May 10th, 1997

Spring, I guess.

Just sort of snuck up on us. It was Saturday. The first properly sunny day of the year. It was warm out, too. A full twelve degrees. Hooray. But just because we were wearing our coats, doesn't mean we weren't having fun. Especially seeing the significance of the day. It was Jaune's birthday. He was turning nine.

Finally.

Emmy and I had been nine for ages now. Me since February and Emmy in April. Jaune took his sweet time getting older. Not that we made fun of him or anything. Very often.

So today, on Jaune's birthday, we were hanging out in his back yard, on his swing set. Never in my life had I ever seen a swing set with eight swings hanging from the bar, but this one had them. It was completely ridiculous. We sat in the middlemost seats, swinging back and forth. None of the other party guests had showed up for his party yet since it was so early, but Emmy and I were his best friends, so we had to be there first. In fact, I had been there since eight in the morning. We had been playing the copy of Mario Kart his sisters had bought him until Emmy showed up.

And now we were outside.

Swinging.

My hands were dirty from the oil on the chains, but it didn't matter. It was just oil. I wasn't afraid of no oil.

"Why is your hair white?" Jaune asked, catching my loose attention. I had been focused on a butterfly that had landed on the grass in front of the swing set. I looked over and blinked a few times.

"What?"

He asked again, since I hadn't heard. "Why is your hair white? You never told me. I thought you only got white hair when you're old, like my grandma."

Not an unexpected question, but I was sure I'd told him.

"Did you forget? I have poliosis." I said, swinging harder to try and beat Emmy.

"Polio?" he said, swinging to a stop.

I laughed, leaning back on the swing and ending up upside down on the fore-swing. "No, po-li-os-is. I means I don't have colour in my hair. The doctor says since my mom has it, I have it."

"Does Winter have Polisis too?" he asked, watching as Emmy jumped from her swing and landed in the sand. "'Cause she has white hair too."

"No, s'cause she dyes it. Right, Weiss?" Emmy interjected, climbing back onto her swing. I nodded.

"Yeah, she said it was because she didn't want anyone to make fun of me. No one ever did, so now she just thinks it's cool to have." I ran a hand through my hair, only realizing too late that my hand was dirty. Whatever, I was planning on playing outside most of the day anyways. "You remember that Whitley doesn't have white hair?"

"Oh. Well, I think it's cool." he said, rubbing his nose. Had I been more attentive, I would have blushed. "What colour was it supposed to be?"

"Brown. Or blond. My father's hair was brown, mom's was blond. She went white like me when she was a kid." I gave a really hard swing, and jumped off right at the top of the arc. I sailed through the air, like a flower petal falling to the ground. I landed boots-first and sunk into the sand. "Dude, I just beat your distance!"

He looked at my like I had set his favourite toy on fire. "Not if I can help it."

I sat down in the sand and acted like a marker for my distance, sneakily scooting further back from my actual landing spot so that he'd have to jump a further distance. Emmy jumped from hers, not even coming close to my landing distance. Jaune seemed to have a lot more fury in his swinging, his back a good eight feet off the ground during his forward swings.

"Don't hurt yourself" Emmy said, shaking her head. This was probably the result of Emmy's mishap with the swingset last month when she had fallen and sprained her wrist trying to win our little jumping competition. Jaune laughed. "Oh, I won't. Just you watch!"

We did. He jumped, right at the top of his jump. He landed, feet-first in the sand.

/…/

We sat around, patiently waiting. Well, semi-patiently. Jaune and I were busy trading Pokemon and having them beat each other up, and had been for the last twenty minutes. I wanted to evolve my Machoke, and Jaune wanted to evolve his Kadabra, and we were conveniently the only people we knew with Gameboys and the expensive link cable. Even if the clear plastic game console actually belonged to one of his older sisters.

"Jaune, your crew sucks. You have no hard-attack moves for any of your Pokemon." I said, perusing Kadabra's moveset.

"What are you talking about? My guys are perfect. Have you seen my Bulbasaur? Man's best friend."

