Everyday was difficult for her. Being moved from foster home to foster home takes a toll on people.
Sonya felt like she was going to lose her mind. She probably would've already if it hadn't been for Coley.
Coley was her escape, the one person that didn't remind her of the hell she called life. When Sonya was with Coley, the world ceased to exist. It stopped spinning on its axis and she felt like they had all the time in the world. There were no screaming foster parents to go home to, no boyfriend that constantly wanted to get high. There was just.. Coley and Sonya. They were best friends and nothing could've changed that.
She should've been saying Trenton. That Trenton was the one ray of sunshine in the dark, bottomless pit she was plummeting into.
But then she would've been lying.
From the day she met Coley, her life changed. But it came with its cons. Everyday she lived in constant fear of being moved again, somewhere far away. Somewhere that Coley didn't exist.
This was the longest she had ever stayed in one home, a year. The adults were jackasses but at least she had Coley.
Besides, they didn't care what she did with herself. As long as they got the cheque on time, they were content. She stayed at Trenton's house most of the time, anyway.
Sonya wiped a tear from her eye. She hadn't even realized she had been crying. She looked down at the sketch pad in her lap and smiled softly.
She had drawn Coley. She almost always drew Coley. She gently ran a single finger along the outline of the picture and then along the details of her friends soft, innocent face.
Drawing had always been one of Sonya's talents. An escape that wasn't Coley. But in a way, she mused, it was Coley all the same.
"Babe?" She scrambled to shove the book under the bed and grabbed a book off the night table. Trenton was home.
"I'm in here!" She called back.
He came sauntering into the bedroom and gestured to the hall.
"Coley's here." Sonya had to refrain from jumping up to see her best friend.
Instead she nodded and set her book down on the bed, getting up and walking to the kitchen.
Coley was sitting on the counter, sipping on a can of coke when Sonya walked in. It was a simple image, honestly. But not to Sonya.
The way the sun danced across Coley's face through the blinds, and how the girl in question barely let the can touch her lips. Sonya thought it was beautiful.
"Hey, Cole." She greeted. Coley set the can down and hopped off the counter.
"Hey." They hugged gently and it ended too quickly for Sonya's liking. "So, I was thinking we could have a picnic today. You know, by the pond?" Coley suggested.
"That sounds great." Sonya grinned.
"Good because I already packed a ton of food." The shorter girl sighed in relief.
"Oh, so you just expected me to agree to your plans? Hmm?" Sonya playfully raised and eyebrow.
"Pretty much." Coley shrugged. "But we should get going before the food goes bad."
"Yeah. Trent, I'm leaving!" Sonya called. When she didn't get a response she shook her head. She thought she heard Coley mutter 'asshole' but ignored it.
Sonya walked outside, checking her side purse to make sure she had her phone, wallet and house keys.
"How'd you bring the food here any- oh my god, Cole." Sonya stopped dead in her tracks, a huge smile forming.
"Oh, did I forget to mention that I got my license yesterday?" Coley asked, feigning ignorance.
"Yes! You ass. We talked last night!" Sonya ran up to her best friend and hugged her tight.
"I wanted it to be a surprise." Coley shrugged. "Now let's go and pray that I don't kill you with my horrible, horrible driving."
"You're an idiot." Sonya grinned.
The two girls got into the black Dodge Dart and took off down the road.
"Your dad's car is so much nicer in the front seat." Sonya laughed. It was hearty and Coley loved it.
"Oh my god I love this song!" Coley squealed. She turned up the radio and let Ed Sheeran's 'Thinking Out Loud' pulsate through the car.
"When your legs don't work like they used to before, and I can't sweep you off of your feet." Coley sang, purposefully out of tune. Sonya knew just how good she was at singing.
"Sing properly or I'm turning the radio off." She threatened.
"Hey, I'm driving here." Coley pouted.
"Does it look like I care?" Sonya grinned.
"Fine fine. And, darling, I will be lovin' you till we're 70. And, baby, my heart could still fall as hard at 17." Coley sang, it was a red light and she had sung the entire passage directly to Sonya, changing the last lyric slightly.
Both girls cleared their throats and looked forwards. Coley changed the station and stopped when Bang Bang came on.
"That sounded really good, Cole." Sonya spoke up.
"Thanks." Coley smile sheepishly.
She pulled onto the side of the road across from a forest.
"We need to carry the stuff from here."
The two girls grabbed one end of the cooler each and Sonya picked up the cloth bag that had a blanket in it as well.
They struggled to get across the street, laughing when they'd almost fall. They trekked through the green forest until they got to their spot.
The pond never had anybody near it. Sonya thought that it described how she felt when she was with Coley perfectly.
Disconnected from the world, peaceful. Whenever they broke through the last of the bush into this small opening, it felt like they were walking into a different realm entirely.
It was completely cut off from the rest of society. Silent.
Coley had shown Sonya the pond when she first moved there.
"Sometimes, if I'm lucky, I see some ducks. I always bring food to feed them, though, just in case." Coley had said with bright eyes before she moved some leaves to show Sonya the pond. It was the second day they met.
