Broken Hearts

Chapter One

Four months earlier

Auva and I had just gotten out of school a week or two ago. This summer was going to be great. We were gonna take the world by storm and make every day the best day ever...

The lazy summer air wafts through my open bedroom window as I lay across my bed, scrolling through endless social media on my phone. Auva slept over the night before and we're laying around waiting until it's warm enough to swim. We planned the night before to go swimming all day. Usually our parents wouldn't let us stay that long, because it would mean watching us at the pool for that long, but we both turned thirteen during the school year and so our parents (and that pushy 'pool rules' sign by the edge of the water) had deemed us old enough to swim alone. And so, to celebrate our new found independence, we planned to call up some of our other friends and meet at the pool.

Now, our town doesn't really have a pool. Or a lake. Or a river. Basically I live in a pretty small commercial town that doesn't have much, but we do have a hotel or two... and if you give the desk attendant five dollars they'll let you swim in the hotel pool for as long as you want. The pool is one of those really cool half-inside half-outside pool where you swim under a gap in the wall into the outside area. You can go to the pool anytime, but the outside portion is always closed in the winter, so today is our day to revisit it.

I lean backwards half-off my bed and look at Auva. "What time should we leave ya think?"

She glances up at me from her phone with tired eyes. "Uhhh ten-ish?" she says looking at me doubtfully.

I glance the top of my phone where the time is. 9:02. "Awesomesauce" I say happily with a wink, "Breakfast?"

She smiles knowingly. "Obviously! I haven't had food in, like, three hours. My body cannot live for that long without food." She smiles patting her stomach.

I know she's joking, but seriously, she is so freaking pretty. I have no idea why she always says otherwise... She's not super tall and not super short, skinny, but not in the stick-way, her blonde hair falls around her shoulders in effortless golden waves. She's the kind of girl any guy would look at and see total dating material. Me? Nope. I might be the friend of every other guy but, seriously, I'm the girl they tell their crush. The girl they punch in the arm and kick in the shin. The girl that's just... there. Never anything more. Never 'girlfriend material'.

But honestly, I don't care in the slightest. Really, Auva is all I need. She's always up for anything, crazy or otherwise. She's always there when I need her... especially at important events for me, like my art show last year. I got picked to show one of the art pieces I did as a project in art class. I was really quite surprised when I was, I don't exactly have talent. I just know what I love and work hard at it. I was really quite surprised, and, even when I kept forgetting to tell her until the night before, she was there. The whole night.

I love her so much.

Seriously, she's all I need. I know that might sound weird or creepy or whatever... but seriously. I love her. I would do anything for her- give away everything I own; get an F in every class; have my house burned down; get grounded until I was eighteen; even die. I would die one-million times just to see Auva's smile, and, even though I've never had to do any of these things for her, I would at any moment ever. If she needed something as small as a hug at one-thirty am I would run all the way to her house, and even risk getting in trouble (which I never do), just to be with her.

Now, I know what you're thinking. No. It's nothing weird. I swear, I just love her so much. As a friend. There may be a difference between romantic love, friendship love, and family love, but they're all basically the same thing. Love.