24 Hours

Chapter Eighteen

Chapter Eighteen

                Tiffany and I went on straight for several years. We went to each other’s birthday parties, had sleepovers every other weekend, and would go to the local roller-skating rink together after school as much as we could. It was a blast, something any girl could want; a friend, sleepovers, and skating. At least, for me it was.

                But our friendship started faltering in third grade, when a nearby elementary school was shut down due to a lack of finances. Because of this, an entire school of kids had to be split up and shipped off to the surrounding schools, mine included. So, in third grade, I had the pleasure of meeting a ton of new people and a bunch of new friends.

                These friends included Molly and the boy.

                Molly and I became close almost immediately after she came. I was elected by my homeroom teacher to buddy up with her and give her a tour around the school (which was fairly big, considering it had two floors and an unattached gym).

                The teachers told me to spend the whole day giving her a tour, so we had a blast. I had instant access to any area of the school I wanted to go into; the forbidden, teacher-only hallway, the basement where the usually only the fifth graders learned. After all, it was the fifth graders’ last year at the school, so they were treated to privacy from the chaotic scene of the rest of the school, top-of-the-line safety from natural disasters such as tornadoes and earthquakes, and the quickest route to the playground designated for recess.

                We ran around the school like cheetahs, sometimes coming into contact with other new kids and their guides, who introduced themselves to their unfamiliar counterpart. This was when I first saw the boy. His eyes were green back then, but his hair was still the beach blonde that I know today.

                The boy was shy at first. He hid behind his tour guide, blocking himself from view. Of course I was curious, but I didn’t try to provoke him into emerging from his human shield. Molly was the one who told me his name and attempted to tug him out. Embarrassed, the poor little boy followed her with a reluctant expression on his face. The biting of his lip indicated his nervousness, but the brightness of his eyes displayed excitement. He dragged his feet as walked though, so I knew he didn’t want to be introduced.

                “And this is Juniper,” stated Maxwell, who had been guiding the boy around the hallways the same way I was doing so for Molly. He pointed to me as he said my name, and I smiled. But I was fixated on the boy, curious. Why is this boy hiding from me? I thought, Do I scare him?

                In an effort to break the stiff ice that existed between us as clear as glass, I outreached my hand and motioned for him to shake it, just as I’d done for Tiffany. The boy, however, did not hesitate to shake it. He was not confused. He understood.

                And it was at that moment when I knew I’d found my true best friend. We may not have spoken very much throughout third grade – or fourth grade, even – but I knew he was there. At the back of my mind, I’d see his eyes. In the touch of my finger, I’d feel his heart pump. In the depth of my dreams, I’d imagine our thoughts intertwining and cooperating to create one great, epic story.

                Meanwhile, however, Tiffany and I grew apart. I began to grow more attached to Laura, Sophie, and Molly than I’d grown to Tiffany, and I knew it. She knew it too, and she hated it.

                I felt bad about it, about abandoning my best friend. It wasn’t fair to replace someone like I’d done, but I knew Tiffany would never have a replacement. I hoped in my mind that she knew it too, but deep in my heart I knew she didn’t.