly.

She had a few tears falling herself. "Best friends forever," she reminded me.

I nodded. "Forever." I held out my pinky and she grabbed it with hers. The rest of the night we talked about silly things-boys, clothes, a new flavor at Lily's. Nothing serious, though. We had had enough serious for the night.

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Hey, peoples! I finally got around to posting something. I hope you all enjoy it. And if I offended anyone with the Craig comments: it's a book. Get over it. I personally love all you Craigy peoples.

Thank you AwesumChic for the amazing cover. The next chapter will be dedicated to you!

Until next time, I shall come to raid your fridges and steal all your clicky pens!

BaileyGrace