We Meet Again

PROLOGUE

August 13, 2009

"Anne, come play." My best friend, James was calling me to play Backgammon. He had dark hair and gray eyes. I walked into the living room where he was setting the game. He looked up at me with a wide smile on his face. "I'm going to win again." He said confidently. I laughed sarcastically.

"Keep dreaming, James." I said, smiling.

"Come on, I really want to play." James was really excited, which made me smile more.

"Okay, fine. Roll." I said. He looked at me, about to argue with me.

"No, you roll." 

"I don't want to roll first." I told him.

"You never roll first."

"So?"

"That's why I always win." He said with a smirk on his face.

"Hey, I win too."

"Few times." He said truthfully as he rolled.

                                                                           ~~~

A day later, I was in my room, reading 'Romeo and Juliet', trying hard to stop rolling my eyes over and over when the doorbell rang.

"Laurie, James is here." My mom called. Everyone called me Laurie except James. I went downstairs to see James waiting for me.

"Hey, James. What's up?" I asked him.

"Can we take a walk?"

"Sure." I said. We walked outside for a while before he addressed me again.

"I have something to tell you." He said seriously. I looked at him with curiosity. "You know how my dad always goes to business trips in England and leaving my mom and I here?" I nodded, listening to hi carefully, to what he was going to say next. "Well, my dad and mom think it'll be best if we move to England." He finished. I stopped breathing.

"What. What does that mean?" I asked stupidly. He simply looked at me.

"I'm sorry." He said with so much sadness. I shook my head as he hugged me, I hugged him back.

"No, I can't lose you." I said, crying. "You're my best friend."

"Shh, don't cry." He said softly. "You're gonna make me cry and I'm not supposed to cry."

"Why not?" I asked, pulling us apart to look at him, he was trying hard not to cry.

"Because I'm a man." I laughed.

"You're ten years old, you are a  boy, not man." He laughed too.

"You're right." He said, wiping my tears oof my face.

"I'm going to miss you." I said, truthfully.

"I'm going to miss you more, Anne." He said. "I'm certainly going to miss beating you in Backgammon." He said, recalling all the time he has won. I smiled.

"When you come back, I'll be the one winning." I said, confidently.

"Well, that might take a while." He stated. "Can I have a goodbye kiss?" He changed the subject. I kissed him on the cheek. "I meant on the lips." I looked at him weirdly, he looked back at me.

"We're ten years old." I stated. Now, it as him to look weirdly at me.

"So?" He asked.

"We're too young for that."

"You're so old school."

"Dine, whatever. But with you?"

"I am just going to pretend that I am not offended." He said.

"Sorry, It's just not the way I wanted my first kiss to be." I said, truthfully.

"We're best friends, I want my first kiss to be with you. Do you want your first kiss to be with some guy who you're gonna later break off with, or worse, he's the one to break up with you." I shook my head. "We don't know when  we'll see each other again, so let's have our first kiss with each other." I agreed.  We stood there for a couple of seconds, waiting for something to happen.

"What are you waiting for? Lean." I demanded.

"No, you lean."

"I don't want to lean first."

"Why not?"

"I'm the girl, you are the boy. you are supposed to lean first." He laughed once again.

"You are so old school." He stated.

"Fine, together then." I said. We both leaned and kissed.