Ashland, Louisiana

Summer 1997

"Look at how cute I look!" Seven-year-old Millicent Bradshaw exclaimed boastfully. Her pudgy fist held tightly onto the Polaroid picture she had just taken.

"You can't look any cuter than me!" Nine-year-old Benjamin Montgomery exclaimed, playfully snatching the picture out of her hand. He smirked slightly as he looked at the picture. It was a picture of both of them standing on top of Old Rocky, the rock Benjamin had proclaimed as the biggest rock in all of Ashland, which wasn't really all that amazing, especially considering "all of Ashland" consisted of 27.1 square miles of farmland and 291 people. Ben was standing on the left side; his Levi's covered in grass stains, wearing the same sheepish grin he wore whenever he got his picture taken. His jet-black hair was messy as ever, and his green eyes were filled with mischief.

Millicent, who Ben preferred to call Macy, was standing to the right of Benjamin. One of her arms was casually slumped over Ben's shoulder, and the other one was fully extended with her fingers forming a lopsided peace sign. She wore denim overalls, and a huge smile that exposed her missing two front teeth. Her curly, blonde hair was in sloppy pigtails, and her light blue eyes were looking over at Benjamin.

"Well, maybe you look a bit cuter than me, Macy." He stated, after looking at the picture for quite a while.

"I know I do!" She replied, putting her hands on her hips, "And it's not fair that you have a nickname for me and I don't have one for you…" A slow smile spread across her face as it came to her mind, "…Benny-Boo!"

"That's an ugly nickname!" He exclaimed, wrinkling his nose, "Besides, my mom used to call me that when I was a kid."

"You still are a kid!" She poked his stomach and laughed.

"Am not, I'm nine years old! That's a whole two years older than you!" He poked her back, and smiled triumphantly.

"Who cares, you're still a kid." She simply stated, shrugging her shoulders, "And there's nothing you can do to change that!" Macy didn't feel like bickering with Benjamin anymore, so she walked over to Old Rocky and lay down on the tall grass in front of it.

Ben walked over and lay down beside her. They lay in silence for a few minutes, watching the clouds slowly move by and listening to the sounds of the nearby crickets. Macy inhaled deeply, knowing that this was the last time she'd be breathing in fresh, country air, at least until the next summer.

"This summer went by faster than last." Ben accurately stated, breaking the silence.

"Yeah. It's hard to believe that by this time tomorrow, I'll be back home in New York." Macy replied, closing her eyes. She could feel tears starting to form, so she choked them back as best as she could.

"I bet it'll be nice to be back home again. And see your folks, and all that." He pushed his fists in his pockets and continued looking up at the sky. He felt sad that she was leaving, which was really stupid, especially considering he wasn't a kid anymore. Big kids never felt sad; at least that's what his naive mentality told him, "Besides, your coming back here to visit your Gram and Gramps next summer, right?"

"Yeah, I think so." Macy had been visiting Ashland, Louisiana for every summer since she was three years old, and she didn't think that was going to change anytime soon.

"Cool. Maybe next summer your Gramps will let us drive the lawn mower." Ben and Macy both laughed hysterically at his statement. Macy sighed loudly and rolled over on the grass, so that her face was right in front of Ben's.

"You're my best friend, Benjamin Montgomery." She smiled sadly, and quickly hugged him.

"You're my best friend, too. Even if you are a girl. And even if you are giving me cooties right now!" Ben laughed, and Macy rolled her eyes. They both stood in front of each other, neither of them wanting to leave. Once they left they field, both of them knew that the frog catching and secret handshakes would all become a distant memory as they settled back into their everyday lives. Macy in New York with her wealthy, high society parents, and Ben in Ashland, living with his widowed mother and helping out around their farm.

"I have to go and get packed." Macy finally said, knowing that one of them was going to have to get around to it sooner or later, "My plane leaves really early tomorrow, and so I probably won't get to see you then. I guess this is goodbye." She placed her hand on his shoulder, and handed him the picture they had taken earlier that day, "You keep this, that way you'll never forget me. Please don't forget me." She smiled sadly, and with that, she ran away.

Ben was left dumbfounded, standing alone in the field with a frown on his face. After standing for nearly an hour, he looked down at the picture and smiled, "I'll never forget you, Macy Bradshaw. I promise."

Author's Note: This is just the prologue, don't worry. Hopefully you liked it. Please review, reviews make me happy :D