I made a face. "Bulbasaur is a frog, not a dog. And I just wiped him in two moves. I think you should put him in storage and get someone worthwhile."

Somehow, he was not deterred. He gave me a sly look, the first one I had ever seen him make. It was nice to see, actually.

"Sure, sure. But you forgot that leech seed is a thing."

"What?" I said, looking down at the screen. I hadn't noticed my Charmeleon had been slowly losing health. The turn ended. The little health bar slowly sapped down. My eyes widened. What was happening to my poor Charmeleon?

"Leech Seed: Plants a seed on the opposing Pokemon that drains one sixteenth of the health of the target." Emmy said, reading out of the Nintendo Power magazine she had her nose in. "He's in for the long game."

So it seemed. I hadn't expected him to be using such a good strategy. Good move, Jaune. Good move. "That's not… fair?"

"It's in the game" he shrugged. Curse him for using superior gaming skills against me. Time for retribution, I thought, pulling back my slowly dying Charmeleon and putting out his Kadabra. He seemed to have anticipated this. My Machoke was now out.

"Hey, look, Russ is here!" Emmy said, almost falling off the couch as she turned to look out the window. Good, a distraction. It gave me opportunity to put my Gameboy down and get up, pulling us both away from a battle I knew I would lose. Not today, I wouldn't.

"Russ is here!" I said, lifting Jaune off the supple corduroy fabric by his shirt collar. He followed almost automatically, as he knew his resistance was futile. I was both taller, stronger, and older than he was, so it was only natural that he'd obey my every command. I could get used to this.

We all ran to the door to greet Jaune's only other friend. We had planned on inviting more of our friends, but then, inevitably, we realized we didn't have any more. This would have to do. Since I was the first to the door, I pulled it open with great force, startling poor Russ.

"Hey, buddy!" I almost yelled "Come on in, it's party time!"

His weary smile usually meant he was okay with me basically yelling in his face. I reached out and grabbed his hand, pulling him inside and out of his sandals in one motion. His mother seemed amused by my antics.

"Have fun, sweetie" she called after, retreating to her car were his dad sat waiting. I always liked Russ's parent from the few times we hung out at his house. I think they were punk rockers or something, with the amount of eyeliner and eyebrow piercings they each had. They were young parents too, and had only been highschoolers when Russ was born. But, his dad wore a suit to work and called everyone 'sir', and his mom now managed the RBC down the street.

"Weiss, slow down" he said as I yanked both him and Jaune back into the family room. Much to my own surprise, Emmy had taken over both Gameboys and was smiling smugly back at us. "Oh you guys having a Pokemon tournament?"

"Nah, me'n Jaune were playing." I said to the short, brown-haired boy. "Emmy, what are you doing with those?"

"Beating your Machoke with his Kadabra. Oh, and I traded back and now you have Alakazam and Machamp. Not even sorry." she said, dangling the two devices from her finger. My eyes went wide. You weren't supposed to do that with the cables. "Why, did you bring yours, Russ?"

The boy nodded, pulling out his own Gameboy, complete with his name written in Sharpie on the back of the case. "Yeah, actually. You guys been here long?"

I launched myself at the couch, almost landing in Emmy's lap. "Since eight."

"But I thought the party was at noon." he interjected, sitting down in the chair across the table. Jaune sat down at the end of the couch much more normally, so I put my feet in his lap and used him as a leg rest.

"It does. We just showed up early 'cause I didn't want to sit around for four hours." I said, reaching out for the coffee table where the very small selection of gifts sat. I grabbed a square package that had been neatly wrapped in green paper. Emmy's gift. Jaune caught it in one hand. "Let's get this party started!"

So I started the party with throwing stuff. Jaune opened Emmy's present first, a collection of word puzzles in a textbook-sized book. Jaune was a nerd, so his excited reaction was completely expected.

"Aw, sweet!" he said, opening it and flipping through. "Thank you, Emmy, this is excellent. Now I have something to do on the Nova Scotia trip."

