During lunch, I go to sit with Michael, who was already sat at our usual spot. I sigh and sit down opposite of him. He looks at me for a second, but then looks away again.
"Look, Michael, I get that you're upset, but can we please talk about it?" I ask, trying to keep my voice down as best as I can.
"Yeah, okay, fine," he mumbles, "I guess I just kind of feel left out. I mean, I'm happy you and Naomi are friends again, because I know how much you actually love her. But I guess I just wanted you to tell me. I thought I was your best friend, and I wish I knew. I wish you wouldn't had forgotten about me coming to your place. I wish The Three Musketeers of Riverstone would be three again rather than only two, you know?" he explains, and I guess that makes sense. I take a deep breath, nodding my head.
"I understand, Mike. And I'm honestly so sorry. I wanted to tell you, I just didn't know how. Plus, Naomi doesn't really want to be friends outside of our houses as she cares too much about her popularity and Hemmings and stuff. I also don't really know why she suddenly wants to be friends again," I tell him honestly, glad I finally can.
"Mmh, I guess that is strange," says Michael, "Have you tried asking her?" I shake my head.
"I don't dare to. I'm scared it might drive her away again," I reply in all honesty. We stay silent for a while as he doesn't know what to reply to that, "You want to hang out with us some time? You know, reunite the Three Musketeers of Riverstone?" I ask, causing a smile to tug at his lips. I smile too as he nods his head excitedly.
"I would love that," he says, "But hey, can we hang out tonight with Ash?" Now I nod in response. It's been a while since we hung out together, just the three of us.
Just as promised, the three of us hang out that night at Michael's place. We're sat in his 'man cave', playing videogames most of the night, but we also chat about girls. Ashton tells us about Bryana and how amazing she is. Michael tells us about this girl in Ashton's class. Her name is Crystal and she's older than Michael, but he tells us how sweet and amazing he is. And about how hot she is.
Around midnight, when I'm still with Michael and Ashton, drinking beers and still talking about girls and whatnot, I get a text message.
Nomi
Can u come over? I have a surprise for u 😁
I try my hardest not to smile at the text, so Michael and Ashton don't think I'm ditching them for a girl. I subtly cough and get up from the chair I'm sitting on.
"I'm going to get home, guys," I say, grabbing my stuff.
"Right, okay!" exclaims Ashton, already a little tipsy after his third beer.
"We'll meet at some point during spring break, right?" asks Michael, and I nod.
"Of course, yeah!" I tell him. We bid our goodbyes and I leave Michael's house. I cross the road and walk up the driveway of my neighbour's house, grabbing my phone.
Me
Here! Open the door pls! 😁
The door opens a few seconds later, and Naomi appears in the doorway. She already has her pyjama's on, the ones I've always loved the most; The Little Mermaid on her pants and an old Led Zeppelin shirt. She's had those pants for years, but the shirt has made it to her collection since somewhere last year, I think. I've seen her with it quite a few times.
"Come in!" she says excitedly but keeps her voice low as her parents are probably asleep. She grabs my hand and pulls me inside. We run up the stairs and up to the attic. For a second, I thought we were going to the music room and play some tunes, but instead, she takes me to what once was her playroom. The room where we used to play with all her and Nathan's toys, where we used to play pretend, where we used to build dens and hang out in.
I thought they used this room for storage, and I'm right. There are boxes piled up in big towers, adorning the walls, but right in the middle is the most beautiful thing I've ever seen. A white sheet is pinned up to the ceiling and walls to form some sort of a tent. With fairy lights decorating the sheet, lighting up the entire room. On the inside, there are pillows and blankets piled up, and her laptop is propped up on a small table.
"Naomi, what the hell?" I whisper-shout, looking at the girl next to me. She has a wide smile on her face, one as bright as the fairy lights around the den.
"I remembered how we used to spend so much time building dens when we were younger, so I thought; why not do it again? We could watch some movies and just hang out," she explains to me with a smile and a sparkle in her eyes.
"This is amazing!" I tell her, smiling too.
We both settle in the den, trying to be as quiet as possible as her parents were still asleep just a level below us. We started watching Ratatouille, but that quickly changed as we were constantly just talking, mostly just reminiscing about the early days. It started with how many times we had watched Ratatouille and how underrated the movie is. Then, we proceeded to talk about other things we used to do when we were younger, telling old stories we were both part of, like the Pocahontas Vegemite story and how we always played either mommy and daddy or band. 'Band' was our favourite play pretend game. It's where we – including Michael – used to pretend to play instruments and sing. We talked about the first time we met, and how we almost killed her with our football and how she didn't throw us under the bus, not telling her mom we did it.
At the end, we were softly singing the songs we used to sing and listen to. Her head is resting on my shoulder, and I'm pretty certain she'll fall asleep soon. We're currently humming landslide, as both of us are too tired to actually sing it.
It's been a while since I've felt this happy, since I've felt any true, genuine happiness at all. I feel like a child again, building dens with my best friend and having the most fun one can have. Feeling like I've found my place at home. Like I've found the place I truly feel myself, a place where I don't need to feel afraid of being me, where I don't need to worry about people judging me. A place I feel free, happy, at home.
Chapter 8
Start from the beginning
