The Chikamori Selfacy (A Reboot)
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-451kWfI6hzI/X8bPPtEyeVI/AAAAAAAAk54/KB3_SyRJ73IFG8EkSAmOkYAyCBOz1giwgCK4BGAYYCw/s1600/ChikamoriSelfacyReboot_banner.png Prologue: June 12, 1970; Sacred Spleen Hospital...
Forum Discussion
The Chikamori Selfacy
Generation One - Chapter Two
Part Two
Haruo finally returned home late that evening having kicked a kick-bag around at the gym and beating on the Muk Yang Jong and getting out his anger on the exercise machines, The frustration behind his anger was the idea that it appeared as though the two would no longer be able to share the most convenient ability to be able to just knock on the door to her room in their house to see if the other was willing to hang out together and study or watch TV or to come to dinner. Depending on how far Haruo's parents and uncle decided was the location of the ideal home it could mean that he could potentially lose River to geographical restrictions on feasibility of holding on to their friendship. And that was not a palatable thought in the slightest.
River had to understand her best friend’s reticence to such a move so River told him that they were going out to the festival at Central Park and that they would take the opportunity to talk to each other to come to an understanding as to each of their positions in regards to the move.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AELgOpb8rmw/X8Q0nB9lY5I/AAAAAAAAkxM/hnzr-yhaU5cYr1GcF8jP52o-_yrh8_rrQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-107.jpg
"I know this idea of a move is eating you up..." River started, not wanting to start a verbal argument.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6XbDOxI_PzY/X8Q1IpCBokI/AAAAAAAAkxU/f5DQuXSnvqMo7F9cVZLrxFWdxvla5X5fgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-112.jpg
Haruo let out a deep sigh of frustration then admitted, "It's not the move in itself..." he said shortly. He let out an irritable snort waving his hand, "It's just the bloody way that Dad let me know about this whole thing..." he couldn't admit it to himself that he had feelings towards River; she was his best friend in the world and he'd heard too many stories about being let down when a person opened up to their best friend and got stuck in what was now known as the friend-zone. Better to keep his feelings to himself and let things keep going as they were, "...that, oh we're moving...in one month, and that we're off to someplace new, like nothing mattered as far as what we wanted."
"But you know that we can't stay at that place...as much as the memories that we have there are concerned. It's just too small of a place..." River tried to rationalize it.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2NTk80pNZOA/X8Q2yfmWQsI/AAAAAAAAkxg/i0znpJ70YigvFyqRl9olS20AeAX2yLyYwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-108.jpg
"I know, Haruo, it's a shock." she continued, "But it's not like it's the end of the world."
"Well, it very well could be..." Haruo huffed. River resisted the urge to laugh; it wouldn't go over well, and Haruo was being ridiculous, but she knew that he felt secure in their currrent home and the fact that he was now being uprooted from a situation where he was comfortable in was causing him pain and uncertainty. She thought to herself, When he sticks his roots in to someplace, he sticks them deep and doesn't like being uprooted and relocated somewhere else.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V8z3parPRqI/X8Q3foTEc7I/AAAAAAAAkxo/Uo_Q9nTEnUUzNHRoYtDFKfHKdw-567oLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-114.jpg
As they sat and looked at the festival lot going up for opening next day, Haruo sighed and said, "I wish that we could have stayed at that place forever. I would have felt better that way."
River resisted the urge to put her arms around him, to call him, sweetheart and contented herself with sitting quietly beside him just saying softly, "I know..."
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FWHq7Pa9U8A/X8Q6NsN6h2I/AAAAAAAAkyA/HprOzd8qjyUH-eSU6jn2wgVrK1U8N8HcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-119.jpg
After this summer would be their sophomore year, the transition point between being considered a junior high schooler and transitioning into senior high school for their junior and senior years; the last two years of secondary school; it was said that the majority of students had to look towards their potential career aspirations. This was the point in life where they were going to pick their road they planned to travel in their future endeavors and that was going to involve much soul-searching. Haruo on the other hand was having major school problems with comprehension of maths. His ability to do redundant home-work was very low and he struggled with the subject. So it was with some trepidation that he would enter his sophomore year in the fall of 1985 with a determination to work hard no matter what his mother had to say about his personal study habits.
