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Prologue: Unwritten

Ten years ago,we met high up on a pine tree. We were seven years old. We were young, innocent—pure. That's the way things were for everyone as children, and that's how it should be. What's more was that we were military children, meaning we couldn't stay in one place for very long. Every year we were relocated to some other state in the U.S. or a different country all together. That also meant that I couldn't keep the friends I would make over the years; those times were the hardest for me, but for some reason, after days would pass, I would have already forgotten their names and faces.

The boy I met that day was different: while we both understood what it meant to be military children, we didn't care for that. Something stirred inside of us the day we made eye contact; it was as though we knew something waited for us up ahead. Something clicked. I could feel an unbreakable bond form between us.

It was the first day of school, and recess had finally started. Erik came up with the idea that we play hide-and-seek, to which we could never refuse. I mean, it's hide-and-seek for crying out loud! One of the boys volunteered to be the seeker who'd count to fifty, and as soon as the game commenced, we all made a dash for it.

The majority of the children went for the playground and tried to find places to hide underneath. Others ran to the fence that separated school grounds from the colony of trees that expanded beyond two miles. I went with the more creative (albeit dangerous) route of climbing up on the tallest tree near the basketball court, miles away from "It".

When I reached the top, I heard someone climbing up the same tree, but the person's breath was running short: he or she was struggling to get to the top. When he settled himself on the branch across from me, I was surprised at how...uh...chubby he was. At the same time, I was concerned for his well-being.

"Um...are you okay?" I asked worriedly.

He jolted for a bit and swayed from his position before grabbing hold of the tree. The boy nodded his head fervently.

"I'm amazed you could climb up such a tall tree!" I remarked with much astonishment.

He was quiet for a moment before mumbling, "You aren't mocking me, are you?"

I raised my brows. "Of course not, I'm really amazed! You must be really strong!"

He shook his head. "You can't really mean that..."

Impulsively, I grabbed the boy's full, round cheeks and forced him to make eye contact with me. "Do I look like I'm joking? I'm serious about what I mean, right?" I flashed him a genuine smile followed by an enthusiastic giggle.

The boy finally smiled back, and I retracted my arms away from his face. We looked at each other for a moment and instantly felt a connection between us. He blinked before asking, "What's your name?"

Pointing to myself, I restated the question, "My name?" He nodded. With another grin etched on my face, I replied enthusiastically, "I'm Annabel Daphne, last name pending at the moment! What about you?"

He fell silent and mumbled, "It's embarrassing..."

Raising a brow and cocking my head to the side I asked, "Embarrassing how?" He still didn't respond. "Hmm...if you're still not going to tell me, how about I give you a nickname?"

The boy raised his head, "Like what?"

That was when we heard a group of children speaking among themselves as they searched around the school grounds. "I was so sure we'd find Tubby in no time!"

"I know! Knowing Tubby, he'd probably be in the classroom munching on snacks again! That's probably where he went," a girl commented.

"Or, or, or he's in the bathroom letting it all out! It'll take an hour until he's out of there!" one boy joked.