Chapter 7:
Jessica's POV:
I slowly walked down the pathway leading to the park. I looked out and saw the seesaw now used as a bench because it is so rusted it doesn't even move anymore, the metal slide with a bunch of dents and graffiti all over it, the three creaky swings that are never quiet, and the old wooden jungle gym that looks as though it could fall apart any second.
I looked around at all the equipment, wondering how it hasn't all fallen apart yet, and why the city hasn't torn it down and made a new park. Part of me is glad that they haven't torn it down yet, because of all the memories it holds. Part of me is worried for the safety of any children who dare come here.
My eyes came to the end of the park, to a specific tree. I practically ran towards it as I saw AJ leaning against it.
"AJ! I missed you so much!" I said, tackling him in a hug.
"I missed you too!" He said. I could feel his slightly muscular arms wrapped around my back.
We stood there for a while, wrapped in each other's arms. Eventually, I let go and AJ did the same.
"I made something for you." He said, getting his flashlight out. It had become dark on my way to the park. He bent down with the flashlight on, glowing into a hole in the lower part of the tree. We would always hide different toys and little knick knacks we would find at the park there. Surprisingly, no one else found our secret hiding hole.
AJ pulled out a rectangular object, but he kept it out of the light so I couldn't see what it was.
"Follow me." He said. He led me to the seesaw and we both sat down so close, that our legs were almost touching. There was a light above the seesaw, so I saw the rectangular object was a book.
"It's a scrapbook." AJ said, setting half of it on one of his legs and the other half on one of mine. "It's full of a bunch of pictures from our childhood."
"You made this just for me?" I asked.
"Of course. You're my best friend." He smiled at me and I felt...something. Something I've never felt before.
AJ opened up the scrapbook and the first thing I see is our naked little baby butts. I started laughing really hard. I knew that we were friends practically since we were born, but I had no idea that there was a picture of us as babies, naked, laying on the ground.
The next page was a picture of us with cake smeared on our faces.
"That was our first birthday." AJ explained. "Our parents were so lazy that they just celebrated our birthdays together, even though they're like a day apart." AJ joked. We had always had our birthday parties together, and when we outgrew parties, we still celebrated them together.
As we looked through the book filled with memories, I could feel tears start to form in my eyes. As we got older in the pictures, I started remembering certain moments.
One picture was of us dressed up in our parents' clothes, our arms linked. Our parents had gone to a 'grown up' party and we were upset and said that we wanted to be grownups. Our parents got some of their old clothes out and we played dress up.
The last picture in the book was the last time I saw AJ before I moved. It was right after AVPM was performed for the last time. Everyone was still in their costumes and we took a photo of the entire theatre group.
I was in theatre, but I was not in AVPM. I worked behind the scenes, helping build the set and make some of the costumes. Now, I kind of regret not auditioning for it.