In the month preceding the move, Haruo and River spent as much time with each other as they could, whether it was down at Central Park watching the fish swimming around in the pond; bogarting an apple or a lime from the trees in the park. Or hanging around the food kiosks during the seasonal festivals in the park. After all there were lots of things that needed doing but for the teens, being together was what assuaged any apprehensions that either had of Haruo's impending move. Studying together also helped. Just the mere physical closeness was comforting to each other.
What Haruo hadn’t realized months earlier was that Yasunobu had keeping his eyes open around the area and he’d noticed a by the sudden appearance of an “in development” sign on the property next door. – a triplex just next door, a perfect solution to their space problems. And while the adults in Haruo's family considered the possibility of an easy move to a house under construction;
Unbeknownst to Haruo and River and to Haruo's mother's ever increasing ire, Yasunobu had conversed with Fiona and he had offered to go hand in hand with the purchase of what was now known as the starting of a new triplex which was to be built on that next door vacant lot. The Chikamoris would attempt to locate a bridge mortgage based on Yasunobu and Fiona putting their current property up for sale to cover the down payment on the lot and construction next door and that she would be able to be a cosigner with equal responsibility on that mortgage insuring that the mortgage payments were made on time. It had been agreed at the bank that each of their savings would be debited exactly one-half of the monthly mortgage payment amount. And each had equal responsibility to cover the other half should the other have a bad month. It almost seemed as though the Chikamori and McIrish families were now financially inter-meshed as well as having their children being the best of friends. But it seemed natural to both Fiona and Yasunobu to consider this option and initiate that plan as their children were so close that they both felt it would be traumatic to both of then to split them up. And both Yasunobu and Fiona refused any scenario that would split Haruo and River up.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c7fgQH7GVUw/X8RR_YugKMI/AAAAAAAAkyM/WY1t0vy2TkQ28Wjn91h0Xjc7PUHYPkKWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-139.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tBOPGFLcVg8/X8RXRmPCIBI/AAAAAAAAkyk/tmmV_AGo5WIC5qhk4xyoVaFHX30fWbOrQCPcBGAYYCw/s0/Screenshot-11.jpg'>https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-99UXSDF6qEI/X8RiqI_U2CI/AAAAAAAAkys/aZ2kpLNwvmcWyAopjOQ5Pjt9Dzh9kFacACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-145.jpg
Satoshi, good ol' Uncle Satoshi, was Yasunobu's younger brother and a world traveller, explorer and a restless spirit but he had gradually come to the realization that age was not on his side; planning on setting down his roots and what better place to do it than Sunset Valley near a member of his family. It was hoped by the adult members of his family that Satoshi's roving days were over and that all things considered he would settle down and start earning a regular pay-cheque and not be just a bohemian vagabond. It wasn't just that he was feeling his age but that he really had the unpleasant epiphany: at age fifty-one that he had reached midlife; that his eldest brother was fifty-three and had a son who was fifteen as did Satoshi himself after getting into a relationship with someone who didn’t pan out as a permanent partner and who had divested him of half his life-savings. They had actually spent ten years in what was a common-law relationship traveling the world together. If anything it had impressed upon him the rapid advance of the diminishing years before him and the rapidly increasing number of years that had passed him by. Satoshi could no longer afford to be carefree about his life just going from country to country experiencing the uniqueness of every culture. It was time, Satoshi thought as he stood staring out at the trees that lined the lot and pondered just exactly what the future would hold for him.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F4acEoeCyWY/X8RlExWa0aI/AAAAAAAAky4/zRwSwXTOBiwWU7HM9owm3kYoxZNGagx5gCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-147.jpg
On top of that, having travelled to many corners of the globe; he was full of stories to tell those who would lend an ear and River just loved listening to the tales of Satoshi's adventures as she hoped to travel herself. River had that restless spirit about her that she wanted nothing more than to explore the world, but running a close second was the love of her family and the want of someone to share her life with and to raise that family that she wanted.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CBNiJdvUkC8/X8RmUgOQ0-I/AAAAAAAAkzE/nyGT7I9RKIs4h8eQrdvhaOMpMRiaXFgwACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-148.jpg
Despite the illusory appearance on the exterior face of Asilomar being large size; making extra bedrooms with the current layout as it stood; was an exercise in futility. Trying to design a layout for them to move around in was not feasible. Either the bedrooms became too small and/or they would have to extend out; building in a number of structural features to the building that would completely change the exterior destroying the modern look that it had and turning it into a garish caricature of its original self. The ultimate decision was to sell the home and find a new place to live.
