Well, this is my first story for this account. I hope you like it! Please comment, I love feedback.

When I was younger, my best friend in the whole entire world was Thomas J. Yes, he was a boy. No, he was not my boyfriend. All the girls in school thought he was though, so they teased me mercilessly for it – well as mercilessly as you can get when you're eleven years old. I guess I can't blame them, it did seem that way. We never left each other's side. We rode bikes together, fished together, and one time I even convinced him to run away with me to Hollywood so I could live with the Brady Bunch. We even shared our first kiss together, but it was nothing. We were eleven and wanted to see what the big deal was about.

Well, one day we were playing with our new makeshift squirt guns in the woods when we saw a beehive. Thomas J suggested we throw rocks at it to upset it, but I told him it was a bad idea. Well, he convinced me and we threw rocks at it. I realized I lost my ring – a mood ring I never took off – but the bees were coming after us, so we had to run for our lives.

A few days later, Thomas J went to go looking for my ring without me knowing. Maybe to surprise me? I don't know, I never got the chance to ask him. Apparently, there were still bees in the beehive we knocked down, but he didn't know. The bees came after him, but he realized to late. He was allergic to bees. There were too many.

I learned the news when my dad told me. I wouldn't come out of my room for days. My only friend in the entire world was gone – forever.

On the day of the funeral, I worked up enough courage to see him one last time. But when I saw him, I couldn't take it. His glasses were missing and there were stings all over his face. I begged for him to get up and go climb a tree with me, as if it would help. I screamed for someone to help him and put his glasses back on – he couldn't see without his glasses.

I ran to the house of the only person I could talk to, now that Thomas J was gone – my English teacher. For some reason I blurted out that I loved him, because at the time I had a huge crush on him. But then his girlfriend came out and it was just too much for me to bare.

I ran to the weeping willow tree where Thomas J and I would always come to. It was where we could fish, where Thomas J said he was going to be an acrobat, and where we discovered why first kisses where such a big deal – especially when its with a person very special to you. So many memories were made by that tree with Thomas J. Now, they're just that – memories. There will never be any new ones to add to the collection. No new conversations, no new stories, no new fishing trips, no new adventures, no new climbs, no new nothing.

I remembered something he said after we kissed. We were walking our bikes back home and we just swore not to tell anyone when he asked, "Would you think of me?"

"What?" I asked.

"Well, if you don't marry Mr. Bixler." Thomas J explained.

I smiled and said, "I guess." As I rode away, I started to get butterflies in my stomach. What freaked me out was the fact that I got butterflies in my stomach was because of the thought that Thomas J might like me... and I might like him back. I shook off the feeling and rode my bike a little more.

Right then on that tree branch, I wanted him to be with me more than ever. I wished with all my heart for him to come back, even if just for a minute so how I could tell him how much he truly meant to me. I wanted to let him know that no matter how many times I've ever said he was annoying, he was truly my best friend.

A few weeks later I saw Thomas J's mom. She gave me my ring back. She said he was holding it when they found him. Its amazing that even while trying to save his own life, he was able to hold onto my ring. He was a true friend, the kind that you're only given once in a lifetime. I just hope that I was the same kind of friend to him.