Decisions

Prologue

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Fate is a crazy thing. The way I see it, fate has already laid it's path for us. Our friends, our partner, and our decisions. You can never predict your fate; what happens happens and you can't control it. If fate wants you to become queen of all orangutans and create a new religion called orangutanism, than so be it. Maybe you'll become a famous opera singer. Maybe you'll invent a healthy alternative to French fries. Fate is uncontrollable and also unpredictable. But, me? My fate was more unpredictable than even I could've imagined. David moved into my apartment building.

David was my best friend from kindergarten all the way up to eighth grade. We were practically inseparable, despite the difference in gender. And before you ask, no, we never dated. All the kids in school teased us, calling us weird for being that close with someone of the opposite sex.

Luckily for us, our parents were very good friends. In fact, they lived right next to each other in a small cul-de-sac in the suburbs of New York City called Oak-heart Avenue. Oak-heart Avenue was made up of only six colonial-style homes, all painted the same dull gray. It was an ideal American street, with neatly clipped lawns, pearly white picket fences, and freshly paved streets. My parents absolutely adored the area, but I had always found it too routine. Too plain.

So David and I were around 8, possibly 9. Hanging out together was an everyday thing, we met up on his front lawn and started walking to the local playground just across the street.

I stepped outside my front door, giddily skipping down the stairs. I looked to my right and noticed a big, orange van parked in the driveway of the house two-down from my own. The back of the van was pulled down, revealing items of furniture. Many men in white jumpsuits were moving pieces into the open front door.

I then looked to my left, and saw David, in his usual spot, where he would wait for me to come and play, a big dimpled smile on his adorable face. This time, though, he wasn't waiting for me. He was talking to someone else.

She was stood very close to him, laughing, as he seemed to be telling some sort of funny story. Her very long, blonde hair was pulled into two pigtails, each accompanied by bright, pink bobbles. Also, she sported a plastic, silver tiara, adorned with fake crystals. I couldn't see her face, or hear her voice, but I could already tell I didn't like her.

After awhile of making mystery girl laugh uncontrollably, David finally noticed me staring at them with an angry expression.

"Mands!" David called out, excitedly.

I pretended to be suprised, smiling and waving at him.

He motioned for me to join him, and I hopped off the steps and walked over to his lawn, very slowly.

"This is my new friend, Chloe," He started, like she was the greatest little thing in the world, "She just moved in." He pointed to the house next to mine, the one with the van in the driveway.

"Hi, Amanda! David has told me a lot about you," She glanced in his direction and they shared a grin, "I'm Chloe."

"Yeah." I dead panned, not making eye contact with her. She was pretty. Princess-like, almost. But David wouldn't like someone like her. He didn't like people who were too good for anyone. He liked people who weren't afraid to have fun, and get their hands dirty. She looked like she would faint if she even went near dirt.

"Hey Chloe, you should come to the playground with us today!" He exclaimed, giddy with excitement. I immediately shot him a death stare.

"I'd love to hang out with you guys, but I'm not really into that stuff. See you later, David!" She said, straightening her tiara and skipping off down the perfectly manicured lawns.

And that's how I met my other best friend, Chloe Anne Louria. I know it seems hard to believe, but she was actually a pretty nice person beneath the blonde pigtails and tiara.

So that was us, the three best friends who lived happily, ever, after on perfect little Oak-heart Avenue. That was, until the fatal day in the eighth grade.

It was the last week of eighth grade year. I can't remember the specific date, but that's not necessary. Chloe and I walked down the stairs, heading to the cafeteria for lunch period. We joined David in the hot lunch line, and he greeted us happily.

"Someone's happy," Chloe giggled, poking David's stomach.

"You'll never guess what just happened," He started, his eyes lighting up,"So we had a sub in pre-al today, so I screwed everything up. I turned over all the chairs, scribbled shit all over the chalkboards, shuffled all the teacher's directions, and stuff like that. You should've seen his face. Priceless. I'm like the pre-al hero." He smiled confidently, flashing a thumbs up.

"Sounds like you're kind of a big deal now. Don't forget us little people." Chloe joked. I doubted he actually would.

We talked for awhile about our uneventful days, while moving up very slowly in the lunch line. David was in front of us, so he got his lunch first. He exited the buffet, and waiting for us in the middle of the marble-floored cafe.

"Hey, you're the kid from pre-al right?" A big, beefy, dufus jock called to David. He turned around, looking confusedly around.

"Who me?" He asked the jock.

"Yeah, you. Get your ass over here and tell these guys about the stunt you pulled on the sub!" He requested, joined by a roar of agreement from the unintelligent populars sitting around him.

"Uh, actually, I was gonna sit with my friends.." He said, glancing back and forth from Chloe and I, to the table of populars.

"Come on, man. Are you gonna sit with your lame-ass girly friends? Grow some balls, dude."

He looked back and forth between us, gave me a sympathetic glance, and walked towards the popular table without looking back. They smiled, laughed, and slapped him on the back.

"Why we he do that?" Chloe moaned sadly, as we walked across the cafeteria. Our lunch table was towards the back left of the cafeteria. Only a couple people sat there, but it was cozy.

"Don't worry, Chlo," We sat down, "He's just enjoying his fifteen minutes of fame. He'll be back tommorow."

But he didn't come back. He sat with his new friends everyday of the last week of middle school. I thought nothing about it at the time, I mean, you don't just completely shun your best friend, right? But I guess he did. He didn't talk to Chloe and me all summer, except maybe once or twice. I tried to confront him a couple of times, just to try and mend things between us, but he just walked away every time. I had lost a best friend. It was upsetting, and sometimes I cried about it. David was a part of me. He was the only person who I could talk to about my problems, or rather, who would actually listen. Losing your best friend over something so stupid and childish really sucks. But, now he's back. Fate has brought us together again.

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