Sunday June 25, 1985
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7JxtyQwcn10/X8RqLi3xwdI/AAAAAAAAkzQ/R7ZyhBQr9QsNzqb04LfqoeKOFvYONWzsgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-8.jpg
“We’ve had a good run at this place, haven’t we?” Fiona looked over at Yasunobu, who turned around to see her and nodded. He was getting much better with the English colloquialisms as the years went by.
“Yes...long time...” he stated as they both looked at each other. The memories of River and Haruo growing up here, marking off the height-changes on a section of the wall reserved for such things and it was going to be hard to leave those memories. For Yasunobu this was not a happy change as he’d watched Haruo and River grow from infancy to teen-age years in this very house, but the situation had changed and such they had to.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kOF58_b3G7A/X8RqoxANLBI/AAAAAAAAkzY/ufSZgkX_gbYokQVfzzdCdEtJMh5Q7ZKQACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-105.jpg
Mayumi was scowling at the house. She’d never really liked the place and it had gotten more and more cramped as more people showed up. Molly and her rugrat were the final straw. She’d shrilly insisted that they sell the place and move into something more amenable to her. She’d be damned if they had to live another single second in a place without any form of privacy. She wanted her space and by God, she was going to get it come hell or high water.
So the equity that was built up by Yasunobu and Fiona in the house had to go into buying a new property and re-investing. Unfortunately all that came with a move. And River and Haruo were not happy about that since they had to uproot themselves. Luckily the property that they found was not too far away from the old one. However the memories that their parents had built up would be just that, memories with no tangible evidence of the years that they’d spent at this home.
Haruo and River were now taller at fifteen years old and River, as most females of that age, were filling out and were growing at a much faster rate than their male counterparts. And feelings best not acted upon were coursing through their veins so they continued their own platonic facade of stating to each other that they were just friends who iived in the same house together. And each silently looked at the other wishing that they could be more than just friends but keeping their silence as they didn’t want their hearts broken if the other didn’t feel the same way.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GOdnUQ-cEdY/X8RrdJ_8lFI/AAAAAAAAkzo/LqzXriSdjLcW5_ZtlgzMjpfLSGcEW8bewCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-10.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OOFvcfOOtMY/X8RvJPGNlbI/AAAAAAAAk0E/ZYxbJVEyr6YGNbYpaMAHFkETz4aWV9DkQCPcBGAYYCw/s0/Screenshot-152.jpg'>https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bn2PXhg3RLg/X8RvN9jZZgI/AAAAAAAAk0I/sKBj7gj7MwM0pZfCtXwcd0XJhZ7NP-QtwCPcBGAYYCw/s0/Screenshot-151.jpg
He tried to make heads or tails of those feelings. River was a good friend; his longest friend in terms of duration of time together and it seemed as if whenever he was having an existential crisis or as his teenage mind termed it, a stretch of rough times, she was always there to back him up. And he knew that soon their senior year would start. And after that would be graduation and the start of walking alone through life as each would have their own life to lead. River had often spoke of travelling the world but Haruo was a homebody content to do whatever his interest was at the time.
