Friend or Fiction

Friend or Fiction — page 7 — Dad consulted with an energy company whatever that meant But instead of a stretch and a snack we stayed in Tiveda for a full night of sleep and a full day of meals Over and over and over again As U-Hauls pulled in and pulled out we stayed right where we were And now we were officially stuck in a town that had a different mailman every other day three stores that were considered the mall and zero flowers because whenever anybody planted some they left when the seeds needed care the most In my opinion you should be able to know the name of the person delivering your mail Three stores did not make a mall And was it really that hard to stay long enough for a flower to bloom Because of all this I was about to give up on ever having a best friend when Vanessa joined my always changing little class toward the end of fourth grade Her smile was warm and friendly Plus she had a giant giant collection of candles that she really wanted to show off and I really wanted to see something besides all my own junk She invited me over right away and soon we had an after-school tradition every day to just hang out Sometimes we’d spend hours lining up the candles from favorite to least favorite Or 7

Friend or Fiction — page 8 — most smelly to least smelly Or tallest to shortest We never ran out of ways Nessa was planning a gigantic birthday party well as gigantic as you could get around here and I helped her get everything ready It was going to be at one of those places where the whole room was a big trampoline I had never been to a place like that before and it sounded totally amazing And it was only fifteen minutes away so maybe we could go back sometime Every day after school we would cross a day off her cute dog calendar Everything was about jumping and candles and best-friend fun Everything was fun at home too Dad was happy Mom was happy My little brother Bo was only three so he was extra cute and hilarious We were supposed supposed to move soon too to a more forever kind of place in Denver Maybe we’d even get a dog So that’s why it was a pretty big surprise when Mom and Bo picked me up from the birthday party five minutes after Nessa’s parents brought us there We have to go to the hospital Mom said in a loud scared voice the kind that made all the trampoline trampoline jumping people stop and stare I hadn’t even finished taking off my shoes Why I asked What’s going on 8

Friend or Fiction — page 9 — I’ll explain in the car she said Go say goodbye to your friends Somehow I made my way over to Nessa even though my legs felt like noodles and my stomach had leapt to my throat I have to go I said My voice barely eked out I don’t know why Nessa made a face like she’d just taken a bite of birthday cake only to discover it was really a sour lemon What do you mean I couldn’t see Mom from where I was standing but I could definitely hear her foot tapping by the door Let’s go the taps said They came faster and louder Let’s gooooooooo My mom says I have to I told Nessa Something Something about the hospital Cold air blasted through the room Nessa frowned I don’t get it I swallowed hard I felt ice-sculpture frozen Me either I waited for her to give me a hug or tell me to call her later or something because we were best friends and I obviously didn’t want to go and my leaving was bugging both of us and freaking us both out 9

Friend or Fiction — page 10 — But she didn’t do any of that Instead she crossed her arms and said Best friends do not miss each other’s parties I know My voice switched from shaky to shrieky I don’t want to But Jade Mom called Now please My body tensed It felt like everyone there was jumping on my heart like it was one of the trampolines trampolines I I couldn’t find the right words I couldn’t find any words period And it didn’t matter anyway Because Nessa my very best friend in the whole world had walked away Leaving the party barely felt real Neither did getting in the car putting on my seatbelt or driving to the hospital Mom said a lot of words in the car but they all blurred together Sick Dad Tests Urgent Sickdadtestsurgent Sickdadtestsurgent They sounded like one big blobby word and my heart felt like a big blobby mess How was it possible that your whole family could be so happy and everything could be going so well and you could even be thinking about getting a dog and then just like that you weren’t And how could a best friend who’s supposed to 10

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