Ever since I could remember, I had a best friend. His name was Leo. He appeared out of nowhere when I was in kindergarten. I remember, on that day, I was crying because I was sitting all alone on the swings, and no kids would come up and talk to me. All of a sudden, Leo appeared on the swing right next to me and started speaking to me. He was wearing a black T-shirt and cargo shorts that seemed a size too big for him.
“I’m Leo,” he said smiling at me, his dimples showing.
I blinked in surprise and said shyly, “I’m Lilah.”
Leo looked at me and said simply, “Do you want to be friends?”
My cheeks flushed with happiness, “You want to be friends with me?”
“Of course,” he replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, “I need a friend too.”
From that day on, we were inseparable. I didn’t realize it, but we both had the same kindergarten teacher, Ms. Weather. He would share the same desk as me, and the teacher wouldn’t mind. When taking quizzes and tests, he would secretly share his answers with me, and no one would notice.
Every time I spoke to him at school, the other kids gave me weird looks and whispered mean things behind my back, but I didn’t care at all. I had a friend, and that was all that mattered. Leo and I did everything together; homework, projects, shopping, and more. I clung to him every day at school. We would sometimes sleep in the same bed together and read bedtime stories to each other. He would hug me and whisper soothing words softly in my ear as I fell asleep.
Soon enough, elementary school passed and middle school came by. However, I still only hung out with Leo. During class, we would draw small doodles on each other’s papers and laugh at them. However, even though I was caught up in a small fantasy with Leo, I couldn’t ignore the whispers and laughter behind my back that got louder and louder by the day. It got so bad that my classmates threw crumpled paper balls at me, wrote on my desk, and pushed and shoved me around. Leo, although with a furious expression on his face, never helped me through. He said he couldn’t do anything but stand back and watch. I knew that he couldn’t, but I was still disappointed.
One day, while we were picking flowers off the side of the road, Leo said to me softly, “Lilah, you need to make more friends you know, I won’t be here forever.”
I grimaced and said, “I don’t need other friends Leo. You are all I need.”
Leo shook his head, “I can’t always be there for you in every aspect. I can’t stop anyone from bullying you or doing anything about it,” he said softly.
“I don’t care,” I said yanking flowers harshly from the ground. “Having one friend is better than being a loner.”
Leo watched me silently with pleading eyes, but I ignored him.
“It isn’t my fault I’m not that good at making new friends. It isn’t my fault people refuse to talk to me,” I continued, scraping the dirt with my nails.
“Or maybe it kind of is,” Leo said quietly. “I don’t see you exactly putting in an effort in socializing.”
“Well, I don’t need other friends!” I threw the flowers I picked on the ground irritably. “I have you and that’s all I need.”
“That’s not the point!” Leo snapped back. “The point is that you don’t have any friends besides me, and you should! You know I’m not always going to be there for you. I can’t! I can’t stand up for you at all when you are being harassed by your stupid classmates. I have to stand by and watch what is happening painfully. If you had friends, they could at least do something about it.”
“Whatever, I don’t care anymore,” I yelled back, stalking back to my house and banging the front door shut.
When I got inside I kicked off my shoes angrily and ran into my room. Tears started leaking out of my eyes, but they weren’t sad tears, they were angry tears. I snorted to myself, “What is with that prick. I’ll show him that I can make friends.” From that day on, Leo and I didn’t speak at all for months to come. I managed to convince myself that I didn’t care at all, not one bit.
Sooner or later, high school rolled around. It was a new school with new people and a new me. Leo’s words were still fresh in my mind. I wanted to prove him wrong. As soon as I walked in my brand-new class, I made an effort to talk to two girls standing in a corner. I found out that their names were Lia and Summer. After a bit of conversation, my new teacher, Mr. Hollis, rang the bell, signaling the start of class.
You’re really cool,” Summer said, smilingly at me as we sat down in our seats. “Wanna hang out and go shopping after school?”
I blinked, visibly gaping at her. No one had ever asked me to hang out before. “Uh, yeah sure!” I said awkwardly.