All he knew was that the thought of being apart from his best friend frightened him. They had been a part of each other's life for so long and it was so easy to talk with her because she had known him since both of them were knee-high to a grasshopper.
But they still had one year left and only time would tell...
Generation One - Chapter Two
Part Two
Haruo finally returned home late that evening having kicked a kick-bag around at the gym and beating on the Muk Yang Jong and getting out his anger on the exercise machines, The frustration behind his anger was the idea that it appeared as though the two would no longer be able to share the most convenient ability to be able to just knock on the door to her room in their house to see if the other was willing to hang out together and study or watch TV or to come to dinner. Depending on how far Haruo's parents and uncle decided was the location of the ideal home it could mean that he could potentially lose River to geographical restrictions on feasibility of holding on to their friendship. And that was not a palatable thought in the slightest.
River had to understand her best friend’s reticence to such a move so River told him that they were going out to the festival at Central Park and that they would take the opportunity to talk to each other to come to an understanding as to each of their positions in regards to the move.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-AELgOpb8rmw/X8Q0nB9lY5I/AAAAAAAAkxM/hnzr-yhaU5cYr1GcF8jP52o-_yrh8_rrQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-107.jpg
"I know this idea of a move is eating you up..." River started, not wanting to start a verbal argument.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-6XbDOxI_PzY/X8Q1IpCBokI/AAAAAAAAkxU/f5DQuXSnvqMo7F9cVZLrxFWdxvla5X5fgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-112.jpg
Haruo let out a deep sigh of frustration then admitted, "It's not the move in itself..." he said shortly. He let out an irritable snort waving his hand, "It's just the bloody way that Dad let me know about this whole thing..." he couldn't admit it to himself that he had feelings towards River; she was his best friend in the world and he'd heard too many stories about being let down when a person opened up to their best friend and got stuck in what was now known as the friend-zone. Better to keep his feelings to himself and let things keep going as they were, "...that, oh we're moving...in one month, and that we're off to someplace new, like nothing mattered as far as what we wanted."
"But you know that we can't stay at that place...as much as the memories that we have there are concerned. It's just too small of a place..." River tried to rationalize it.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2NTk80pNZOA/X8Q2yfmWQsI/AAAAAAAAkxg/i0znpJ70YigvFyqRl9olS20AeAX2yLyYwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-108.jpg
"I know, Haruo, it's a shock." she continued, "But it's not like it's the end of the world."
"Well, it very well could be..." Haruo huffed. River resisted the urge to laugh; it wouldn't go over well, and Haruo was being ridiculous, but she knew that he felt secure in their currrent home and the fact that he was now being uprooted from a situation where he was comfortable in was causing him pain and uncertainty. She thought to herself, When he sticks his roots in to someplace, he sticks them deep and doesn't like being uprooted and relocated somewhere else.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V8z3parPRqI/X8Q3foTEc7I/AAAAAAAAkxo/Uo_Q9nTEnUUzNHRoYtDFKfHKdw-567oLwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-114.jpg
As they sat and looked at the festival lot going up for opening next day, Haruo sighed and said, "I wish that we could have stayed at that place forever. I would have felt better that way."
River resisted the urge to put her arms around him, to call him, sweetheart and contented herself with sitting quietly beside him just saying softly, "I know..."
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FWHq7Pa9U8A/X8Q6NsN6h2I/AAAAAAAAkyA/HprOzd8qjyUH-eSU6jn2wgVrK1U8N8HcwCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-119.jpg
After this summer would be their sophomore year, the transition point between being considered a junior high schooler and transitioning into senior high school for their junior and senior years; the last two years of secondary school; it was said that the majority of students had to look towards their potential career aspirations. This was the point in life where they were going to pick their road they planned to travel in their future endeavors and that was going to involve much soul-searching. Haruo on the other hand was having major school problems with comprehension of maths. His ability to do redundant home-work was very low and he struggled with the subject. So it was with some trepidation that he would enter his sophomore year in the fall of 1985 with a determination to work hard no matter what his mother had to say about his personal study habits.
