The Day my Best Friend Returned

Five years ago today, my best friend in the entire world, Leslie Burke, drowned in a creek near our houses. Now, before I get started, what would you feel like if all your beliefs were challenged? Because that is exactly what happened to me on this pretty amazing journey.

I was waiting on my front porch for May Belle to get home from a friend's house when a strangely familiar looking blond-haired girl was walking up our insanely long driveway. I spent a couple minutes trying to figure out who she was, but all that happened was me hitting a brick wall inside my mind. The brick wall that guarded all thoughts and memories of Leslie like they were prisoners in Alcatraz.

Suddenly, I jumped up and ran toward her, the appropriately older looking, beautiful, dead... Leslie... When I got to the end of the pathway, I knew it was too good to be true. She hadn't been there; it was just a figment of my imagination, or was it?

"Jesse Aarons! I told you to wait on the porch!" My mother yelled from the front door of the house.

I ran as fast as I could back to the house and apologized to my mom. She in turn told me to go back inside because May Belle had called and asked to spend the night at her friend's house, how so very convenient.

I couldn't get to sleep that night. I was engulfed with memories of Leslie and Terabithia. Keep your mind wide open... Right as I was drifting off, those words that made me believe in our magical, personal place. That's what made me believe that what I saw earlier was true. Leslie is back and more than likely, alive.

So that was what pushed me to get up at three o'clock in the morning to run to our special place and more importantly, the place where Leslie faked her own death.

When I arrived, my breath caught in my throat; she was there, watching me, waiting for me.

"Leslie?" I managed to whisper out.

"Hi, Jess," I couldn't control my tears; they rolled down my face.

"But, I thought you died..." She stood up from where she was sitting and walked toward me. When she finally reached me, I stretched my hand out and gently touched her cheek.

She silently grabbed my hand from where it rested on her face and tugged slightly. I followed willingly knowing that the first time I met her, she only brought good things to my life. Before I knew it, we were standing under our old treehouse that was, admittedly, torn apart and most of the wood was rotted, but it still brought many memories.

"Why?" I asked simply, knowing she would understand what I meant.

"You knew better than anyone, I was theatrical, and I didn't think everyone would take it so seriously. I was young, trying to have fun in a grown up world. I guess it didn't really work, did it?"

"Leslie," I looked directly in her eyes, "Do you have any idea how much that hurt me? Do you even care?"

"Jess, of course I care, I've always cared, but I was expecting you to come later that day and find me. Tell everybody I wasn't dead, but you didn't show. And when I found out what you were really doing that day, I felt betrayed, so I ran. I was the fastest in the class at the time, you know? And I've been hopping from town to town, sleeping wherever I can. Until, just last week, I no longer felt angry, and I decided to return and find you." She let go of my hand and started to walk away. I followed her like a lost puppy.

"I'm sorry, Leslie, I really, truly am." She glanced over her shoulder at me, "Every day since I heard about your 'death,' I thought, well, could I have changed the outcome if I hadn't gone? My family convinced me that I couldn't; if it wasn't you, it could've been me."

By that point, she had turned all the way around and had a tear slowly rolling down her cheek.

"Hey, Jess?" she asked. I looked expectantly at her. "You turned out well."

"Leslie?"

She took a step toward me, "Yes?"

"I have a very important question to ask you."

"Yeah? What is it?" she asked.

I stepped toward her and gave her a hug, "How do you feel about me?" I whispered in her ear.

"I don't know, all I know is that I really missed you. You realize that you were my only friend ever, right?"

My breath hitched, "Well, yeah, your dad told me when they left, but I didn't believe it. How could I? You had an interesting life, opinionated thoughts, and most of all; you were fun to be around."

She slowly looked up at me in the embrace, "Some people don't like that."

I stared down at her, "Yeah, but I did," We stood there for a second and then let go of each other. "Um, why don't you come with me to my house to wash up?"

"Sure, but what if one of your family members recognizes me?"

"No worries, they permanently erased your image from their memories. The only time they think about you is the date you 'died,' which happened to be yesterday, by the way." We reached the bridge I had built so many years ago; it was still in perfect condition.

"This is a nice bridge you've built here, way better than the rope." She stated semi-sarcastically.

"Well, the rope was broken and I needed closure, thus the bridge." I pulled her across quickly, and we headed to my house. At four o'clock in the morning, my dad would just be getting ready to go to work, so we'd probably have to wait for him to leave.

About ten minutes later, I heard the truck's engine groan to life, and my dad was off, gone until eight tonight. Perfect.

I quietly led Leslie through the front door and checked for any loose family members lying around. There were none so far that I could see. We passed the living room and Leslie peeked in and stopped.

"You got rid of your TV? Why?" She asked, curiosity brewing in her eyes. The eyes that could work anything out of me.

"My dad wasn't bringing in enough money a couple years ago, so we couldn't pay the bills. One night he got really angry and grabbed the set from in front of Brenda's nose. He carried it to the door and threw it to the ground, shattering all the glass and splitting so many wires, it was impossible to take it anywhere to get it fixed. So we're television free."

"I'm so sorry," She said quietly.

"What's to be sorry for? You never had one, and I've gotten completely used to it."

"Not for the TV, Jess, you know I didn't mean that." She looked at me and I instantly knew.

She took a step toward me. I looked down at her, studying her maturing features. She leaned slightly toward me, and I did the same, and just as our lips were going to touch, I said, "I know," quietly and right then and there, I had my first kiss, with my supposedly dead best friend.