“Hello?” I answered the front door letting in a burst of bone chilling fresh air and found myself face to face with a bright face complete with a smiling pair of amber colored eyes and long brown glossy hair in a side braid.
“You must be Natalie!” the girl smiled, her full lips glossed and bright pink like her nose from the chilly August air. ” I’m Sarah, Ally’s friend!”
“Oh, yeah, I’ve heard about a Sarah!” I said squeezing up against the maroon colored front door and gesturing a friendly hand motioning for her to come in.
“Same ‘bout you!” she smiled brighter and walked past me. “So where is Al?”
“Up in her room I think!” I said biting my bottom lip and observing her outfit.
A yellow V neck sweater that was fitted around her torso matched with a pair of blue jeans that were hanging loosely around some dark red boots.
She tugged on her dark red scarf with yellow stripes on it that hung around her skinny neck.
“Let’s go track her down.” Sarah grabbed my hand and pulled me to the stairs and then let her grasp go and her hand floated gracefully down to her side.
“You’ve got a sister, right?”
“Yeah, Gabby’s her name.” I replied as we walked casually up the twelve steps.
I looked down at my outfit to make sure my blue dress with pink and green flowers wasn’t wrinkled and my white cardigan wasn’t stained.
We got to the landing and then Sarah unzipped her boots and took them off revealing a pair of blue and gray striped knee-high socks. She then scooped up her shoes in a swift motion and put a chipped black fingernail painted finger to the middle of her lips and whispered,” Shhhhh! I’m going to surprise her!”
“Okay?” I question-whispered.
“I just got home from Europe where my dad lives and she doesn’t know I came home yet!” she explained and then said,” I go there every summer.”
“I wish I had a dad who lived in Europe. Well, I wish I had a dad period!” I whispered back with and saddened smile.
“My mom’s dead. But my parents where divorced long before she died. I live with my grandparents who own a few big clothing stores around the state and let me do what ever I want! And then I have dad who wouldn’t come to my funeral if I died! But yet I always go to his house in the summer. Weird, huh!” She shrugged.
As we started up the stairs I whispered,” Guess we aren’t very different, are we?”
“I like you!” she whispered. “I don’t really know you but I declare we’re friends!”
I whisper-giggled and said,” Friends!”
She put her arm around my shoulders and squeezed me. “Friends,” she giggled. “By the way,” she put her hand over her mouth and leaned into my ear and whispered,” You can get some clothes for half the original price if you’re my friend.”
“Thanks! Is that where your outfit came from?” I asked.
“If you look in my closet you’ll find every single piece of Hughman’s clothing. Hughman’s is my last name and the name of the store!”
“Sounds like an interesting life!” I whispered.
We had made it to the top and Sarah swung open the door and we yelled,” SURPRISE!”
Ally nearly jumped out of skin and then she jumped up from the bottom bunk where she had been reading and the friend’s hugged each other and screamed and hugged and screamed and then hugged one last time and then they talked for what seem like an eternity until all of Sarah’s Europe stories had been told and all of Ally’s thoughts had been said.
“I missed you so much!” they kept saying over and over again until it was finally midnight and Aunt Marsha came up stairs and said that Sarah’s grandma called and said she needed to just spend the night.
“Summers are always so quiet without your heavy rock music and you clomping up and down the stairs! I’m always so hungry without your famous cookies!” Aunt Marsha had said after she hugged Sarah and told us good night.
“So,” Sarah looked at me,” What’s your story?”
“Well, I went to a private school in New York City and lived in the suburbs of the NYC in a little gated subdivision called ‘Oak Falls’. All of my friends lived there also and right in the center of Oak Falls there are four fountains and every Saturday night all of the high school and most sixth graders would come and we’d be out there ‘til two in the morning laughing and crap!” I stopped and sighed with a smile. “I never wanted anything more on those Saturday’s than to be at FCF…“
“…FCF? What the heck does that mean?” Ally interrupted peering down at me sitting on my pillow from her position on the bottom bunk, Sarah close by her side.
“Four Center Fountains is what it means but all the teen’s called it FCF.”
“I’ve heard of Oak Falls,” Sarah smiled,” My fourth cousin David tells me all about the small communities when he’s comes home from his real estate business in NYC and he said that only like millionaires lived in Oak Falls!”
“Well, that would be my family!” I giggled.
“Let’s go to bed!” Ally yawned.
“Given!” Sarah and I said at the same time. We giggled and it was decided that on the top bunk Sarah and Ally would share and I’d be where I was every night, under Ally, and now under Sarah also.
Sarah dug in to Ally’s closet and grabbed a pair of blue pajamas with white snowflakes on them and we all changed, are backs to each other.
When I crawled into bed I suddenly missed my old friends, my old parent’s, my old house, and my old…life! I felt the hot tears behind my eyes and so I stuffed my face into my pillow and cried as quietly as I thought possible. I could hear Ally’s light snoring and I whispered,” Are you still awake, Sarah?” Silence was my only reply so I closed my eyes and tried to force the memories behind me.