Seventeen Years Ago

All she could think about was a lettuce and tomato sandwich. It consumed her mind in the night, tantalizing each of her senses and ultimately distracting her from her novel, until finally, she was forced to rise from her bed and adventure to the kitchen, praying that there would be the ingredients there to fulfill her late night cravings. Placing her dusty copy of Swann's Way onto the waist high pile of books next to her bed, she slowly crept out of her room and through the corridors, hoping not to disturb any of the other children.

Once near the kitchen, she noticed that the light was already on and heard noises coming from inside. The door swung open and revealed a young boy around the age of seven with messy black hair and premature bags under his eyes biting into a piece of strawberry cake. He momentarily stiffened in discomfort until he realized who it was. Had it been anyone else, he would have ignored them and left the room with the desire to curl up in a ball alone in his bed, but this was Thea; his best and only friend.

"Hey you" she smiled and walked in towards the refrigerator.

"Are you having a bad night as well, Thea?" he looked over at the little girl with short dark hair and moon bangs who had walked in, wide eyed with a fork hanging out of his mouth.

"But of course" she replied, grabbing a tomato, a head of lettuce, and a jar of mayonnaise and placing them on the counter top.

He looked over and noticed a small cut on her index finger

"Paper cut?" he pointed

"Hm? Oh, this. Yeah. I guess I got a little too into my book earlier"

"what were you reading?"

"Swann's Way" she answered as she prepared the sandwich "Again"

"I thought so. How many times have you read it now?"

"Six"

"Don't you thinks that's slightly obsessive?"

"When it comes to Proust, there is nothing not to obsess about. He's possibly the greatest western author of his century, although we've already had this discussion countless numbers of times"

"I know, and as I've said innumerable times, I understand that he is an outstanding author" He took a large bite of cake and continued speaking without bothering to swallow " but I just don't see how you can hold him in higher regards that that of Goethe"

She stopped what she doing and turned around to face him, leaning up against the kitchen counter and pointing the spoon she used for the mayonnaise at him.

"And I've said innumerable times that though it is a near tie between the two, Proust wins with his superior passion and subject matter. Besides, I'm in love with him"
"It's a shame he's been dead for nearly a hundred years or you could have married him"

"and he's gay, cant forget that."

they both chuckled

"Great" she said , looking down at the sandwich she just made "I went through all trouble of making this, and now I just want some madeleines. Thanks a lot, L"

He placed a finger to his lips and smiled. "I cant help that you're feeling nostalgic"

They both began to laugh, and as it slowed she sighed and looked at him sadly

"We're not normal are we?"

His eyes widened and he leaned forward eyeing her questioningly.

"why do you ask that?"

"Because. I mean, do you really think that there are any other seven year olds that stand around at three in the morning critiquing 19th century literature and making jokes about esoteric French literary allusions?"

"Most likely not, but these are the things that make us happy, so, if that is abnormal then I don't see any reason to be normal"

She took a bite of her sandwich.

"That's why I love you, L." she walked over to him, sandwich in hand, and hugged him casually "You make me feel sane" she paused, took another bite, and looked at him with a smirk, adding "at least sane enough" with a mouth full of food.

The next few moments were spent in comfortable silence as they finished their food. Thea then put the head of lettuce and mayonnaise back into the fried and looked back at him.

"Say L, are you tired?"
"No"

"Neither am I. Do you want to come back to my room and play a game of chess?"

he nodded his head and followed her out of the kitchen, knowing that he wouldn't be falling asleep until at least five. It was alright though, because he would be spending the time with the one person in the world he could relate to; the one person he cared about; the one person he loved.