When We Meet Again

Emily~

~3 years ago~

"I'm moving to a different school," he announced on the last week before the end of the summer term.

Shouts of disappointment and farewells filled the classroom air. The usually quiet and behaved class was now a riot of 9 year-old boys cheering and fake crying for their, quote "a great lad".

"Enough, boys!" The teacher said as she saw how loud her class was. Startled by her over-powering voice, the children sat back down to their assigned seats.

"I know that George is leaving soon and I'm also very sad to see him go. However, now is not the time to say your goodbyes." She quickly scanned the faces of her students before continuing, "Now, get out a reading book or
Something to occupy you whilst I set up the movie."

All the other children decided to read or doodle silently, since they fear of angering their teacher again. Emily, too, decided to stay silent, but curiosity was creeping up on her.

"Why are you leaving?" She asked George beside her. It was a nosy question, one that's probably none of her business. But it did bother her - they were good friends.

"My dad wanted me to go to a private school." He replied plainly.

"Oh."

Well, it seemed like he didn't mind going to a rich, private school.

"Do you even want to go there?"

"I don't know. I'll definitely miss this school though." George gazed at her warmly and smiled. "I'll also miss my friends and - most of all - you, of course."

Emily stared at him in astonishment. Me? He'll miss me the most? She looked for any lie in his words because it's quite strange of him to say that, but she couldn't find any. Maybe..?

No. It couldn't and wouldn't be. Love at this stage is just a figure of nothingness. Kids don't understand what true love is, not yet at least.

Emily, with her curiosity feeling satisfied, dropped the conversation. She'll ask more about it later - there's time.

~

The sun beamed brightly at the explosion of children, rushing and dragging their poor parents to the playground. Trees were swaying and rustling to the rhythm of the wind and multiple cries for ice-cream can be heard from a mile away. A typical yet uncommon british summer's day, you could say.

A group of boys were laughing and goofing around as they walked down the street, with George as the centre of attention.
Many passing strangers glared at the noisy children, or took pity for the young girl trailing behind them.

Finally, the group of boys, who were causing a disturbance, went separate ways. The only children left were Emily and George.

Peace and quietness covered the two of them, sheltering them from the outside world as they walked side by side under the canopy of trees. None of them spoke a word - each other's company was still enjoyable even with the lack of speech. It was only until they reached a small cherry blossom that the first words came out.

"It was nice knowing you." George looked down at his feet, not wanting to leave just yet.

"You too."

The tension rose between the two and a few long, awkward seconds passed by. Changing the subject and stopping the tension from rising higher, George spoke.

"Your bracelet," he pointed at Emily's wrist. "You kept all along?"

"Yeah...do you- do you want it? I mean, you made it so..."

"No, it's fine. It's something you can keep so you won't forget about me!" He gently took her wrist and examined the bracelet. It was merely a coca-cola bottle cap attached to a piece of string.
"But, if you don't like it, you can return it any time."

Emily stared at him with a confused look. Did he think that they could meet again?

"When is 'any time'?"

George opened his mouth but quickly shut it. When is 'any time' exactly? After pondering for quite a while, he finally decided what to say.

"Well 'any time' could be weeks, month or even years!" He smiled like the sun and beamed brightly at Emily.

"To put it simply, Whenever we meet again, I guess!"

"...when we meet again?" Emily held out her little pinky. Excitedly, George linked their pinkies together and smiled even wider.

"When we meet again!"