#1 Best Friend Forever

After breakfast was consumed and the dishes were cleaned and returned to their proper cupboards, the four of us went into the living room where we sat around looking at each other like we weren’t sure what we should be doing now.

Mike turned on the TV at Nick’s request; he wanted to see the score from some game that played the night before. Once Nick found out his team lost badly, Mike flipped through the stations, stopping every now and then to watch a couple minutes of some show or another.

I was bored, I didn’t want to sit around watching TV all day long, I could do that at home, so I asked Mike what he would be doing if we weren’t here this morning.

“This,” he nodded towards the TV. “I don’t get the chance to relax and watch TV too much anymore.”

Nick and Mike started to talk about TV shows – which ones they loved, which ones they hated and ones they wished were still on the air. They had gotten up to check out the TV shows that Mike had on DVD when I turned to Jordan who had sat in the recliner over in the corner by the balcony doors when we came into the living room. He hadn’t said a word since breakfast; I thought he had fallen asleep but he was staring out the window, looking like he lost his best friend.

“Hey,” He slowly turned his head to look at me, with a weary smile on his face; he started to shift in the recliner as I pulled up the foot stool to the rocker not too far from us. “I don’t think it would be wise for us to sit like that anymore,” I said softly, knowing that was what he moved for. His smile turned into a frown, something dark flashed in his eyes but he didn’t say anything as I sat down on the stool, he just moved back into place in the recliner, closing his eyes.

“Are you tired?” He shook his head.

“Are you bored?” He shrugged.

“Are you mad at me?”

He sighed, “No Anna,” but his eyes remained closed.

“Oh,” I glanced over my shoulder at Nick and Mike; they had returned to the couch but still were talking about TV shows. “Was this what you had in mind when you decided to come here today?”

Opening his eyes, he looked at the guys; “Sure,” he shrugged. “They look like they are enjoying themselves.”

“What about you? You started out this morning with so much energy and happiness but now…” I sighed. “Jordan what’s going on with you?”

“Everything is fine Anna.”

“Yeah right,” I scoffed. “You are very moody, it’s not like you.”

Jordan stared at me for a while before finally looking away, “It’s nothing Anna. Don’t worry about it.”

I rolled my eyes. “Jordan please tell me what’s going on?” I waited but he didn’t turn back to me. “Jordy please? You used to tell me everything,” I chuckled thinking about some of the stuff he used to tell me. “And I mean everything!”

That got him to look at me. “We used to be close too,” he shifted in the recliner like he did when I first came over, I didn’t move. “But things have changed too much it seems.”

“Is it really necessary?” I asked him. He didn’t speak but he nodded. “Fine!” I jumped off the footstool and quickly slid over the arm of the recliner, slipping down next to him, “Now tell me what’s going on!” I demanded once I was seated uncomfortably with him, everything from our shoulders down touching as we both sat angled with the arm of the chair pressing into our backs.

Jordan smiled, “You know,” he lifted his hand to my face, tucking a loose curl behind my ear before stroking his fingertips over my cheek. “I feel very close to you now,” his hand dropped to rest on his hip again. “I’ve missed you so much in the last couple months Anna.”

“I didn’t go anywhere Jordy, I’ve always been around.”

He shook his head, “No you did go somewhere, you moved out of the house and it’s been really lonely there without you.”

“I’m sorry but…” he held up his hand, covering my mouth so I couldn’t talk.

“Let me finish,” he asked as he dropped his hand once again. “I know it’s partly my fault,” I raised a brow and he chuckled. “Ok, it’s totally my fault; I became a little crazy there for a while. I don’t know what came over me, you had boyfriends before, it’s not like I was ever left in the dust but for some reason, with Josh, I thought that you would forget about me completely and I didn’t want that.”

“How could I forget you Jordy? You are my best friend that will never change.”

“I know,” he puffed out his chest proudly and grinned. “I may not wear the ribbon but I do still have it.”

“You still have that?” I was surprised; I made him a ribbon when we were in grade three that proclaimed him as my ‘#1 Best Friend Forever’. “I thought you would’ve thrown that out years ago!”

“Not at all,” Jordan smiled. “I hold on to it to rub in Nick’s face when he would get cocky and say he was your best friend.”

“That’s just mean,” I laughed.

“Yeah,” he agreed. “But the little bugger was getting cocky; I had to do something to knock him down a peg or two.”

I shook my head, about to say something but Jordan’s smile disappeared and he got all serious again. “I dug the ribbon out this week, glued a magnet on the back and stuck it on my fridge.”

“Oh?” I raised a brow. “Why did you do that?”

“I wanted too,” he told me.

“Why?” I hoped that he was getting to what has been bugging him; I really wanted to help him out.

He lifted his green eyes upwards until they met my brown ones. “I really needed you but you weren’t around.”

“You could’ve called me Jordan; I would…what do you mean ‘no’?” He was shaking his head. “Why couldn’t you call me?”

“Because of Josh.”

I groaned, “Jordan Josh wouldn’t –”

“He made it pretty clear to me when I ran into him a couple weeks ago and asked about you, that he didn’t want me to have anything to do with you. He told me that you were happy and he wanted you to syay that way.”

“That doesn’t mean that he doesn’t want you around me!” I exclaimed. “Jordy, Josh wouldn’t stop me from hanging out with you or talking to you or anything.”

“But he has, hasn’t he? I barely hear from you anymore and when I do try to call you are with him or going to see him or thinking about him.” His hand slipped to mine, his fingers playing with mine. “We used to sit like this all the time, we used to talk until the sun came up but since he’s come into your life, there’s a wall up between us. If he was here, I wouldn’t be allowed this close to you. If he were here, I wouldn’t be able to talk to you. And damn it Anna!” He lifted my hand up, slipping his fingers between mine as he tugged me forward until I was in his arms.

“Jordan!” I pressed my hands against his chest about to push away from him but something in his eyes made me stop.

“I really needed you lately Anna, I need your friendship and your laughter but you aren’t around.”

I was going to tell him he could’ve called me but it was redundant, he knew that and saying it wouldn’t move things along, so instead I asked, “Why did you need me so badly Jordan?”

He released me, his arms fell away and he drew back a little. “I need you to help me through this Anna.”

“Help you through what Jordan? I need to know what’s going on before I can begin to help you.”

“Help me,” he slipped his hand over mine which still rested against his chest. “Being young is bad enough, but…”

“But what?”

He closed his eyes for a moment, when he reopened them; they were glistening as tears threatened to spill. “I don’t want to die alone.”