𝗦𝗜𝗡𝗖𝗘𝗥𝗘𝗟𝗬, 𝗡𝗢𝗕𝗢𝗗𝗬⤻ ᵐᶦᵏᵉ ʷʰᵉᵉˡᵉʳ

[000] forgotten memories of our youth.

Kody knew what 'moving away' meant. He'd be lying if he said he wasn't just a teeny, tiny bit excited, because moving away means a new house, and a new neighborhood, and a new school, and new friends, which were all great in his eyes. How couldn't they be? But he also knew that 'moving away' also means scary interactions with strangers and getting used to new roads, and a lot of goodbyes to a lot of people who he had known for his whole life and who he'd probably never see again.

Which was why Kody was crying on the warm morning of July twelfth, as his father carried the last of the boxes out of his home (well, not anymore) and into the trunk of their beige station wagon. He hugged his friends tighter than he'd ever hugged them before, and he reminded them, each and every one, of his phone number, and where they were going to be moving, and that he wanted to hear from them every chance they got, because they were the best friends he'd ever had despite the fact that he's a little over a year older than all of them.

And Mike had nodded furiously, and Will had repeated the plan back to Kody to confirm, and Lucas had wrapped the boy in a tight hug one last time, because they wanted all of that, too. They wanted to call every day because they already missed him so much, and they wanted to hear him talk about his adventures on the sunny beaches of California, and they wanted to tell him what fourth grade was like even though he had already gone through it himself. And everything was going to be just like normal. It was fine, the only difference being that Kody Vandal was no longer a five-minute bike ride away anymore.

Kody thinks, even now, that it was a good plan. Was it naive? Sure, but they were just kids. And to kids, anything seems possible. A few phone calls is nothing. It was absolutely foolproof. They'd still be the best of friends, and it would've been perfect - if they had actually gone through with it.

Because even though Kody Vandal had phoned Mike Wheeler practically the second he and his family reached their new house in California and told him all about how pretty the beaches were and how much he missed them already, the boys soon learned that nothing lasts forever. July washed away like the sand on the shores that Kody loved so much, and before long, he was a fifth grader. He befriended Roman Mullard, the boy who lived just a few houses down on his block. And through Roman, Kody met his new friend's step-sister Kathleen Donovan, whom they called 'Kit' for short, and Max Mayfield, the girl who was like Kody in an uncanny amount of ways.

And Mike, Lucas, and Will entered fourth grade together and they met Dustin Henderson, and they thought he was funny and sweet and he was welcomed into their friend group almost instantly. And even though the boys told themselves that Dustin was not a replacement for Kody, they still allowed the curly-haired boy to sit in the same wooden chair that Kody would always sit in, and wear the same costume that Kody would always wear during their campaigns until Kody was no longer a part of the group, and it was Dustin instead.

But Kody's happy in California. Really, he is. His favorite space in all of Clovis is Roman's bedroom, since it's their main hangout spot when they don't want to actually go into town (not that there's much to do anyway). Sometimes, Kit will put on a record and they'll all dance around while they giggle and push each other around playfully. Other times they'll just sit in their own spaces quietly, never saying anything but at the same time, saying everything.

Today is one of the quiet days. And lying here on the carpeted floor of Roman's bedroom is nice, Kody thinks. Kit is sitting at Roman's desk, her fingers spread apart as she paints them each with a slick brush of lavender nail polish. Roman is sitting criss-crossed on his bed with an open book that Kody doesn't bother to retain the name of in his lap. And Max is right beside Kody, lying on her back, her fingers wrapped around his. It's a scene that they've been in many times before. Sometimes it'll be Max who sits at the desk and rambles about the stupid boys who she saw at the arcade that afternoon, or Kody who jumps onto the bed where Roman is lying and begins to wrestle with the boy, despite the fact that he's significantly taller and stronger than Kody is.