Their Playground

Chapter 3

"I still can't believe you never told me about this Thomas person," Sarah complained. "If he was your best friend for so long, don't you think I should've heard a little something about him by now?" Kim shook her head, hiding a smile. She had met Sarah when high school started, shortly after Thomas had moved away. Sarah had, over time, replaced Thomas in the role of Kim's best friend. Of course, Thomas would always have a special place in her heart. Even though she'd been away from him for so long, Kim knew that. But Sarah had her own special place as well.

"Sorry," Kim apologized for the seventh time that morning. "It just never came up."

"Uh huh, sure," Sarah nodded, clearly unconvinced. She was still a little miffed. Well, more than a little, to be honest. "Just remember to tell me next time you have a secret long-lost best friend that I don't know about."

"That was in the past!" Kim protested, already beginning to regret revealing her decision to get back in touch with him. "I didn't even know you existed back then."

Sarah rolled her eyes. "That's no excuse. But it's okay - I forgive you, because I am a very kind and generous person! Now, are you planning to sit around waiting for him to write back? Or do you want to go do something that's actually fun? Because honestly, waiting for his letter to arrive is going to be about as much fun as watching paint dry."

Kim knew her friend was right. After all, she was wasting time by sitting around as if waiting for his response to miraculously be delivered into her mailbox. "What about studying? We have finals coming up!" Deep down, she knew the idea would be immediately shot down, and she was absolutely right. Sarah was not the type to waste time studying when there were so many other fun things she could have been doing.

"Who actually studies? We can just cram right before the test or something," Sarah answered dismissively. "Come on, Kim! Let's go do something! Let's - I don't know, go bowling or something."

"Fine," Kim finally relented, knowing any further protests would be futile. "We can go bowling! But you have to drive."

She made a point of grumbling all the way out to the car.

An hour later, Sarah was becoming discouraged. "Maybe we should have gone somewhere else." The fact that she had not gone bowling in years was evident in her score.

Kim giggled. "You're just jealous of my awesome bowling skills," she teased, eyeing the scoreboard.

Sarah sighed. "It's been too long since I've gone bowling. I'm terrible at it now."

"No, you're not. You're improving!" Kim said encouragingly. "You'll be catching up to me in no time."

Sarah snorted. "The score was 104 to 37, Kim. I don't think I'll be catching up anytime soon."

"Well," Kim said, "at least you got more than 18 points this time." That was Kim, always looking on the positive side of things.

Although Sarah didn't agree that that was a huge accomplishment, she smiled at her friend. "It was fun though. Even if I kind of sucked."

"You didn't suck. Too much." It was Kim's job as a best friend to tease Sarah like this. Sarah knew it and shook her head, but she was laughing.

"Maybe I should have used the bumpers," Sarah mused. "Or the ramp thing over there."

"Sarah, those are both for little children who don't know how to bowl or who physically cannot bowl yet," Kim pointed out, laughing. "Are you a little child? No, you're not - well, that's kind of debatable, actually." Kim danced out of reach when Sarah reached out to swat her playfully.

"Fancy seeing you ladies here!" a masculine voice interrupted them. The two girls turned to see their classmate Cole standing behind them with a smile. They had never been super close friends, though he was in several of their classes. But he was the kind of person who could be considered friends with everyone.

"Oh, hi Cole!" Sarah answered cheerfully. "Are you here alone?"

Kim didn't say anything, but she felt her cheeks heat up when his gaze landed on her. She didn't spend much time around guys her age, so she often grew quiet when she was with one of them. And though she didn't like to admit it, she'd had a tiny crush on him since fall of junior year. He was undeniably attractive, and he was intelligent, a big plus in Kim's book.

"Nah, I'm with my family," Cole said to Sarah. "It's our monthly 'Family Day'." He didn't elaborate, but Kim knew what he was talking about. Her family used to do something similar, before they ran into their financial problems. She remembered the time Thomas had tagged along. It was the time they visited the zoo, and the monkey had - Wait. Why did everything keep leading back back to Thomas? He was plaguing her thoughts. Kim had to remind herself that she had done all she could. She had written him a letter; all that was left to do was wait for his reply.

" - way too much," Kim heard Sarah say when she tuned back into the conversation. "I think Dr. Martin hates us all. She is expecting us to do the humanly impossible with her stupid test."

Cole laughed. He had a clear, hearty laugh that made Kim want to laugh along with him. "You're absolutely right. What do you think, Kim?"

"Um . . . " Kim mentally panicked, frantically trying to figure out what they were talking about. Finally, she gave up and merely answered with a vague, "I agree with you?"

Sarah raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

Cole smiled. "Good. Then we're all in agreement here. Dr. Martin is secretly plotting to kill us via information overload." So that's what they were talking about.

"How does she even expect us to remember so much information for one measly test at the end of the year, anyways?" Sarah continued her complaint.

The conversation shifted to other topics, all of which Kim made sure to pay attention to. They talked until Cole realized that his family had grown tired of waiting and had begun taking his turns for him. "I gotta run," he said. "It was nice talking to you ladies. We've never really talked much, but we should hang out more!"

Sarah was quick to point out the obvious. "Well, we better do it quickly. We graduate in a few weeks."

Cole pumped a fist in the air as he walked back to his family. "Yes! I cannot wait until that day when I have to go to that torturous place no longer!" he called back to them.

"So," Sarah mused as soon as they got back to Sarah's car. "Somebody has a crush."

Kim groaned silently. Trying to stall, she shot back, "And who would that be? You?" She did not like where this conversation was headed.

"No, silly, you! Come on, I saw the way you were acting!" Sarah smiled knowingly.

"I act that way around all guys," Kim defended herself. "It doesn't mean anything!"

"I know how you act around guys, Kim. You definitely don't blush that much. And I've never seen you act so flustered, either. It's no use denying it. The all-knowing Sarah has already figured out the truth!"

Just her luck that she was friends with the all-knowing Sarah. "I suppose he is kind of attractive," Kim finally admitted, knowing that Sarah would never let the subject drop no matter how much she protested. By this time, they had reached Kim's house. Kim hoped that this might cause Sarah to leave before they finished this conversation, but no such luck.

Sarah beamed. "Ha! Told ya so. Don't worry, Kim. I'll set you up with him." She could never resist playing matchmaker, especially when her best friend, the only girl supposedly immune to a boy's charms, was involved. Of course, this was the first time said best friend had been involved. It would be a fun opportunity, for sure.

Kim, however, was horrified. "What? No, don't - "

Sarah cut her off. "You just go on inside and continue waiting for your letter from Thomas," she said, shooing her away. "I'll take care of everything."