Forever Mates

Chapter 17

Jason Holtz was always the funniest guy. He had a great sense of humor and an amazing face to go with it. All the girls in our old school used to swoon over him. I spent 2nd to 8th grade with this guy and then mom had to move because the werewolf secret was getting too hard to keep. Jason had to move as well because he was a werewolf to, but his mother didn’t come with us. My aunt Diana didn’t have the luxury of following her sister in law.

You heard correctly. Aunt Diana……..which means Jason’s my cousin and more importantly, one of my greatest friends. Admittedly I don’t have many.

                Good old Jason was used to my bone crushing hugs by now but that didn’t stop him from getting the breath knocked out of his body. Eventually he managed to get enough air and strength to squeeze me as tight as I was squeezing him “Hey squirt how you been?”

I pulled away from him slightly to punch his shoulder “Don’t call me squirt.”

He chuckled “Whatever. I really missed you shortcake.”

I smiled at his words; my anger melted away “Aww I missed you to Quackers.”

                We had a story behind our ridiculous nicknames. The first time I went to Jason’s house for dinner was definitely a night to remember. Everything went pretty well and I was having a lot of fun until desert. Aunt Diana gave us all a slice of homemade strawberry shortcake. I was happily eating it when Jason decided to scare me from behind. I screamed and lurched forward. Unfortunately I was in front of a table so my face went flying into the heavenly piece of strawberry shortcake. It was one of the most embarrassing nights of my life and the reason I haven’t eaten shortcake to this day.

                I got back at my devious cousin a week later.  Well……..i really didn’t do anything so we’ll say karma got back at him. Both of us were at the duck pond and I was still a little miffed about the whole cake incident. Nonetheless I decided to hang out with Jason that day. Two little baby ducks swam up to me with their beaks open. I threw them a little piece of bread and they gobbled it up.

                It was heartwarming watching them swim back to their mother with a satisfied look on their faces. Jason wasn’t as lovey dovey and mushy as I was. He had to be a typical boy and pelted the ducks with bread and rocks. Eventually the mother realized this and waddled out of the water to bite his foot. There’s just something extremely entertaining with watching a duck hanging onto a boy’s foot while it was constantly flailing into the air.

                Eventually Jason fell down and the mother duck went back into the water with her babies.

                Ever since then, he called me shortcake and I called him quackers.

Jason frowned at his old nickname “Hey you know that wasn’t my fault.”

I scoffed “ Oh sure, it was the air that pelted those poor defenseless ducklings.”

“ I was just trying to play battle with them. Everything needs to learn how to fight. Even you shortcake.”

My response was an eye roll “Oh you were only trying to play battle with them? Does that explain why the mother went all ape shit on your sorry butt.”

“Pfft no. She was the general and she had to protect her flanks.”

I punched him lightly on the arm “ Your contradiction is pathetic.”

He chuckled. I could the feel his chest rumble from the laughter “ Wow. I leave for a few years and nothing’s changed. Same old shortcake.”

I looked at him. His jaw line had hardened. The chocolate brown mop of hair on his head was now gorgeously windswept. But his blue eyes still glowed like a child and his personality still reminded me of the ten year old boy I spent a good chunk of my childhood with. Yes he was still the same and so was I. I hugged him tighter “Same old quackers.”