Covered ~ Hemmings

Four

- Four -

Amy, Michael, Sophie and I were like a nerdy version of the Fantastic Four. Mikey was the photographer that could shake your world with just one frame. Sophie’s voice could put you in trance and make you shiver at high notes. Amy’s paintings could make you daydream instantly. And my strength was writing. Together we were unstoppable.

We had a rule, just one single rule: the night before our birthdays, we had to be together. So, by midnight we would be the first hugs we would receive. When we were younger we used to believe that the first fifteen minutes of our birthdays defined the rest of that year. “Forever friends” we would say while hugging and it meant that we would be in each other lives for a whole new year. I know, we were kids and that is my whole excuse.

Once, Sophie had to go and visit her grandma in Glasgow for her eighteenth birthday. It was November and the snow covered the entire city. What did the rest of us do? Packed our warmest clothes and spent Zeus know how long on a bus, arriving just in time for midnight. Almost two years have passed since that day but we remember it as if was yesterday. It was freezing cold but we didn’t care. We were together. Silly kids (but not really).

Tonight we were together again waiting for the clock to hit midnight. Michael was about to turn 21, so that means he was the eldest of the group but don’t let that fool you! He was the most childish of us four. However, this boy was the one who had always been there for me. He was my rock. Once I told him that and we laughed for about thirty solid minutes. Then, we ate pizza and fries.

As I said before, we had known each other since birth. Mikey was just a three months old baby when I was born. Our mums had been best friends since Emma (my mum) told Karen (Michael’s mum) that she liked her shoes the first day of high school. These two women were inseparable and, even though they were busy with their jobs, they always found time to share a cup of tea and talk for hours.

When they found out they were both pregnant at the same time, they started planning our lives. Our mums dreamed of us going to the same school, sharing classes and tons of moments we “could forever treasured in our hearts”, quoting my mother. As I wasn’t born on the same year as my best friend, I kind of ruined one of those plans. Michael was a grade ahead. However, we didn’t need to go to the same classes to have our own especial and unforgettable moments. So cheesy, I know. Blame our mothers.

Amy barged into my life when we were in kindergarten and she wore braids and Disney watches. We became friends when Katy Smith said my eyes were weird and Amy said she smelled like dog poop. She totally won. I think Katy is a cat person now. Amy and I instantly clicked. Well, the three of us did because Michael was always at my place and we all played video games together. Then, when we were a bit older but I still kicked their asses in Mario Kart (Mikey likes saying he does, but that’s not true) we met Sophie because she moved to the house next door to mine. She was going to another school but that didn’t stop us from becoming friends.

Getting back to Michael, I think we were five when our mothers decided to do everything that was in their power to be related to each other. Those two planned our wedding when we didn’t even know how to read: venue, menu, souvenirs. Michael and I thought several times that we could get a discount in the mental illness clinic if we checked them in together.