The Fox, The Rose, and The Prince

Werthe

Oliver, Annette, and I settle down under our tree at lunchtime. We always eat here, we always have, and we always will. Thats the thing about Werthe Academie, everything is predictable. We're like tiny adults.

Oliver and I never liked the system and had always misbehaved at school. We'd been friends since forever, but had immediately accepted Annette into our tiny group when she first got accepted in Cours Moyen (I can't remember if it was CM1 or CM2). Now we are in our last year of lycée-terminale, preparing for les baccalaureats, so Annette was not leaving soon.

Oliver quickly climbs the tree, like he always does, Annette and I remaining under it, again as usual. However, Annette doesn't eat like usual. Instead she just picks at the grass absentmindedly.

"You know, today's the day Everything Changed." She continues picking at the grass.

Neither Oliver nor I ask what she means, but she continues anyway.

"Eight years ago, I started my first day here and we met. Seven years ago was the day the Aviator left."

By left she means died, but the story he left us made up for it. In some ways we resemble his characters.

Oliver-the Prince. Not only a spitting image of him, but as friendly and bright as him too. Annette-the Rose. Shy, but once you got to know her, very lovable. And like a Rose, she had her thorns. Me-the Fox. I noticed Things about people you wouldn't expect, secrets they stored away in the backs of their minds. People are very strange Beings.

Silence had fallen over our group.

"I didn't even realize it was today," I managed to say before Annette let a tear rolled down her cheek. The bell rang.

"We have to go. Maybe we can visit his house after school," she says as we hug. It was a Hugging Moment.

But for now, we must return to the real world, and to Werthe Academie.