Page 3 of Carter's #Undoing

Just like I’d imagined, talking to him was easy. It didn’t matter that he was a boy or that I was a girl or that we’d just met. We seemed to have so much to talk about. So much to share. Even more in common than I ever could have imagined. I didn’t know too many kids my age who would rather talk about the President Clinton and Monica Lewinsky scandal more than Brandy and Monica’s “The Boy is Mine”music video premiere.

An hour later, I was just about to stand and get us some more chalk, when his words made me sit back on the sidewalk. “I did, by the way,” he said, clearing his throat.

I looked to Carter, confused by his words. “You did what?”

“I asked Kat if she knew who you were,” he explained. “We live a couple blocks down, but we always pass your house, and sometimes, I see you playing outside and drawing on the sidewalk.”

“So you came down my block for the chalk, huh?” I teased, giggling at how we’d gone from strangers to friends so quickly.

“I came for you, Serenity,” he said, causing me to stop laughing. “I came for you.”

When I looked at him, he was so serious, I didn’t know what to say. So I decided to be as honest as I could. “I’ve been hoping I got a chance to meet you, too, so I’m glad you did.”

His lopsided grin made me smile right back. “Friends?” he asked, reaching out his chalk-covered hand.

I nodded and told him, “Friends.” However, when my hand touched his, that inner squeal I’d been holding in grew even louder. We were too young to date. Too young to do a lot of things. However, he was already my first guy friend and the first person to ever draw with me on the sidewalk. He was the first person who seemed to understand what I meant without me having to over explain myself. He was my first crush and had been since before we talked today.

Yet, I knew looking at this boy that whatever kind of friendship we were agreeing to have, it was going to be special. The once in a lifetime kind.

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