Page 50 of Charming my Best Friend

It was the coolest shit I’d ever seen. The kid fell down and started crying instantly, but Lucy didn’t even give him a second look.

Instead, she went back over to Alex whose bottom lip was shaking so much he looked like he was a moment away from crying himself.

“It’s okay,” she said, patting his back.

“Ruined!” Alex said, tearing at his hair.

“We can build it back up again,” Lucy said. “It’ll be even better this time.”

When she finally got Alex to calm down, I went over and asked if she wanted any help rebuilding her castle.

She looked up for a second and then said. “I think we’ve got it under control.”

I took a step back.

“But if you want to collect some rocks to decorate it, that would be cool,” she added.

A second later, her Mom appeared and pointed across the park to the mean kid. “Did you hurt that boy over there?”

“I was protecting Alex,” she said, molding some sand between her small hands.

Her Mom squinted. “His Mom told me he just wanted to play with you guys.”

Lucy looked up. “He came over and stomped on our castle.”

Her Mom’s mouth formed a straight line.

“It’s true,” I said. “I saw the whole thing.”

Lucy’s Mom folded her arms and looked back and forth between me and Lucy. “I want both of you to hang your heads for a second and pretend you’re in trouble.”

I watched Lucy hang her head and followed suit.

Then her Mom bent down and put her arm on Lucy’s shoulder.

I tried to look up without lifting my head.

Mrs. Ryan lowered her voice. “I’m proud of you for standing up to the bully. You did the right thing.”

Lucy nodded, keeping her eyes on the ground.

Her Mom straightened back up. “Okay, you guys can raise your heads again now and go back to playing.”

We’d been a team ever since.

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