The three of us spent around 3 hours after school and honestly, I had never been happier. Lia and Summer cared about my opinion and were really friendly. It was my first time shopping with people my age and wow, was it fun.
“We’ve got to do this again,” I gushed to Lia as we exited the mall.
“Of course,” Lia said laughing. “Jeez, I didn’t know you enjoyed shopping that much.”
Summer shook her head and laughed behind her.
As time went on, I started forgetting about Leo. He didn’t make many appearances either. On the rare occasion that he did, he would just sit silently in a corner and watch me. I stubbornly ignored him as well. After all, Summer and Lia were great. They stood up for me when I was being pushed around, hung out with me, and cared about me. They were amazing friends and that was all that mattered.
One day, while I was doing my homework, Leo appeared in front of me. He had a sad little smile on his face and wore a weary expression.
“What’s up?” I said grumpily. “We haven’t talked in ages.”
“You don’t need me anymore,” he said simply, “so you didn’t need to talk to me.”
“Yes but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to!” I muttered in a small voice, crumpling up a piece of paper in a fit of rage.
“You have real friends now,” he argued back softly, touching my shoulder lightly.
“Shut up, you’re a real friend too,” I glared at him.
He sighed. “You know I’m not. I was just temporary. I can feel myself slowly disappearing.” He looked at his hands and they did seem slightly transparent.
“What do you mean?” I said slowly looking up at him.
“It means I’m not coming back again. I’m leaving and I know you can feel it too,” he said sadly.
I nodded slowly and understanding filled my mind. I stared at him, and he stared back, and all that it was silence for a couple of minutes. After a while, I whispered, “ I’ll miss you so much. You were always there for me, and I will never forget you.”
“I will always miss you too. Goodbye,” he said as he left my bedroom and quietly shut the door.
My heart ached a bit of sadness, but I did not cry, nor did I beg or call for him to come back. I knew it was time for me to move on, make real friends, and have fun with real people.
These days, I still look back at him and thank him for everything he did for me. He was there when I needed him— when I was lonely and needed a friend. I’m glad he was there for me, but now, he is a part of me again. I would never forget him. he will always have a special place in my heart.
The end
“I’m Leo,” he said smiling at me, his dimples showing.
I blinked in surprise and said shyly, “I’m Lilah.”
Leo looked at me and said simply, “Do you want to be friends?”
My cheeks flushed with happiness, “You want to be friends with me?”
“Of course,” he replied with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes, “I need a friend too.”
From that day on, we were inseparable. I didn’t realize it, but we both had the same kindergarten teacher, Ms. Weather. He would share the same desk as me, and the teacher wouldn’t mind. When taking quizzes and tests, he would secretly share his answers with me, and no one would notice.
Every time I spoke to him at school, the other kids gave me weird looks and whispered mean things behind my back, but I didn’t care at all. I had a friend, and that was all that mattered. Leo and I did everything together; homework, projects, shopping, and more. I clung to him every day at school. We would sometimes sleep in the same bed together and read bedtime stories to each other. He would hug me and whisper soothing words softly in my ear as I fell asleep.
Soon enough, elementary school passed and middle school came by. However, I still only hung out with Leo. During class, we would draw small doodles on each other’s papers and laugh at them. However, even though I was caught up in a small fantasy with Leo, I couldn’t ignore the whispers and laughter behind my back that got louder and louder by the day. It got so bad that my classmates threw crumpled paper balls at me, wrote on my desk, and pushed and shoved me around. Leo, although with a furious expression on his face, never helped me through. He said he couldn’t do anything but stand back and watch. I knew that he couldn’t, but I was still disappointed.
One day, while we were picking flowers off the side of the road, Leo said to me softly, “Lilah, you need to make more friends you know, I won’t be here forever.”
I grimaced and said, “I don’t need other friends Leo. You are all I need.”
Leo shook his head, “I can’t always be there for you in every aspect. I can’t stop anyone from bullying you or doing anything about it,” he said softly.