"Whatever, nerd" she said with a restrained giggle. I knew she genuinely cared, of course. This book had been on his Christmas list last year for Santa and he hadn't received it. I was gonna buy it, actually, but Em beat me to it.

"Here you go, dude" Russ said, handing box over he had pulled out of his schoolbag. It was wrapped in brown paper, covered in little scribbles of Sharpie and highlighter. "Have fun."

Jaune opened the comparatively large package with a look to Russ. The cover came off neatly, in order to keep the artwork intact. All of our eyebrows went up as Russ casually leaned back in his seat like nothing was the matter at all.

"I..." Jaune said, having difficulty containing his laugh. "...this is… amazing."

Out of the wrapper came a dark blue and turquoise gun, in it's open-face box. Sharpshooter II, it read, in bright yellow lettering. With very minimal force, the plastic blaster came free from the twist ties and found a comfortable grip in Jaune's right hand. He stared down at it with awe.

"My parents never let me have one of these. They said it would make me violent..." his voice trailed off as he loaded one of the soft foam darts into the top barrel. He grabbed the priming handle and pulled back, the loud click of the spring like a whip in the quiet room as we all waited patiently for him to pick his first target. "...Thank you, Russ!"

He pointed it at me. Thank you Russ, indeed. He had just started a lifelong obsession Jaune had with shooting me with Nerf guns, one that continued through all of schooling and even after. Thanks for that, Russ. You're a real pal.

"No!" I squealed as the trigger was pulled, and the little yellow dart bounced off my hands as I tried to block it from my face. Jaune, Russ and Emmy laughed at me as I tried to cuss him out the best a nine-year-old could. "Jaune, what the damn-hell?! How could you!"

He laughed so hard he cried.

"I'm sor- sor-" he said, having a fit and unable to speak through the tears. I fumed back at him.

"I'm supposed to be your best friend, and the first thing you do when handed a gun is to shoot me?!" I said, grabbing a pillow off the couch and whomping him over the head as hard as I could. Emmy ducked out of the way as I swung again. "You betrayed me!"

I tossed the pillow at his face and sat down with force, crossing my arms and pouting. "I'm so mad, I don't even want to give you your present. This is your fault, Russ."

"C'mon, Weiss, give 'im his present." Russ said, wiping actual tears from his eyes. "I honestly didn't expect you to be the first target."

"But I was!"

Looking back over at Jaune, I stuck my tongue out in his direction. "Gimme that."

I grabbed the gun and chambered a dart. Jaune was too busy trying to hold his sides in to notice. I grinned evilly at him as I cocked back the pull handle. I fired. With a pop, the dart flew forward and got caught in his messy hair.

Immediately I burst out laughing as he looked up into his hair, searching for the dart. So hard, in fact, that I dropped the gun onto my toe. Which might have hurt if I hadn't been laughing so hard. I think Emmy grabbed it next, I'm not really sure, my eyes were closed and watered up. I eventually came down from the high with a cough, wiping my face.

"Arright, fine, here" I said through a chuckle, handing over my own well-wrapped little gift. "Stupid Jaune an' your stupid gun."

"I'm sorry" he said with a smile.

"No, you're not!" interjected Emmy. I feel like she was to blame here as well, not taking my side from the beginning.

Jaune pulled the wrapper off. As upset as I was for the shooting, I really did want to know what he'd think of his gift. I was at the edge of my seat. All of my pocket money had gone to this, and I had to get my sister to drive me to a store in Montreal to get it. I really, really hoped he liked it.

"Oh… my" he said, holding up the cardstock box. "Contra. In its original package..."

He looked over at me, a geniune smile on his face. "Thank you.. how did you know I wanted this game?"

I shrugged, doing my best 'whatever' face. "I just knew. It's a nine-year-old game. Just like you." He had mentioned wanting a copy of Contra a few times when we were at school, saying he had a copy once that belonged to his eldest sister, who took it with her when she moved out. Finding an original in its box had been harder than I had anticipated. I had to call a bunch of game stores to see if they had any old copies. Only one did, and I had to use my limited knowledge of Canadian french to ask for it.