In the month preceding the move, Haruo and River spent as much time with each other as they could, whether it was down at Central Park watching the fish swimming around in the pond; bogarting an apple or a lime from the trees in the park. Or hanging around the food kiosks during the seasonal festivals in the park. After all there were lots of things that needed doing but for the teens, being together was what assuaged any apprehensions that either had of Haruo's impending move. Studying together also helped. Just the mere physical closeness was comforting to each other.
What Haruo hadn’t realized months earlier was that Yasunobu had keeping his eyes open around the area and he’d noticed a by the sudden appearance of an “in development” sign on the property next door. – a triplex just next door, a perfect solution to their space problems. And while the adults in Haruo's family considered the possibility of an easy move to a house under construction;
Unbeknownst to Haruo and River and to Haruo's mother's ever increasing ire, Yasunobu had conversed with Fiona and he had offered to go hand in hand with the purchase of what was now known as the starting of a new triplex which was to be built on that next door vacant lot. The Chikamoris would attempt to locate a bridge mortgage based on Yasunobu and Fiona putting their current property up for sale to cover the down payment on the lot and construction next door and that she would be able to be a cosigner with equal responsibility on that mortgage insuring that the mortgage payments were made on time. It had been agreed at the bank that each of their savings would be debited exactly one-half of the monthly mortgage payment amount. And each had equal responsibility to cover the other half should the other have a bad month. It almost seemed as though the Chikamori and McIrish families were now financially inter-meshed as well as having their children being the best of friends. But it seemed natural to both Fiona and Yasunobu to consider this option and initiate that plan as their children were so close that they both felt it would be traumatic to both of then to split them up. And both Yasunobu and Fiona refused any scenario that would split Haruo and River up.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-c7fgQH7GVUw/X8RR_YugKMI/AAAAAAAAkyM/WY1t0vy2TkQ28Wjn91h0Xjc7PUHYPkKWQCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-139.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tBOPGFLcVg8/X8RXRmPCIBI/AAAAAAAAkyk/tmmV_AGo5WIC5qhk4xyoVaFHX30fWbOrQCPcBGAYYCw/s0/Screenshot-11.jpg'>https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-99UXSDF6qEI/X8RiqI_U2CI/AAAAAAAAkys/aZ2kpLNwvmcWyAopjOQ5Pjt9Dzh9kFacACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-145.jpgSatoshi, good ol' Uncle Satoshi, was Yasunobu's younger brother and a world traveller, explorer and a restless spirit but he had gradually come to the realization that age was not on his side; planning on setting down his roots and what better place to do it than Sunset Valley near a member of his family. It was hoped by the adult members of his family that Satoshi's roving days were over and that all things considered he would settle down and start earning a regular pay-cheque and not be just a bohemian vagabond. It wasn't just that he was feeling his age but that he really had the unpleasant epiphany: at age fifty-one that he had reached midlife; that his eldest brother was fifty-three and had a son who was fifteen as did Satoshi himself after getting into a relationship with someone who didn’t pan out as a permanent partner and who had divested him of half his life-savings. They had actually spent ten years in what was a common-law relationship traveling the world together. If anything it had impressed upon him the rapid advance of the diminishing years before him and the rapidly increasing number of years that had passed him by. Satoshi could no longer afford to be carefree about his life just going from country to country experiencing the uniqueness of every culture. It was time, Satoshi thought as he stood staring out at the trees that lined the lot and pondered just exactly what the future would hold for him.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-F4acEoeCyWY/X8RlExWa0aI/AAAAAAAAky4/zRwSwXTOBiwWU7HM9owm3kYoxZNGagx5gCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-147.jpg
On top of that, having travelled to many corners of the globe; he was full of stories to tell those who would lend an ear and River just loved listening to the tales of Satoshi's adventures as she hoped to travel herself. River had that restless spirit about her that she wanted nothing more than to explore the world, but running a close second was the love of her family and the want of someone to share her life with and to raise that family that she wanted.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CBNiJdvUkC8/X8RmUgOQ0-I/AAAAAAAAkzE/nyGT7I9RKIs4h8eQrdvhaOMpMRiaXFgwACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-148.jpg
Despite the illusory appearance on the exterior face of Asilomar being large size; making extra bedrooms with the current layout as it stood; was an exercise in futility. Trying to design a layout for them to move around in was not feasible. Either the bedrooms became too small and/or they would have to extend out; building in a number of structural features to the building that would completely change the exterior destroying the modern look that it had and turning it into a garish caricature of its original self. The ultimate decision was to sell the home and find a new place to live.
