Together (Chris Sturniolo)

29

LILLIANA'S POV

I always wondered what happened between Roman and I.

Our moms were those best friends who wanted to have a kid at the same time so they could be best friends.

They got their wish when Roman and I were born exactly a week apart.

I was older out of the two of us.

From the moment we were born, Roman and I were inseparable.

We had so many plans of things we were going to do together through high school and even college.

All of my earliest memories include him.

Hell, we were those friends who said we'd get married if we weren't by 40.

Later down the line, we met Daisy in first grade and we ere three peas in a pod.

You never saw one of us without someone from our group.

Roman and I were always closer though.

Until we weren't.

It wasn't that he did anything bad that made us stop being friends.

He just slowly stopped talking to Daisy and I little by little.

By December of freshman year, we talked through comments on Instagram.

I'd never admit this to anyone but I still have the high school checklist we made in 8th grade.

I remember it like it was yesterday.

˚ · • . ° .˚ · • . ° .˚ · • . ° . FLASH BACK ˚ · • . ° .˚ · • . ° .˚ · • . ° .

"I always hear things about friends not being friends anymore when high school starts. I don't want that to be us," Roman said as he was going through his back pack.

I flopped onto his bed and sighed.

It was a long day of standardized state tests at school.

"That would never be us. Our moms wouldn't allow it anyway."

Roman laughed and pulled out a folder, piece of paper, and a pen out of his bag.

"I know, I know. But I was thinking more along the lines of a checklist. A whole bunch of things to do so our friendship always stays as fun." Roman walked over to me sitting on his bed and clicked the pen. "any ideas?"

I sat up ad hummed.

" Is this checklist for our friendship or is it to help you organize your quest to popularity?"

Roman gave me a look and jokingly rolled his eyes.

"You know I don't really care about that stuff. Being popular would be a plus but It's not gonna matter at the end of high school."

"I know I'm just messing with you," I laughed and shook my head. "First order of business definitely has to be joining clubs and sports teams."

Roman quickly wrote it down and drew a box next to it.

"I'm gonna do football for sure but do you think I should try lacrosse?"

"Yes! Remember when we were playing it at Dick's and you had perfect control and I couldn't even hold the ball?" I asked as I leaned over to look at the list.