When We Met

Year Six

"Are you going to Reedwater?" Lilly asked as Matt got into the car, it had been the only thing on her mind the past night and she had never been more glad that Matt rode to school with them.

"Of course," He laughed and brushed a cornflake off her shirt. "I wouldn't leave you in high school alone." Lilly turned to him with a smile filled with relief at his words.

"But," Matt continued, "it would be fun not having to fix your homework all the time." Lilly's face suddenly contorted into a frown and she gave Matt a swift smack on the arm before crossing her arms and facing the window.

Hurt, Lilly refrained from acknowledging his presence for the rest of the car-ride- despite his many futile attempts. Each prod and poke seemed to only further irritate her and eventually Matt gave up and sulked on his own side of the car.

This seeped into their school day, as throughout it Lilly refused to acknowledge him. She wouldn't let him borrow her pencil sharpener during maths, and he only nearly missed the ball she hurled in his direction when he asked to play at break- Matt didn't run to the teacher though, he didn't care, he just wanted his friend back.

The day of silence had dragged Matt through a range of different emotions, not that he was old enough to identify any other than sad, and the poor boy was thinking of ways to apologise when Mrs.Helen clapped her hands and silenced the room.

"Now kids," As she was talking, Mrs.Helen walked to the door and gestured towards the room, a tall lanky man with a colour washed grey suit and worn leather briefcase sauntered in after her, Matt recognised him as the head of Year 7 at Reedwater. "Mr. Wilson is here to talk to you all." she stepped back ever so slightly, as if that foot of space was in any way stealing the attention that had already latched on to the towering man

"Moving to highschool can be a scary experience, as you must've already heard." Mr. Wilson scratched the skin at the back of his neck, and Matt almost winced at how much he didn't want to be there. "You uh... you go from being a big pond in a small fish to a... wait no, that's not right." He sighed again before his hands fumbled with the latch in front of him.

"If you're not going to Reedwater let me know," he began, opening his briefcase and shuffling some pink pieces of paper. "Otherwise," he walked around the class, sliding a sheet in front of every kid. "Put three of your friends that you'd like to be in your form, down on the sheet."

Matt looked over to Lilly, hoping for even the slightest bit of confirmation, even a meek smile to show that she wouldn't leave him, but Lilly wasn't looking at him, she was staring down at a blank pink sheet.

"We can't guarantee you'll be with all three," Matt watched as she put pen to paper, hoping that maybe he could use some unknown super powers to read what she was writing. "But we promise you'll be with your number one."

And with that Mr. Wilson began to circle the room once more, this time collecting the paper. Matt quickly snapped out of his one sided staring contest, and rushed to scrawl on the page.

He hadn't finished by the time everyone else had given their's in, and feeling pressured by Mr.Wilson's heavy sighs, and tap tap taps of his pointed shoe, Matt reluctantly gave his paper in with only one name on the chart.

Lilly.

***

It had been hours since school ended, and hoping that he could patch things up, Matt grabbed some fruit roll ups from the kitchen and made his way to where he knew she'd be.

Their treehouse.

It was a large oak tree, which had grooves and veins of imagination growing as high as the moon would let it. At the top of the wooden ladder was a small ledge that helped you into the room, with a fence that was entangled with golden fairy lights. It was made by Lilly's dad and older brother when she was only a baby, and so if you look carefully on the the archway, you can just make out the pen from where the carving would've been. The room was so vast to the pair, beanbags and pillows spread along the distance, and there was a small square hole in the wall where two purple sheets of fabric had been tied either side to become makeshift curtains. It was a haven. Their haven.

As he suspected, Lilly was engulfed in cushions, quietly doodling away in her notebook, he tapped the wall twice before stepping in, and as her eyes shot to him he felt himself shrink in the already large room.

He was just about to open his mouth when Lilly pushed herself out of the cushions and wrapped her arms around him. Confused, Matt slowly hugged her back.

"I'm sorry." He said, slightly muffled in her hair as she was still taller than him.

"I'm sorry too," she pulled away and he took notice of her glassy eyes. "I just-"

Sensing she was about to get emotional, and having no clue what to do when that happens, Matt quickly swung round his backpack, pulling a surplus of fruit roll ups out of it. "I brought your favourite."

Lilly laughed when she saw them, taking one out of his hand and throwing herself back onto the clouds of pillows and duvets they had both created over time. Matt followed suit, leaning his head on her shoulder slightly as they stared out of the hole on the wall.

"Lilly?" He mumbled, dragging the word with a trace of pain.

"Yeah?"

"Who did you put as number one for your form choice?"

"You."

Matt let out a big breath of air, chuckling lightly and finally feeling like he could eat. "Good." He said, unwrapping the sweet. "I was worried you wouldn't pick me."

Lilly sat up to look at him with a confused face. "What are you talking about?" She laughed with a mouth full of sugar. "Of course I'd pick you." She fell back next to him once more.

"I'd always pick you."

SunsetInfatuation