"No, mommy! Please! I don't wanna go!" A young boy whined. His mother held his hand, dragging him to the family car.

"Come on, Cody! Your playmate's been looking forward to this for a long time!" Cody's mom said.

"How do you know?" Cody asked.

"Her mommy told me."

"It's a girl? Ew, Mommy, girls have cooties!" Cody whined. "If you make me play with her, I-I might die!"

Cody's mom laughed. "Cody, you're not going to die from the 'cooties.'"

"Huh?" Cody looked confused. "Why?"

"You got a cootie shot last time you went to the doctor. Remember?"

"Humph! Mommy's are too sneaky…" Cody pouted. His mother picked him up and put him in his car seat.

…

When Cody and his mother reached the park, it took a good ten minutes for Cody's mom to get him out of his car seat. Eventually, Cody's mom dragged him to the playground. Cody's mom scanned the playground, and she seemed to perk up when she saw another woman with an infant and a girl Cody's age sitting on a bench.

"Cody, go play for a moment," His mom said, waving her hand at Cody. She started talking to the woman, who also waved her child way. Cody wandered aimlessly, avoiding the girl. The girl walked a few steps away from her mother, eyes locked on Cody. Cody couldn't help but stare himself. The girl had black hair with teal highlights. She also wore a Hello Kitty shirt and pants with flowers printed on them. She also had these piercing black eyes that seemed strange for a five year old.

So this is the cootie girl mommy is forcing me to play with… Cody thought. She doesn't look too bad…

Both mothers gestured their children to come over to them. The girl's mother started whispering something to her, and Cody's mother lowered her voice.

"Now Cody," She said. "I know you don't want to play with this girl, but please, be nice."

"Why should I?" Cody whined. His mother sighed.

"Cody, this girl doesn't have a daddy. He walked away one day and never came back."

"Is daddy gonna leave us?" Cody asked.

"No, sweetie. But this girl's mommy works very hard to support her family. It was hard to schedule this play date because this girl's mommy can't get away from work easily. So please, just try to have fun, okay?"

"Okay…" Cody said. His mom smiled.

"Now go play with her. I'll be right here with her mommy, so if you need anything come over to us, okay?" Cody nodded. He walked over to the girl, who was already on the play equiptment.

"Hey, girl, what's your name?" Cody asked.

"Gwen. What's yours?" Gwen asked.

"Cody." He looked at her hair. "Did you put paint in your hair?"

Gwen laughed. "No, silly! Mommy bought me hair clips for my birthday." She pulled at a teal strand of hair. A hair clip with fake hair was pulled from her head. "See?"

"Oh." Cody said.

"Do you wanna wear it?" Gwen offered.

"Okay." Gwen giggled and clipped the hair clip in his hair, right next to his right ear. It was a lot longer than the rest of his hair, and it went to his shoulder.

"Do you wanna play fashion models?" Gwen asked.

"Yuck! No way! I wanna play astronauts!" Cody said. Gwen looked melancholy. She suddenly perked up, though.

"I have an idea!" Gwen said. "Let's play fashion astronauts!"

"Uh, okay, but we have to be attacked by aliens and they have to be from Mars." Gwen shrugged.

"They can be the split end aliens."

…

After a half hour of Fashion Astronauts, Gwen and Cody sat down by a tree to rest.

"Hey, Cody, why do you have a gap in your teeth?" Gwen asked. Cody shrugged.

"I don't know. Why do you have black hair?"

"I don't know. I guess we can't know everything." Gwen said. They sat in silence for a few more minutes. Then Gwen looked at Cody.

"Cody, will you marry me?"

Cody, who was previously lying down, jolted up. "What?!"

"Not now, silly! When we're grown ups. Ya'know, like our mommy's ages." Gwen said.

Cody sat for a little bit, staring into space. "Okay."

Gwen smiled. "Yay!" She kissed Cody on the cheek. He didn't change expression at all, he just wiped his cheek.

"Yuck! Don't kiss me! Only married people do that."

Gwen giggled. "Sorry,"

"It's okay." Cody said, hugging her.

Meanwhile, Cody's mother and Gwen's mother looked at their children, laughing quietly.

"Aw, they look so cute," Cody's mom said.

"You never know," Gwen's mom said.

…

After a few more months of play dates, Cody and Gwen became best friends. They spent so much time together, people didn't know them individually. They were known as 'Cody and Gwen.' One day, Cody's mom got a phone call. When she hung up, she called Cody over to her.

"What's the matter, Mommy?" Cody said.

"I just got a call from Gwen's mommy."

"Are we gonna play together?" Cody asked.

His mother shook her head. "No, dear. Gwen's mommy got a new job, and she, along with Gwen and her brother, have to move away."

"Can we still play?"

"I'm sorry, Cody. They're moving far away from here. I don't think you'll see Gwen again for a really long time." His mother said, trying to give some hope to her only son.

"It's not fair! Gwen's my bestest friend!" Cody cried. He just hugged his mother and bawled.

"Calm down, sweetie. You can say goodbye to Gwen tomorrow if you want."

"O-okay," Cody sobbed.

…

The next day, Cody's mom drove him to the park. When they got there, they saw Gwen and her mother sitting on a bench. Gwen's mother was holding her daughter, rocking her gently. Gwen was crying. Cody ran over to her, holding a flower he picked.

"Gwen, I brought a flower for you," Cody said.

Gwen looked up and wiped her eyes. "Th-thanks…" She said quietly.

Cody reached into his pocket. "I still have your hair clip. You want it back, don't you?"

"You can have it, so you can remember me. 'Sides, I have bunches more."

Gwen's mom looked at her watch. "Sweetie, we have to go in a few minutes." She put her daughter down and started talking with Cody's mom. After a few minutes, Gwen had to go.

"Bye, Cody," Gwen said as her mother started the car. Gwen and Cody were standing by her car. "I'll never forget you!" she said, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Cody had tears in his eyes. "Come back soon so we can get married, 'kay?"

Gwen giggled. "'Kay. Bye," With that, her mother put Gwen in her car seat, closed the door, got into the driver's seat, and drove away. Cody stood and waved at the beat up car until it turned a corner. That's when the tears came heavily. His mother picked him up and carried him to the car.

…

Ever since that day, eleven year ago, Cody and Gwen eventually forgot about each other. They each went to lead totally different lives, Cody trying to be 'cool', and Gwen becoming a loner. They never did meet up again.

..Modern Day..

One day, when Cody was cleaning out his closet, he found a box marked 'Childhood memories.' Cody took the box over to his desk. He began going through pictures, old art projects, and a few toys. When he got to the bottom of the box, however, He found something that surprised him.

A hair clip with teal hair.

He asked his mother what it was. She looked surprised when she saw it.

"Oh, well, um, when you were little, you liked to play… dress up?" The last part of that sentence came out sounding more like a question then an answer. Cody just shrugged it off and returned to his room.

…

Gwen was in her kitchen, fixing herself some lunch. When she went over to her kitchen table, she starred at an old, wilted flower. That flower had been there for as long as she could remember, but she had no idea where it came from. When she had asked her mother what it was, she said that it was the first flower Gwen had ever grown. Gwen couldn't imagine herself planting flowers. She broke her train of thought and started eating lunch.

…

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