Across the Hall

Before (Continued)

"Why didn't you tell me you were leaving." He looked like he'd been crying for a while. "I'm not." I lied. I hoped he'd buy that, I didn't have an excuse. "Explain the sign on your front lawn." He looked back at the sign that got put up today. "What sign?" I played dumb. "Kay, please." He gave me the saddest look. I know he's sad because he never uses my nickname unless he's upset with me. "I'm sorry. I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to stop being my friend." Warm tears rushed to my eyes. 

This was it. He was going to scream and hate me forever. "I'll always be your friend." He pulled me in for a hug. It felt...weird. He'd never hugged me before. "Jonny I'm gonna miss you." I sobbed into his shoulder. "Shhhh. You're getting my shirt all wet." He grumbled into my hair. I pulled away from his embrace. "We can't be friends anymore." I joked. "Never liked you anyways." He laughed. 

It was relieving to know he wasn't going to hate me. I invited him in because who really wants to stand on a porch for a long time. "Any hockey on tonight?" He asked me. "You should know." I rolled my eyes as he stole the remote. Mom walked in and smiled. I could tell she was happy we were hanging out again. "Hi Jonathan, its good to see you again. I hope you're not too upset about the big news." She leaned against the doorway. "It's a shock Mrs. Tremblay." He shrugged. I started to feel bad again. I hated seeing my friends sad. "You're such a nice young man. We'll come to visit sometime alright?" She said with a nod and walked away. He looked at me and smiled. 

"How long until you're gone?" He asked after a minute of quite. I looked around. Is he joking? We're sitting on a plastic covered couch. The TV is the only thing not in a box around us. The movers would be here any minute to send our stuff on to this magical Australia place. "Um..." I took one more glance around. He caught on and looked down. "Oh." He rubbed his eyes with his tiny fists. I didn't know what to say. I felt dumb. "Im a bad friend." I wrapped my arms around him, our second hug ever. "No," He wiped his eyes again, "We're gonna make today the best last day ever. Come on, lets go." He grabbed my hand and pulled me towards the door. "BYE MOM!" I yelled as the door slammed behind me.

****

"I have to go home." He said, matter-of-factly. "Already?" I dragged my sneakers through the dirt. "Just wait here." He smirked and ran inside. I watched him go. After what felt like an hour, he came running back out. "Okay I'm good. Let's go." 

"Why did you take so long? And where are you taking me?" I asked as we climbed onto our bikes. "I wanna spend our last day together." He buckled his helmet on. "But where are we goinggg?" I whined as I followed him. "You ask too many questions." Jonathan laughed. "You never answer them." I pointed out. "Kay can't you just trust me for once?" He looked over at me and I nodded. I didn't really know what he meant by that. Maybe I was taking it too in depth. But I really knew one thing for sure, I did in fact trust him. 

I followed him almost halfway across town when we stopped. "I'm getting hungry." He paused. "Is this where you wanted to take me?" I asked and he gave me a look. "I know you like ice cream." He said. "Well thank you." I gave him a hug and we went inside to order. 

After a while of talking about our favorite memories, we headed back home. "Thank you for today, it was really fun." I said when we got back to my soon to be old house. "I'll remember it forever." He reached inside his pocket and pulled out a black and red bracelet made out of string. "Here, I made this. Sorry it isn't too good, I made it earlier when I was gone forever." He placed it in my hand. "I love it! I wish I had something to give you.." I glanced around for something he'd might like. "Promise to write and call okay? I'm gonna miss you punk." Jonny glanced at his feet. I had to do something. The feeling of sadness, anger, and nervousness swelled in my throat again. I threw my arms around him and pulled him close. 

I felt him crying so I smirked. "Toews, you're getting my shirt all wet." That got a reaction. He pushed me away, laughing. "You ruined it! Bye punk." He turned and went down the steps two at a time. "I'll see you soon Jonny." I waved and went inside. Little did I know, that would be the last time I would see him for over a decade. 

Hey everyone! This basically wraps up the 'before' portion from when Kara and Jonny were little kids. If you're liking the story so far, feel free to inbox me or just comment! I'll be trying to update as much as I possibly can, once I have a schedule I'll let you guys know. Thanks for reading! - Dev :)