"How much you pay for it?" he questioned, carefully removing the grey plastic cartridge from the sleeve. I didn't really want to tell him, and it had taken all of my skills with a shirt steamer to take the 19.99$ sticker off the front.

"Uh, like ten dollars" I lied. "It really wasn't that bad. They had it at Carlingwood."

I knew he didn't believe me, but I was committed at this point.

"So you're gonna let me be your player two. Since you shot me." I said, gently kicking him. "It's only fair."

He nodded, probably thinking about shooting me again. "Sure, you can be my player two. Alright, I think it's cake time."

Cake?

"Come on, guys" he said, standing up and putting the game down on the table "Cake is in the kitchen."

CAKE.

"After me!" I said, jumping up. I had entirely forgotten that birthdays meant cake. I should also mention, I love cake. So, I basically tumbled into the kitchen and up onto a stool at his counter. I was fully planning on eating all of the cake. How on earth I had forgotten is completely beyond me, but it had happened. The rest of them followed me into the kitchen much more casually.

"Geez, someone's excited. It's just cake, Weiss," Russ said, pulling up a stool opposite me.

"It's not just cake, it's a way of life. You wouldn't understand because you don't drink enough milk." I said, grabbing a glass and reaching behind me to the fridge. Jaune sat down directly next to me, handing me the box of three and a half percent milk. Emmy followed last, sitting up on the counter and examined her nails.

"I'm lactose intolerant." came the reply. Eh, whatever. I waved him off as Jaune spun around on his stool and tried not to fall off. "But you make a fair point, cake is pretty good."

"Damn right".

Now the issue of where the cake was came to mind. It wasn't anywhere in the kitchen that I could see. This was a problem. I kicked Jaune under the counter and gestured to the place in front of me where my cake should have been.

"Oh, right." He said, standing up again and returning to the fridge. "I forgot that my mom's not home. We have to fend for ourselves."

Out of the fridge came a case of opaque beige plastic. Circular, and about a foot and a half in diameter. A large cake, then. My eyes grew wide. My mouth watered. Also, how does one forget that their mother isn't home? Like, what the heck? I mean, having seven other women in and around the household, one of them nearly thirty, I suppose it is possible. The top came off the cake box as Jaune set it down. Mysteriously, out of nowhere, Emmy had produced a box of blue and green candles and stuck them into the cake, in a neat circle.

My hands shook unconsciously in anticipation. Russ handed me a fork as Jaune grabbed the barbecue lighter from the top cabinet.

"Anyone know how to use this?" he asked, waving the little thing around. "No one ever trusted me with one."

"No kidding, holding it like that." Russ said, grabbing it from him. Like an expert, he struck the flint and light all nine candles. "And there you go, dude."

We sang him happy birthday, surprisingly all on key on the first try, despite Emmy's accent and Russ's scratchy voice.

After a pause to make a wish, Jaune blew out his candles. The smoke trails fluttered around. "So what'd you wish for?" I immediately asked.

"Not telling." he said, brandishing a cake knife in my direction. "That would ruin the point of a wish. Now, which piece do you want?"

I looked down at the round circular cake, reading the little yellow icing that spelled out 'Happy Birthday Jaune' on the top. "Give me the one that says 'Jaune' on it. Since you shot me, and all. I want to get back at you the most delicious way possible."

He laughed, doing his best to cut the cake and give me the whole Jaune piece. Before he even put it down in front of me, I had dug into it with my fork. It was cake time. And I was hungry.

/…/

"Oy, scooch over" I said, trying to bump Jaune over further on the edge of the mattress. "There's too much glare on the screen. I can't see."

"That sounds like a personal problem" came the reply from Emmy on the couch behind us. Her and Russ were in the middle of a battle in Mario Kart on Jaune's sister's Nintendo 64. "Why don't you sit in his lap?"

