How Far We've Come

Chapter 28

    The next day, we had a party in all the Global classes. After finishing all our work, we gathered in Mr. Marvin's room with hot chocolate and lots and lots of chestnuts.

    "Can you believe it's the last day of ninth grade?" I asked Jessica and Clary. "It feels like just yesterday we were going to Justin's Ferry."

    Clary laughed. "Probably because Assateague was just a few days ago."

    "More like a few weeks," Jessica corrected with an amused smile. "But, you're right. Time really does fly."

    Clutching a steaming cup of hot chocolate, Lina walked over to us. She was holding a fist full of some kind of nut. "Want one?" she offered. "They're really sweet."

    Clary crinkled her nose at the chestnuts, but I took one, plopping it into my mouth. Wait a second... What was that furry thing?

    Lina gasped and stifled a laugh. "You're supposed to peel it!"

    Pursing my lips, I spit out the chestnut and wiped my mouth on my shirt. "Ewww," I exclaimed. "That was..."

    "Gross?" Nicole offered. "Furry? Hard? Disgusting?"

    I wiped the last few bits of the shell on my shirt and chewed the chestnut thoughtfully. "Yeah those work," I agreed. "Hey this isn't that bad... besides the fur!"

    Everyone burst into laughter once again clutching their stomachs as Jason walked by. "Aw did you eat the shell, Anasika?" he asked, giving my pursed lips a pointed look.

    I gave him a sheepish smile as I heard a whoop from behind me. I turned to the fence I had attempted to jump over when we were filming to movie to see Randolph running towards it. With a high jump in the air, his finger reaching to touch his toes, he landed on the other side of the fence with the precision of a gymnast.

    "Oh that's not fair," I complained. "When I tried to do that, I nearly died."

    Clary gave me a throaty laugh. "You didn't die. But, you seriously hurt your leg."

    "Yeah, I didn't even know that much blood could come from that small of a cut," Jessica agreed. "And we did the Circulatory system project!"

    Lina and Jason laughed. "I wish I'd been there to see that epic fail," Lina teased.

    I rolled my eyes. "I didn't fail that bad," I protested. I looked down to my exposed leg that still had puckering skin and scratches. "On second thought..."

    Nicole laughed. "Exactly."

    I smiled, leaning back onto the building's wall when my foot knocked against a hard book that fell to the ground with a loud thud. "Sorry," I murmured as I leaned to pick up the book, when I realized it was my yearbook.

    I smacked my forehead. "I completely forgot!" I chided, taking a sip of the sweet hot chocolate. "You guys want to sign my yearbook?"

    They nodded pulling colored pens out of their backpacks and offering me their yearbooks to sign too. Soon, everyone was signing yearbook after yearbook. I took the heavy book out of Clary's outstretched hand. Smiling I began to write.

    Memories flooded back to me of us meeting for the first time in the Spanish class and of going to Justin's Ferry together. Of Sinetic Falls. Of the National Aerodynamics Museum. Of the movie. And, most recently, of Assateague. Clary had been my best friend all the way through the good times and bad.

    Hey Clary,

    So you're probably reading this over the summer and being all nostalgic or whatever. Don't worry, I do that too. Unless, I'm the only one who does it... Ah that's beside the point! Global 9th Grade has been one of the best years of my life and big thanks to you for that. You hung out with me all the way through and it's been awesome. All the way from Justin's Ferry to Mr. Rickman's head injury to Assateague just a few weeks ago, I've gone through a lot with you. And now, it's been a year. So thanks for being the best friend ever and I'll see you next year in the big and mighty tenth grade!