It was just over a month before Connor was done with fifth grade, and Cynthia had allowed him to have a sleepover at Luke's house over the weekend. Connor always liked having sleepovers at Luke's, because they got to stay up late at night, and also because Mrs. Davidson served proper party food. For dinner, she'd made macaroni and cheese and ordered a pepperoni pizza, something that Connor knew his mother would never allow, even if it was for a sleepover. She always talked about the importance of eating organic fruits and vegetables, but Connor honestly didn't understand why he had to eat so much salad—he wasn't a cow. Mrs. Davidson also made sure her family ate enough fruits and vegetables too, but at least she allowed them junk food on special occasions. Which basically meant that most of Connor and Luke's sleepovers had taken place at the Davidson's residence.
After dinner, the two boys settled on the couch to eat chips and watch Iron Man. When the movie was over, they battled it out on Mario Kart before Mrs. Davidson reminded them that it was nearly midnight and they really should go to bed.
They changed into their pajamas and crawled into Luke's bed; there was more than enough space on the queen-sized mattress for both of them to sleep comfortably at night, even though Luke often ended up pushing Connor towards the edge most mornings, which they always found hilarious.
"I have something really important I need to tell you," Luke mentioned, as he flicked off the lights and climbed into bed.
Connor reached over to turn on the night light sitting on the bedside drawer. "What?"
They were lying side by side, neither of them feeling very sleepy yet. There was a moment of silence as Luke searched for the best way to break the news to his best friend. "Um, we're… over summer, we're going to be moving to New York City."
"Wait, for real?" Connor gasped in astonishment. "That's awesome, how long will you be there?"
"Um, we're moving? Like, moving for good—like, to live there."
Connor felt his heart drop. "For good? Why? How?"
"I got into a ballet school, and my parents thought it would be a great opportunity since, you know, I want to do dance, and New York has a lot more opportunities than here."
"Wait, so you're never gonna come back?" Connor felt tears starting to well up in his eyes and tried very hard to focus on his wriggling toes instead.
Luke bit his lower lip. "Probably not… at least for a while," he replied regretfully.
"No… I—I'm going to miss you so much," Connor murmured, trying to keep his voice steady, and still feeling numb from the news.
"I'm—me too."
"You're… you're like the only friend that I've ever had," Connor continued. "I'm going to—I won't have anyone at dance class to hang out with, or even just to talk to."
Luke turned to face Connor, and noticing the wetness on his cheeks, got him a tissue. "We can still call, or email, or something. We'll still be best friends, I promise."
Connor wiped the tears from his eyes. "But it wouldn't be the same."
If Larry were here, he would probably tell Connor to stop crying. That he shouldn't be so sensitive, but right now, all he wanted to do was to lock himself in his room and scream and cry because his best and only friend was going to leave and they were probably never going to see each other again. And Luke was going to be a dancer, which was something Connor's parents would never understand, and never allow him to be. He knew that as Luke's best friend, he should be happy for him, but at the same time it left a bitter taste in his mouth and he couldn't help but feel jealous.
.
.
.
"How was the sleepover?" Cynthia asked when she picked Connor up late the next morning.
"Luke's leaving," Connor choked out from the back seat, feeling the lump starting to rise again in his throat. "He's leaving to go to New York because he got into a ballet school and he's going to become a dancer but we're not going see each other ever again—"
"Oh honey, I know; Mrs. Davidson told me this morning, I'm so sorry," she said sympathetically.
He didn't respond. She wouldn't understand even if he explained how he was feeling. She couldn't, not about how devastated he was, how the one person outside of his family that he could count on was leaving to pursue his dreams—dreams that Connor knew could only stay dreams for himself.
They were supposed to be best friends. When they were together, they could face anything. And even if he had the worst day at school, he could always count on going for dance class with Luke every Wednesdays and Friday, and then everything would be alright again. But now, Luke was leaving, and he wasn't going to come back, and Connor was going to be just alone as he was before he knew Luke.
Except that it was worse now. Because now he was just a nobody at school, like he was back when he first started. No, now he was a massive loser, and he would always be that kid who 'threw a printer at Mrs. G in second grade because she didn't let him become line leader'.
And it was worse because he was going to be even more alone, because he'd now known what it was like to have a best friend. And now this friend was leaving, he was just going to know what it was like to have a friend—and what it was like to lose one.
.
.
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i'm sorry that had to happen but we don't have a luke davidson in canon so i guess it was time for him to go. thank you, luke, you were fun to write while it lasted :(
anyway, follow me on tumblr for more writing updates! i'm thewickedverkaiking
i got to see deh while i was in nyc last month so expect a review to be up there soon!
leave a comment and motivate me :D hopefully the next chapter will be up next week!