[ thank you for reading this if you are ]
april 14th, 2003
ages; 9
"war?"
"nah."
we'd been thinking about what we should do today for almost an hour, both coming short. his mum had trusted us alone in her house so she could go to the store for some strange reason, so that limited us to staying indoors only. we couldn't cook. we couldn't swim in his pool. there was nothing to do on this very boring sunday.
he breathed out, puffing his cheeks and making a noise. "let's make a pillow fort," he suggested, and i nodded excitedly. "okay, you go up to my room and grab the pillows and blankets from my bed. i'll get to the linen closet. couch and throw pillows count. move!" and both manned our stations, me bolting down the hallway and him rushing to his mum's room. i snatched up as many pillows as i could see and threw his blankets over my arms, beginning to run out of his room, but tripping over a toy car, it's antenna stabbing my foot. i let out a shriek before flying down, landing luckily on the pillows.
ashton came running in. "oh my gosh, maely," he gasped, falling down next to me on the pillows. "man down!" i felt a tear fall down my face but i didn't like crying. especially in front of ash. he helped me up and onto his bed, one of my legs on the blanket-less mattress, the hurt one hanging off. he knelt down in front of it. "hm. injury is vital, but i think you'll survive. let me go get the first aid kit!"
he ran out of the room and i looked at my foot myself, where there was slight bleeding. i hated crying in front of anyone, so when i was sure he wasn't around, i cringed and let the tears flow down my cheeks. he came back into the room and i wiped at my face, clearing any sign of my crying.
"it's okay to cry, maely," he mumbled as he got onto his knees, his eyes traveling to the bottom of my foot, picking up a cold, wet paper towel, dabbing at the now dripping blood. his little tongue peeked out from his chapped lips in concentration. once he'd finished cleaning it, he pulled out some disinfectant. "this is gonna' sting." i nodded and looked at his curly hair. that was one of my favorite things about ashton irwin. his big bushy head of hair.
i barely noticed the pain because i was too busy thinking about how nice ashton is to me. he always smiles at me and hugs me and treats me so well. my dad always called him my little boyfriend, but that didn't make sense. yeah, boyfriends were nice to their girlfriends. but they also kissed and stuff, and that's gross. he wasn't my boyfriend, and never would be.
"all better," he mumbled as he slapped a band-aid on it. gently, of course. i smiled at him and stood up, standing on my tippy toes on my bad foot. "do you need help walking?" he asked, and i shook my head. i was fine.
he walked closely behind me, holding the blankets and pillows i'd gathered in his arms, watching to make sure i didn't hurt my foot more. we went down the hallway and into the living room, where he told me to sit on the couch so he could do it by himself. i tried to object, but he said no. he tucked a sheet into the couch cushions and then put it under a pile of coffee table magazines. i watched him work quickly, his tongue peeking out again in concentration. ashton didn't slow down for anything.
once he'd successfully made the best pillow fort in human history, he stepped back to admire his work, taking me by the hand as he did so. "hop in!" he exclaimed, dragging me into it, under a white sheet and on top of a duvet. "this," he started, "is epic."
"this is the best you've ever made!" i said as i laid down on a pillow. he laid down next to me and our hands were still linked together. ashton held up our fingers, his eyes running over them silently. "do you think we'll always be friends forever?" he looked at me.
"i think that we'll be friends until one of us dies."
i giggled. "maybe we'll die right next to each other because we have the same birthday." he smiled up at me as my head was further up the pillow than his. "i think that i want to be best friends with you even if one of us dies. we'll always be friends." he nodded in agreement.
we stayed in the fort until his mum got home and my mum called, wanting me home. i hugged ashton goodbye and went on my way home.
. . .
the following day. ashton and i were sitting at lunch, trading our lunch snacks with classmates, eating our sandwiches, finishing up. i was throwing away my trash when the whistle blew for recess time.
ash and i ran outside where the playsets were, heading straight for the sandbox where we spent our recesses every day.
"maely!"
i turned around to see luke hemmings running towards me. he was one year below us and cute as a button. ashton looked at him without much thought, molding a bunch of sand in a big pile. standing up, i smiled at him and saw his friends calum and michael by the swingset looking over at us.
luke turned back to look at his mates quickly before he leaned over, kissing me. i jumped away from him, feeling my cheeks heat up and turn red. he ran back to his friends before i could say anything. ash looked really mad.
"what the heck."
