Disclaimer: That sweet ship lollipop.
Friends No Matter What
Part 2 - Four Years Ago
By Travis Blink
 ************************************************************************** ~ Present Day ~ "Evan, dear, we're here." Ororo gently shook her nephew awake. Apparently, Evan could fall asleep on a train if he was tired enough. Shaking his head to wake himself, Evan turned to his Aunt. "We're here already?" Ororo smiled. "At the last stop, you complained that it was taking too long to get here." She said in her African accent. "Yeah, I know." His Aunt reached into her handbag and pulled out a tissue. "Here, you might want to wipe your chin." "What?" Evan saw his reflection in the window and saw drool had come out the left corner of his mouth. He took the tissue from Ororo and wiped his chin. "There. How's that?" "Much better." The two grabbed their bags for the weekend and headed into the aisle. After a long wait, they finally made it to the train platform. While Ororo searched the crowd for the Daniels, Evan took in all of the train station. He must have been here a thousand times. Yet, everything that was suppose to be familiar to him, felt new and foreign to him. Not for the first time that day, Evan wondered where he belonged. ************************************************************************** ~ 4 years ago ~ Evan and Pietro hung out together all summer. They played video games, hung out in front of the ice cream store (where anybody who's anybody under 13 hung out), and played basketball. Of course, after Pietro taught Evan how to play. Evan picked it up real easy, though, and Pietro called him a natural. They even planed to build a tree house in the Climbing Tree, as they dudded it. They had the blue prints and everything made up. The project just never got off the ground. Fall came, and while Evan and Pietro were still friends, they didn't get together as often as they did over the summer. Evan thought it was because Pietro was a year older then him. He figured that Pietro was the only reason he wasn't beat up like all the other 4th graders. Pietro was one of the 'cool' guys around the school. He was popular and well liked by pretty much everyone. All the girls had a crush on him and he was always picked first for a team. Evan wanted to be just like him. ************************************************************************** Spring was here and the end of school was coming up. Pietro was headed for middle school and Evan would be stuck in the 5th grade. On the last day of school, they were walking home together. Pietro turned to Evan. "Hey, Daniels." "What?" "Wanta go to Nick Lee's party tonight?" Nick Lee was Pietro's age and the most athletic guy in the school. Pietro once said that Nick was headed for the NHL. Most likely, Evan would be the only 4th grader at his party. "Sure," he said, trying to sound cool and actually pulling it off. "Kay. My mom will drive us." ************************************************************************** Evan _was_ the only 4th grader at the party. Nobody pointed it out though. Probably because he was Pietro's friend. In fact, that's how Nick greeted him. "You're Maximeff's friend, right?" "Yeah." "Cool." And that was that. Evan was excepted because he was Pietro's friend, not because he was cool or because he was, well, Evan. He will forever be seen as 'Pietro's friend.' Evan wasn't sure how he felt about that. Wanda was there, too. Her long, brown hair was in a French braid and she was wearing a short, tight skirt. Evan wasn't sure how he felt about her, either. She was there with her boyfriend, Josh Foramen. He was one of those rich, snobby kids that nobody really liked, but pretended to any way. Evan couldn't image what Wanda was doing with him. She was too good for him. The music was loud and a basketball game was playing on the Lees' big screen TV. There was food all around. People were laughing, talking, and dancing. After being in there for two hours, Evan needed a breather. He headed outside to the deck to get some air. He stood there, staring up at the night sky, taking in all the stars. The moon was full that night. Evan remembered his Aunt telling him stories about how African tribes believed that a full moon brought out the crazy side of a person. A full moon was also suppose to represent a new love. A shooting star crossed the sky. Evan would have made a wish on it, except he had nothing to wish for. Evan heard a sobbing noise coming from the bushes. He walked down the deck steps and pecked around the bushes. Wanda was sitting on a bench in front of a little fishpond. Her face was in her hands and her shoulders were shaking. She looked up when she heard Evan step on a twig. Evan saw that her eyes were red ad she had dried tears stains on her checks. "Wanda," said Evan, shocked. "What happened?" "Josh dumped me." She wiped her nose on her sleeve. "He called me a bitch and said he hated me." "Oh." Evan sat down next to her on the bench. "I'm sorry." Wanda looked up at the sky and Evan stayed silent. "Evan?" "Yeah?" "Have you ever been kissed?" Evan almost took the manly route; instead, he told the truth. "No." "Do you want to be?" "I guess." She looked up into the sky again. Then she turned back to Evan. "Do you want me to be the one to do it?" "I guess," said Evan, gulping. "If you want to." Wanda leaned towards him and brushed her lips against his. Then she pulled back. She looked at him and Evan wondered if he was suppose to say something. He figured he should. "That was nice." He said finally. "Really." She leaned towards him again and this time, Evan felt himself kissing her back.