The Five Stages of Losing Your Best Friend

Chapter Five: "Always"

Chancy: Your favorite Lays and orange juice are Always waiting for you ;)

Chancy: Get it? ;)

Vannie: *gags* I was trying to study, but your pun messed up my concentration.

Chancy: Oh? Were you on page 394? XD

Vannie: Omg. Please stahp. T^T

Chancy: Do NOT tell me what to do, Ms. Lewis. 5 points from Gryffindor.

Vannie: Bu-But I was just--you're not even a professor! And I'm not a Gryffindor! I'm a Ravenclaw!

Chancy: Oh. Then...5 points from Ravenclaw for being an insufferable know-it-all.

Vannie: ....Are you always going to be like this on our Harry Potter movie nights?

Chancy: ....Always.

Vannie: AHAHAHA. Okay, professor. I'll be there in 10.

Chuckling softly to myself, I placed my phone down on the couch and stretched the stiffness off my limbs from hours of lounging around the house. I was going to jog to Chance's place, so I was dressed in a loose white shirt and shorts.

Then, we're going to watch my favorite Harry Potter movie! I squealed internally at the thought of watching Snape's flashback again.

But first, I had to get the ol' parent slip.

   "Mom!" I tentatively called, while skipping towards the kitchen where she was cooking dinner. "I'm going out."

Mom, publicly known as Kara Lewis, emerged from the kitchen with a spatula in hand and a skeptical expression on her midde-aged face.

   "Now? At this hour? Where are you going? Will you be alone or with someone else? Do you need your dad to drive you? It's dangerous at this time of night."

I internally rolled my eyes at her questions. She'd been like that since her first child. Fast forward thirty years later, and she was still overprotective

   "I'll be with Chance," I explained as I walked past her to get a snack before leaving.  "To watch a movie."

   "Chance again?" She peered at me with suspicious eyes. "You've been spending an awful lot of time with him lately."

   "That's 'cause we're best friends," I pointed out. The moment I walked in the kitchen, the smell of her homemade fried chicken instantly hit me like a truck. My mouth watered and my tongue involuntarily flicked forward to moisten my lips.

  "Well, make sure you are just friends. No boyfriends until college, all right?" Judging from the distance of her voice, I knew she followed me inside.

   "No need to worry about that," I grimly assured. "The only guys who are boyfriend material here are either taken or gay."

I heard the sound of chicken sizzling before my mom casually answered, "That's good to hear. Do you need your dad to drive you there?"

   "Nope. It's not far from here. I'm not going to eat dinner here either, but I'm going to grab an apple for the road." She understandably nodded and continued to fry the night's main dish.

   "You're going out?" A voice questioned from across the kitchen. "Great! More chicken for me!" It cheered.

I glared at my twenty six-year old brother who was, again, not wearing a shirt. But I wasn't fazed, because he always went around the house half-naked. And I couldn't complain because he didn't look gross at all. Despite being underweight, he was lean and had developing muscles and abs, so he received looks from women whenever we went out.