Page 1 of Her Wicked Knights
1
Tripp
Eight Years Old
"Idon'twanttogrow up, though." Marley pouts, crossing her arms over her pink shirt that has cartoon cats eating ice cream on it.
"I don't think we get a choice." I tell her gently, because she looks so sad that I don't want to make it worse. "It's just the way it is."
"Well, it's stupid. I don't want things to change. I like them the way they are."
She drops her arms so that one hand rests between us, her fingers open enough that she looks like she's reaching for something. I don't know why all of a sudden my heart sounds like a ton of wild horses thundering down a brick road, but I take her hand in mine. It's something I've done a million times, but something about this time feels different. Her hand is warm but not sweaty and it fits perfectly inside mine. My fingers tingle with her touch, like she's got some kind of magic in her that makes everything inside me feel different.
"Me, too." I agree. "I never want us to change."
"We won't." She says, so confidently that I turn to take her in. She's pushed herself onto her side, our hands still clasped. "We'll always be like this, right? Best friends?"
"I hope so." I tell her.
I wish I could sound more confident, but the fact is I don't know if that's true. I'm starting to realize that growing up means changing, and change is scary. Colton's parents are divorcing, and that's terrifying. He told us that he may have to move, that he doesn't know if he'll have to live with his mom or dad, that he may even go to another state. We didn't get to discuss it long because his mom yelled for him to come home, and he went even though I can tell he didn't want to.
Marley's just stopped crying about it, and I haven't even had a chance to feel bad for Colton because I've been trying to get her to calm down.
"Best friends forever, Tripp. Promise?"
Her face is so solemn that I can't help smiling. "I promise."
There's no one I'd rather have as a best friend anyway. She lives right next door to me, which means we spend all of our time together, share dinner times sometimes, play until the streetlights come on and our moms yell out the front door for us to hurry back.
The streetlights will be coming on soon. We're lying in the grass, on the hill behind our houses. It's quiet out here, peaceful. It’s where we come to tell each other secrets that we don't want Hadley or Axel to overhear.
"I don't want to marry a stranger." She says suddenly, drawing me from my thoughts.
I blink, finding her staring at me seriously.
"I don't think that's how it works." I laugh. "I think you become friends first, and then you marry them."
I mean, that's how my parents explained it. But it's hard to imagine Colton's mom and dad were ever friends to begin with. I'm not sure they ever liked each other at all.
"Then I want to marry you." She decides.
That idea makes me feel warm inside despite the chill in the evening. But I don't want to look too eager. That wouldn't be cool, and I want her to think that I'm cool.
"I'm sure you'll find someone else before we can get married. That's like, ten years away."
"I won't." She shakes her head. "I don't want to marry anyone else. I want it to be you. And then we can live together and not have to go home when our moms call and we can have a sleepover every night."
It sounds perfect, the only good thing that could ever come out of growing up.
"I'd like that." I tell her. "But there's time to change your mind."
"Iwon't." Her voice gets whiny, the way it does when I'm not listening to her. "Promise me?"
"Fine." I smile, even though I could get up and do cartwheels here and now. "If you don't find anyone else you would rather marry, then we can get married."
She nods, looking a little pleased by my acceptance. "When can we do it?"
"I don't know. When we're old enough. Like... thirty?"
