Young Writers Society

"Just give up now, Nora! You'll never catch me!" Skylar said, not even out of breath as he ran away from me. We were playing hide-and-seek-tag. I know, I know, what are two 16-year-olds doing playing hide-and-seek? Well, it's fun, okay?!

I found him hiding in between bushes, now the problem was catching him. I was fast and athletic, but he was more so. He was insanely fast and could run forever without having to stop. Me, I was already out of breath and getting that awful pain in my stomach.

"Oh yeah?" I said pushing harder across the grass of my huge backyard, and giving all I had to catch up to him. I was inches away from him in seconds. He pushed harder and we were circling around one of my mother's flower gardens. We were caught in a stalemate. Every time I went toward him he moved the other way.

"Oh yeah? What now, Curtis?" Skylar said, addressing me by my last name. I smiled.

"Oh I'm going to get you. Don't worry," I winked at him. "So wait... Skylar, what was that car you wanted?" His eyes lit up when I metioned cars. Skylar LOVED cars. He probably knew everything there is to know about them.

"A Jaguar! Or a Maserati! I really can't decide! They're both..." He went on about how great the are, giving me enough time to cut across to him and jump on his back.

"Gotcha!" I shouted in victory, hugging him closer to me.

"Yeah, well you better hide. And hide good, because as soon as I find you... You're dead," He smiled, let me down, and gave me a little push. I laughed and ran away after he covered his face and started to count to 30. I ran all the way around to the front of my house. I glanced in the window and saw Skylar's mother and my mother talking and laughing like the great friends they've always been.

"Skylar and Nora are so cute together out there playing hide-and-seek!" My mother chuckled. "I'm so happy they've stayed this close for this long!" At the mention of our friendship, it brought back memories of when we were little. Around four, probably, running around my back yard doing the exact same thing we were doing now. Our families have always been close and see eachother often.

My second favorite memory was probably when Skylar and I were seven years old. It was over the summer and we had been swimming in his pool all night.

"Nora! I have to show you something!" He called, running over to me, something cupped in his hands.

"What is it?" My eyes lit up with curiousity. Slowly, he spread his hands apart. I screamed and pushed his hands away. "Ew! I don't want to see a bug!" I yelled in my childish voice.

"No, no, no! It's a firefly! Look!" He let it go, and seconds after it lit up and bright green color. My eyes widened. He quickly caught it again before it flew too high. "See? I knew you'd like it, and I know you hate bugs. I wouldn't show it to you if I didn't think you'd think it was awesome." He smiled. I smiled back. "C'mon! There's a few in the way back! Let's go catch them!" The rest of the night we caught fireflies, ran around, and laughed. That night was the first night I ever saw a firefly. That night was also the night I developed my first crush.

Now, my all time favorite memory was my eighth birthday party. I had a ton of kids over to play, and when most of them had gone home, Skylar and his mother were still here. Skylar said he had to give me my present still.

"It's in the house! I'll be RIGHT back! Wait here!" He said, running into the house. He came out holding a little box wrapped in purple paper. "Open it!" He said with an excited look on his face. I opened it, excited too, to find one of the most beautiful necklaces ever. I was only 8, but even then I could tell how pretty it was. It had a silver chain and a small amythest as the pendant in the shape of a heart. I gave him a huge hug, practically tackling him to the ground. That's how much I loved the necklace. He leaned in a gave me a small peck on the cheek. From that day on, he acted as my best friend, my protector, and eventually, my boyfriend. From that day on, I have never once taken off the necklace.

Suddenly I was lifted up bridal style by a pair of strong arms. I stared up into the loving, green eyes of Skylar Lawrence Booker. We continued to stare at eachother a moment longer, before he whispered, "Gotcha," and kissed me softly on the lips. Every kiss, every touch left a tingling on my body. After all these years, I still haven't gotten used to how much I loved this kid.

Skylar placed me down and I ran away. "Betcha can't catch me now that I'm running!" I yelled back at him. He followed after, just to prove how wrong I was. He caught me. He picked me up from behind and swung me around. I laughed and squirmed. He put me down, but still hugged me close. He gently kissed my forehead. I sat down on the lawn and stared up at the sky. Skyler lay down next to me. My hands played with my necklace. Skylar just chuckled.

"I can get you a new necklace," he started. "I gave you that when we were eight. You wear it all the time," He was smiling.

"Yeah, well... I love it. It has a special meaning," I stated, smiling up at him.

"Oh? And what's that?" His hand had found my cheek and he ran his thumb across my lower lip. It sent shivers down my spine, and heated my face.

"It means... That... I love you," I said. He leaned in a kissed me, really kissed me, on the lips.

"I love you, too," he said, breathing heavily. We were silent for a while, just enjoying being with eachother as we always did. You could see the blue sky above slowly fading into a mix of pinks and oranges.

"So, Vince is having a party this Saturday, you know, for the end of the summer," Skylar started, breaking the silence. Vince Williams found a reason to have a party almost every weekend. "Do you want to go?" He asked, sitting up on his elbows.

"I would, but... Sophie has chemo..." My face fell. I always hated talking about Sophie and her luekemia. She was my 10-year-old little sister, and if I could, I would change places with her in a heart beat. I didn't think it was fair for a little girl to have cancer. It was such a horrible thought, and even more horrible that out of all of the people on this planet, MY little sister had cancer. Thinking about it practically brought tears to my eyes.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry." Skylar knew my pain, and felt it almost as much as I did. Since we've known eachother forever, Sophie was practically a sister to him, too. He sat up all the way, and kissed my cheek. I forced a smile. "You can still go." I didn't want him to feel like he couldn't go without me.

"Why would I?" He asked.

"I don't know. To hang out with your friends?" I said.

"Okay... But what's the point without you?" He smiled. I playfully hit him in the arm.

"Just go. Have fun," I insisted.

"Yeah, maybe. I'll think about it," Skylar replied back. "But, I still think it'll be no fun without you." He stood up and brushed off his pants. He extended his arm out to me and pulled me up. "It's getting buggy," Skylar said, insisting on going inside. Before entering the house, Skylar picked a flower- and orange lily- from one of the many gardens that flooded my backyard, and handed it to me. I couldn't help but smile at him. He tucked a strand of hair behind my ears- cliche, I know. But cute none-the-less.

I followed after him into my house. Our mothers were still sitting at the table, drinking iced tea, and laughing about something us kids would never understand. Same old story.