“I don’t care,” I said yanking flowers harshly from the ground. “Having one friend is better than being a loner.”
Leo watched me silently with pleading eyes, but I ignored him.
“It isn’t my fault I’m not that good at making new friends. It isn’t my fault people refuse to talk to me,” I continued, scraping the dirt with my nails.
“Or maybe it kind of is,” Leo said quietly. “I don’t see you exactly putting in an effort in socializing.”
“Well, I don’t need other friends!” I threw the flowers I picked on the ground irritably. “I have you and that’s all I need.”
“That’s not the point!” Leo snapped back. “The point is that you don’t have any friends besides me, and you should! You know I’m not always going to be there for you. I can’t! I can’t stand up for you at all when you are being harassed by your stupid classmates. I have to stand by and watch what is happening painfully. If you had friends, they could at least do something about it.”
“Whatever, I don’t care anymore,” I yelled back, stalking back to my house and banging the front door shut.
When I got inside I kicked off my shoes angrily and ran into my room. Tears started leaking out of my eyes, but they weren’t sad tears, they were angry tears. I snorted to myself, “What is with that prick. I’ll show him that I can make friends.” From that day on, Leo and I didn’t speak at all for months to come. I managed to convince myself that I didn’t care at all, not one bit.
Sooner or later, high school rolled around. It was a new school with new people and a new me. Leo’s words were still fresh in my mind. I wanted to prove him wrong. As soon as I walked in my brand-new class, I made an effort to talk to two girls standing in a corner. I found out that their names were Lia and Summer. After a bit of conversation, my new teacher, Mr. Hollis, rang the bell, signaling the start of class.
You’re really cool,” Summer said, smilingly at me as we sat down in our seats. “Wanna hang out and go shopping after school?”
I blinked, visibly gaping at her. No one had ever asked me to hang out before. “Uh, yeah sure!” I said awkwardly.
The three of us spent around 3 hours after school and honestly, I had never been happier. Lia and Summer cared about my opinion and were really friendly. It was my first time shopping with people my age and wow, was it fun.
“We’ve got to do this again,” I gushed to Lia as we exited the mall.
“Of course,” Lia said laughing. “Jeez, I didn’t know you enjoyed shopping that much.”
Summer shook her head and laughed behind her.
As time went on, I started forgetting about Leo. He didn’t make many appearances either. On the rare occasion that he did, he would just sit silently in a corner and watch me. I stubbornly ignored him as well. After all, Summer and Lia were great. They stood up for me when I was being pushed around, hung out with me, and cared about me. They were amazing friends and that was all that mattered.
One day, while I was doing my homework, Leo appeared in front of me. He had a sad little smile on his face and wore a weary expression.
“What’s up?” I said grumpily. “We haven’t talked in ages.”
“You don’t need me anymore,” he said simply, “so you didn’t need to talk to me.”
“Yes but that doesn’t mean I don’t want to!” I muttered in a small voice, crumpling up a piece of paper in a fit of rage.
“You have real friends now,” he argued back softly, touching my shoulder lightly.
“Shut up, you’re a real friend too,” I glared at him.
He sighed. “You know I’m not. I was just temporary. I can feel myself slowly disappearing.” He looked at his hands and they did seem slightly transparent.
“What do you mean?” I said slowly looking up at him.
“It means I’m not coming back again. I’m leaving and I know you can feel it too,” he said sadly.
I nodded slowly and understanding filled my mind. I stared at him, and he stared back, and all that it was silence for a couple of minutes. After a while, I whispered, “ I’ll miss you so much. You were always there for me, and I will never forget you.”
“I will always miss you too. Goodbye,” he said as he left my bedroom and quietly shut the door.
My heart ached a bit of sadness, but I did not cry, nor did I beg or call for him to come back. I knew it was time for me to move on, make real friends, and have fun with real people.
These days, I still look back at him and thank him for everything he did for me. He was there when I needed him— when I was lonely and needed a friend. I’m glad he was there for me, but now, he is a part of me again. I would never forget him. he will always have a special place in my heart.
The end