Sunday June 25, 1985
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7JxtyQwcn10/X8RqLi3xwdI/AAAAAAAAkzQ/R7ZyhBQr9QsNzqb04LfqoeKOFvYONWzsgCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-8.jpg
“We’ve had a good run at this place, haven’t we?” Fiona looked over at Yasunobu, who turned around to see her and nodded. He was getting much better with the English colloquialisms as the years went by.
“Yes...long time...” he stated as they both looked at each other. The memories of River and Haruo growing up here, marking off the height-changes on a section of the wall reserved for such things and it was going to be hard to leave those memories. For Yasunobu this was not a happy change as he’d watched Haruo and River grow from infancy to teen-age years in this very house, but the situation had changed and such they had to.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-kOF58_b3G7A/X8RqoxANLBI/AAAAAAAAkzY/ufSZgkX_gbYokQVfzzdCdEtJMh5Q7ZKQACLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-105.jpg
Mayumi was scowling at the house. She’d never really liked the place and it had gotten more and more cramped as more people showed up. Molly and her rugrat were the final straw. She’d shrilly insisted that they sell the place and move into something more amenable to her. She’d be damned if they had to live another single second in a place without any form of privacy. She wanted her space and by God, she was going to get it come hell or high water.
So the equity that was built up by Yasunobu and Fiona in the house had to go into buying a new property and re-investing. Unfortunately all that came with a move. And River and Haruo were not happy about that since they had to uproot themselves. Luckily the property that they found was not too far away from the old one. However the memories that their parents had built up would be just that, memories with no tangible evidence of the years that they’d spent at this home.
Haruo and River were now taller at fifteen years old and River, as most females of that age, were filling out and were growing at a much faster rate than their male counterparts. And feelings best not acted upon were coursing through their veins so they continued their own platonic facade of stating to each other that they were just friends who iived in the same house together. And each silently looked at the other wishing that they could be more than just friends but keeping their silence as they didn’t want their hearts broken if the other didn’t feel the same way.
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GOdnUQ-cEdY/X8RrdJ_8lFI/AAAAAAAAkzo/LqzXriSdjLcW5_ZtlgzMjpfLSGcEW8bewCLcBGAsYHQ/s0/Screenshot-10.jpg
https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OOFvcfOOtMY/X8RvJPGNlbI/AAAAAAAAk0E/ZYxbJVEyr6YGNbYpaMAHFkETz4aWV9DkQCPcBGAYYCw/s0/Screenshot-152.jpg'>https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-bn2PXhg3RLg/X8RvN9jZZgI/AAAAAAAAk0I/sKBj7gj7MwM0pZfCtXwcd0XJhZ7NP-QtwCPcBGAYYCw/s0/Screenshot-151.jpgHe tried to make heads or tails of those feelings. River was a good friend; his longest friend in terms of duration of time together and it seemed as if whenever he was having an existential crisis or as his teenage mind termed it, a stretch of rough times, she was always there to back him up. And he knew that soon their senior year would start. And after that would be graduation and the start of walking alone through life as each would have their own life to lead. River had often spoke of travelling the world but Haruo was a homebody content to do whatever his interest was at the time.
All he knew was that the thought of being apart from his best friend frightened him. They had been a part of each other's life for so long and it was so easy to talk with her because she had known him since both of them were knee-high to a grasshopper.
But they still had one year left and only time would tell...
