Why does it matter?

Maple

TW : Suicidal thoughts, in Bold (no swears:/)

Clay's Pov

I thought the only reason I think George is cute, is because his like a little brother, but no. I have a crush on him.

But how can I do that to Maple?!

I love her... right?

I met her at the age of 4.

"Hey! What's your name?" I asked her, she only turned away from me, "Mommy told me not to talk to strangers!" I grabbed her hand, "I'm Clay! And since you know my name, I'm not a stranger anymore! We can talk!"

She smiled, "I'm Maple."

"Well, wanna play tag?" I asked her. "Um." She seems hesitant before suddenly tagging me and running off, yelling, "Tag, your it!"

"Hey, that's cheating!" I sprinted after her, I caught up rather quickly since she's wasn't that much of a fast runner. "Tag!" I shouted, accidentally knocking her over with the shove that was meant to be a light "tag".

"Oops! Are you okay?" I asked her. She frowned and stood up, gripped my shoulders, and shooked me vigorously, then pushed me hard, resulting in me felling to the floor, "Are we even now?" She sat down next to me, "Maybe. But It's not fair for me, you're taller!"

"Well we can also play hide and seek! You can hide!" I suggested. "No. Thank. You." She stood up, dusting her skirt, "I want my mommy." Maple walked off, but I don't want to leave her, so I followed her.

"Why are you following me!" She scowled at me as soon as she realised, "I don't want to leaveee." I pouted. "But what about your mommy?" She's worried about me, I can tell, "I know the way home!" I told her, proudly.

I met her mother. She is a kind-looking woman. Her light brown hair glowed in the afternoon sun, eyes sparkling, she then spoke to me softly, "Clay, was it? Do you want us to take you to your mommy?" I nodded, it's impossible to argue with such a beautiful woman.

So I led them, all the way to my house, my mother's in there waiting for me. She seems surprised when she saw Maple's mother, "Oh my god! Ava Egery is that you?" "Emma Brighton? Long time no see!"

(idk if their names has been revealed, but im too lazy to search)

So apparently our mothers know each other, and they've been chatting on the couch for the last two hours now while me and Maple are playing with rocks outside. "Hey look! I build a sand, no rock castle!" "Aww, but look at mine!"

We became best friends, so did our mothers. We often visit each others and would stay overnight reguraly. I remerber climbing on the roof when our parents are asleep with Maple and we would talk for long, long time.

"Hey Maple." I remerber asking her, "Why are you named after a tree?" "Oh! So my mom told me this just yesterday!" She looked down at the tiles that we're sitting on, "She said that, when she was pregnat, she met a chinese who believed that when people are borned, their names get written on a book that's controled by a demon. And when it's time for someone to die, their names will be crossed out by the demon, but if my name isn't a human name, like if I'm named after an item or an animal, I'll live longer!"