Sonya smiled at the memory.
"Son. Sony? Are you helping me or not?" Coley chuckled, watching as her friend hurried to set the blanket on the floor.
"Sorry." Sonya chuckled.
Coley rolled her eyes playfully and opened the cooler. "So, I brought water and kool-aid. We also have cherries, grapes, and strawberries. As well as um," Coley pushed through the food, looking for other items. "Two Hershey's bars, a bag of Doritos, a bottle of vitamin water. Oh, and tuna sandwiches."
She looked up and Sonya, waiting for her friend to realize.
"This is all the stuff that we ate the first time we came here." Sonya said finally.
"Because we got hungry and didn't want to go home so we ran to the nearest store and grabbed a bunch of random food." Coley finished with a grin. "Do you know why I did this?" She asked.
Sonya shook her head, brows furrowed.
"Because exactly one year ago from today, I met my best friend." Coley stood up then.
"Awe, Cole. That's so sweet." Sonya hugged her friend and chuckled.
"And besides, your birthday is in a couple days. So we can count this as part of your gift." Coley winked.
"Part? Coley you don't have to get me anything." Sonya sighed.
"You got me something." The shorter girl scoffed. "Oh my God! Ducks! I told you I wasn't lying." Coley feigned anger towards Sonya.
They had never seen ducks when they went to the pond, so Sonya joked about how Coley was imagining things.
"Wow. Do you have food?" She asked Coley.
"Of course."
The two girls slowly stood up and walked to the edge of the pond. Sonya saw how wide Coley's grin was, how bright her eyes were. She was paying more attention to her friend than to the ducks. Every time a duck would take some food from Coley's hand, the girl would giggle. It was one of the best things Sonya had ever seen and she knew she would be drawing this image for memory.
"Sonya, you're supposed to feed the ducks." Coley giggled.
Sonya's head snapped back to the pond and her face tinted pink.
Shit.
The girls stayed at the pond until dark. The ducks had eventually left and they laid on the blanket, looking up at the stars.
"Do you believe in aliens?" Coley asked, turning her head so she was looking at Sonya.
Sonya turned her head as well and her breath hitched at how close they were. She nodded.
"Yeah. Do you?"
"Yeah. Do you think vampires could exist?"
Sonya's eyebrow quirked and she let out a sharp chuckle. Then she saw that Coley was serious. "Well, maybe. We have no idea what's really out there."
Coley grinned. "Exactly. Did you know that we've explore less than 5% of the ocean? Do you know how stupid we are compared to what we should know about earth?" Coley asked, sitting up on her elbows.
Sonya loved moments like this. When Coley would just talk, ask questions, state her opinion. She loved hearing her talk. She could listen to Coley for hours, just talking about pollution. Trust her, it's happened.
It was something about the glint in Coley's eye when she was really passionate about something. The way she would breathe less often but take deeper breaths, how her eye brows would come together when she was talking about something that didn't make sense.
"I did not know that." Sonya laughed. "But I guess you learn something knew every day." They looked up again, admiring how the stars twinkled against the black sky.
"Do you wanna sleep over tonight?" Coley asked after a long silence.
"Okay." Sonya said. She took out her phone and texted Trenton, telling him she wasn't coming home.
The girls packed up and headed back to the car. Coley was humming some type of tune and Sonya started whistling something that went with it. They smiled at each other once they reached the car.
The drive to Coley's house should've been short. But then Shut Up And Dance came on, so Coley took the long way. And then Want To Want Me came on so she went around the block a couple times, and they were about to turn on her street when Hey Mama came on, so of course they had to make a detour.
After that song finished though, Sonya turned the radio off and made them go back.
"You're using up all your dad's gas, Cole." Sonya chuckled.
"Fine fine." Coley rolled her eyes, turning on to her street.
"Mom, we're home." Coley called out.
"Hi girls." Coley's mother greeted.
"Hi, Mrs- I mean Terri." Sonya corrected. Coley's parents had insisted that she call them by their first names. She was still having trouble with it, though.
"There's food in the fridge if you're hungry." Terri offered
"You hungry?" Coley asked Sonya.
"No I'm fine." The taller girl shrugged.
"No it's okay. We're gonna go to bed soon." Coley said. The two girls walked upstairs and into Coley's large room.
Sonya had a drawer of clothes at Coley's house. They started doing it after her and Trenton got into a fight one night and she showed up and Coley's door. Nothing like that happened again, but it was easier if they ever spontaneously wanted to have a sleepover.
They both changed and got into bed. "Do you wanna watch a movie?" Coley asked.
"Nah, I'm really tired." Sonya yawned, making Coley yawn in turn. Sonya grinned.
"Okay." Coley turned over and shut the lamp off, engulfing them in dark. Sonya scooted closer and wrapped her arm around Coley's midsection. Coley relished in the warmth that radiated off of Sonya's body.
Now she just had to figure out how to get Sonya's present.