"EW, NO!" I yelled, throwing a pillow at her as hard as I could. My favourite projectile missed by a whole person, hitting Russ instead and making him drop his controller. I pushed Jaune aside with my hip while he laughed at me. Once again, not fair. "Emmy, don't be gross!"

Not that me yelling would stop her, she seemed to have a fixation with me and Jaune. Something about me 'like-liking' him or something. What an absurd idea, really. Jaune was my best friend. Not anything more, ew.

"Alright, you ready?" he asked, gripping the faded square controller in his hands. "You can be Bill if you want, I don't mind playing Lance."

The NES hummed along with the eight-bit soundtrack on the loading screen. The sounds of Emmy being hit with a shell and her scoff of disapproval from the couch made it even better. Emmy needed to be stopped. Maybe I would slip Russ a fiver to keep her in last place. Too bad I didn't carry cash.

"Yeah, okay. I thought you said you'd be Bill, though" I said, pushing the start button and watching the first stage open up. Jaune was already shooting. I followed suit.

"It's okay, you're on that side of the T.V. anyways. It's whatever. Hand me some Cheez-Its." he said, grabbing a few out of the box I provided. I guessed he made a good point. I waited for him to be wrist deep in the box, before giving the box a shake and spilling a few of the cheddar squares on his lap. "Hey! My p.j.s!"

I laughed, taking the lead on the screen and barging ahead while he took a moment to clean up the cheese dust. The dark basement smelled like cheese anyways, what was a little more?

"I'm not inviting you back, meanie."

Not true, I knew of course.

Although, this was the first sleepover I had ever been to, and I really hoped to do it again. Even better, this was the first boy-girl sleepover I had ever been to. Emmy's parents weren't so into having me over at her house, and other than that I didn't have any friends, so sleepover opportunities didn't come along very often. This was a good day.

"Hurry up and run, dummy." I shoved some Cheez-Its into my face, stealing Jaune's Pepsi to wash it down. I wiped my hand on my pyjama pants. "Do you wanna lose our lives?"

He sighed, and we plowed forward in a haze of little bullets. Bill and Lance were not going to be stopped. From the sounds from the other T.V, neither was Emmy. She seemed intent on breaking Jaune's controller with how hard she was gripping it.

But playing Contra, in the dark basement, after eating waaay too much cake and sub-par pizza from the Little Ceasar's down the road, really made me feel good. Like, it felt like where I was supposed to be. My best friends, comfortable atmosphere, old video games, food. I had found my happy place.

And it was good. Jaune was good, Emmy and Russ were good. Everything was what I wanted. I wasn't gonna give this up, no sir. I was gonna hold on to these friendship as hard as I could, just like Winter had said. She had told me that Jaune was 'good for me' or something like that. That he had broken me out of my shell. Preposterous, I think. I was just the same, if not better now that I had him.

And as the night ended, and we finished the first two stages of Contra, having to leave the game on pause overnight since there was no save file, we settled down. It was almost eleven, after all. Of course, as nine-year-olds we didn't have any prior obligations in the morning like jobs or church or anything like that. It had just been a long day. Emmy and I had been up since the very early morning bothering Jaune, so we were tired.

I finally got down onto the mattress. Emmy had said she was going to sleep next to me to keep the boys away. Fine by me, my parents said I could go only if this was the case anyways. Boys were gross, anyways. Cooties 'n all that. Russ and Jaune took up real estate on the pull-out couch we had all had to pull out together. It was nice in the dark. I used to be afraid of the dark, but having my two best friends and Russ there with me, I was much more comfortable. I settled in, hugging one of the stuffed animals Jaune had let me borrow. What a nice guy.

"Goodnight, everybody!" I said, trying to subtly wiggle away from Emmy.

"Goodnight, Weiss" came Jaune's almost lilted reply.

As I began to slip away into my dreams, I could hear the serenity in the room. It was like my own little lounge with my friends. I felt safe. I felt loved. I couldn't describe it with a word, but I know I wanted it to continue. And it was all because I had met Jaune. At that moment, I almost wished we didn't have the boys-with-boys and girls-with-girl rule in place at this sleepover.

Almost.