Page 37 of Friends Like This

Chapter seven

Family, Forever

“Hey.”

I look up from my book to see Sarah standing in my doorway. “Hey, baby. What’s up?”

She walks in and flops onto the bed next to me, dropping her head against the mattress. I reach over and flip at her hair.

“Sarah… are you okay?”

She pops her head up, looking bummed. “School starts in three days.”

“Yep,” I say, confused.

“It’s September fourth.”

“Oh.” I swallow hard and sit up, then grab her arm and pull her upright too. “Come here,” I say softly, pulling her into my arms.

“Ten years,” she mutters against my shoulder.

I squeeze her tightly. Ten years ago, Sarah moved in with us. We did not know how things would turn out at the time. We only knew that Sarah’s mom hadn’t been taking care of her. She’d left Sarah alone on multiple occasions, overnight sometimes. She was only six, and she was trying to cook dinner for herself, put herself to bed, everything. My mom tried to keep her at our place as much as possible, but things blew up when Sarah was trying to cook herself dinner and spilled the pot of boiling water on herself. Not knowing what to do, she called our house. My parents rushed over and took her to the emergency room. Of course, since they weren’t her guardians, the police and CPS got involved. Thankfully, between Miles’s mom, Katie—who has worked in social work and had some connections in that area—and my parent’s lawyer, George, my parents were approved on an emergency basis to be her foster parents.

Sarah’s biological mom, Vanessa, didn’t show up for two more days. When she found out what had happened, she didn’t even fight for Sarah. A couple of months later, she moved away with some guy and never looked back, save for a phone call now and then. When we were eight, Vanessa sent a letter to my parents and a form, willingly signing away her rights to Sarah.

I remember we snuck halfway down the stairs that night and listened to Mom cry, wondering how someone could abandon their child. For the rest of my life, I’ll remember what Dad told her.She was never Vanessa’s. She’s always been ours. We just didn’t know it at first.They adopted her a few months later.

It’s not that Sarah misses Vanessa. I think Vanessa is a trigger for her. She’s always on edge for weeks after Vanessa randomly calls. Our parents have had her in therapy for it on and off to help her deal with it, but I’m not sure it’s a scar that ever truly heals. That’s extra clear today. The anniversary of that day is always tough. But ten years?

I squeeze her a little tighter. “I love you.”

She sniffs and then her whole body shakes. “I love you too.”

She lets me hold her for a while. When she pulls away, she crawls to the head of the bed and slides under the covers. I join her, not saying anything. Eventually, she loops her pinky through mine and whispers, “Tell me a secret.”

She rests her head on my shoulder, waiting for me to tell her something. “Hm. Okay, Aaron kissed me on the beach in Charleston, a few minutes after Jesseofferedto kiss me.”

Sarah’s body shakes again, this time with laughter. “Somehow, neither of those things surprises me.” She sits up straight again and bumps her shoulder against mine. “Which one would you rather kiss?”

“Well, seeing as I kissed Aaron back…”

She looks at me, eyebrows raised. “What is the deal with you two? Are you ever gonna date?”

I laugh lightly, rolling my eyes. “You act like it’s a given that we’re going to at some point.”

“Well…”

“No, come on. I know we’re super close, but if anything was going to happen… I don’t know. I feel like we would’ve crossed that line already if we were going to. It’s fun to kiss him sometimes. But it’s friendly. It’s not like there’s tongue.”

She shakes her head. “You’re idiots.”

“Sarah…”

“I’m just saying, you don’tfriendlykiss Miles or Joel.”

“Ew, gross. Don’t even suggest me kissing Joel.”

She giggles and elbows my ribs. “And what about Jesse? Would you friendly kiss him?”

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