Page 2 of Friends Like This

Chapter one

The Nicest Boy Ever

3rd Grade

AC+RM

That’s what Aaron Cooper just finished carving into the wood underneath the slide, where we’re hiding from our friends. Aaron is my best friend. Well, actually, he’soneof my best friends. There are six of us in total. I met Aaron almost four years ago when we were five years old. Since then, he’s been my best friend and myperson. I don’t know exactly how to explain what that means, but my mom says it’s someone who gets you in a different way than everyone else. Someone you can talk to or go to about anything. All my friends are always there for me, but Aaron is always the one I run to first. So, I guess he’s my person.

He shoves the pocket knife his uncle got him for his birthday a couple of months ago back into the pocket of his shorts. He’s not supposed to bring it to school, but he did anyway.

He looks me up and down and smiles a big goofy smile that shows off his dimples. “I’m gonna marry you someday.” His brown eyes shimmer as he says it.

I scrunch my face up. We’re nine years old. Marrying someone is like a million years away.

But he keeps smiling at me.

Finally, I smile back at him.

“You only get to marry me if you treat me good. And are very sweet. And the nicest boy ever to me.”

“Deal,” he says, playing with a strand of my soft brown hair.

Then he leans in and kisses me on the lips. It’s a little tiny peck, but my heart flips.Whoa.

I feel like he let me in on a secret.We’re going to get married one day.

Rae Cooper sounds like a good name. Don’t get me wrong, I like Rae McKinley, but Rae Cooper has a ring to it. I could see myself being Rae Cooper one day.

And as for kissing a boy, I think there are a lot worse ones I could kiss. Like Trevor Matteny, who always picks on me, or Nick Ardito, who is always looking atall the girls.

I realize Aaron only ever has eyes forme. That’s what I want. A boy who thinks I’m the best thing ever. Because I am.

I look at Aaron, and he’s still smiling at me. So, I get really brave, launch myself forward, and kiss him on the lips.

He’s so stunned he doesn’t move his face.

Joel sticks his head down from the slide. “Are you two gonna stop making out so we can play kickball?”

He flings himself over the side of the slide and stares at us as he lifts the baseball cap he’s always wearing off his head and runs a hand through his matted-down light brown hair. He’s such a butt sometimes. Joel Wilkinson was my very first best friend. Now he’s kinda like my brother—a really annoying one. His backyard touches mine at the corner. That’s how we met when we were three years old. I’ve been stuck with him ever since.

Aaron stands up and slugs him in the arm.

Ha. Serves him right.

“Leave ’em alone, Joel!” Mackenzie Montoya says, skipping over and stopping in front of them, glaring at Joel through her tangled dark brown curls. Mackenzie—or Mackie as we call her—was my second best friend. My mom took Joel and me to the bakery down the block from my house. Mackie’s mom owns it, and that’s where we met her. She comes from a big family and decided she liked hanging out with us more. She understands about Joel being a butt sometimes, and she loves to give him trouble for it.

I can’t help but laugh as Joel rolls his eyes.

But I do love kickball, and I wanna go play.

I’m about to walk out from under the slide when I stop and look at what Aaron carved. He didn’t just write AC+RM.

He wrote AC+RM= ?

I look over at him and smile. He did something to me today. Now, whenever I imagine getting married, I’m going to imagine marrying him. I’m not sure we’re supposed to decide that at nine, but Dad says doing things just like we’re supposed to isn’t very fun most of the time. And Dadisalways right. Well, except for when Mom is.

Aaron winks at me, then grabs my hand and we go running for the kickball field.

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