Evan walked confidently across the playground, bouncing up and down with each step he took. He had been excited all day, all morning actually. And despite how much his mom had asked, and how many strange looks Connor had given him during reading class, Evan wouldn't tell either of them why he was so excited. When he reached "their tree", he found Connor waiting for him, like Evan knew he would, and he bounced on his toes a few more times, before taking one long deep breath.

"Connor, I had something for you. Well, f-f-f for us actually."

Connor looked up from the patch of grass that he had been picking at, and granted his friend a half smile.

"For us?" he asked confused

Evan sat down next to his friend, his hands still hiding behind his back.

"Well yeah. You know today is our last day of school before break, and I was worried…scared…"

"Evan, you're always worried."

"Well, even more worried, that when we come back to school after Winter break that we, well, we wouldn't be friends anymore." Evan continued

Connor was silent, which made Evan even more nervous, and continued to pick at the grass that had now become piled at his feet.

"That's not going to happen Evan. "

"It's not? But how do you know Connor? What if you make a new, better, best friend over Christmas?"

Connor turned around to look at his friend. He picked up the small pile of grass the he had collected, and threw it at his friend with a smile on his face.

"It's not gonna happen you weirdo, okay?"

Evan giggled. It felt good to giggle, and it was only Connor who could make him laugh like that.

"Oh, okay, okay. I guess. So, that's why I bought us something."

Evan reached behind him and pulled out a box, holding it in his hands out to his friends. He was beaming.

"Walkie-talkies?" Connor asked, his eyebrows raised

After a little convincing, Evan had talked his Mom into taking him to the toy store. Although he wouldn't tell her what he was going to buy, he knew exactly what he wanted. Walking into the toy store, Evan had held his quarters as tightly as he could, in his small zip-lock baggie, and walked down the aisle where he knew the walkie-talkies were. Evan had had his eyes on these ever since he had come up with his brilliant idea.

With shaking hands, he had stood on his toes, grabbed the box from the shelf, and grabbed the box of walkie-talkies, and hugged it closely to his chest, protecting his treasure from everyone around him. When Evan and Connor had discovered that they had lived on the same street, it had been a special moment between the two boys. Then, when the two boys had found out that they lived only a few houses away, Evan had hugged Connor so hard, that he had nearly knocked the taller boy to the ground. Evan knew, as he walked up to the counter, that walkie-talkies would be perfect, and he couldn't wait to show Connor what he had bought.

"Sure! That way I..I mean we, can still talk to each other. Do, do you want to try it? I've already put batteries in them."

"Of course you did." Connor replied with a large smile

Evan went to work, quickly opening the box. He pulled out one of the walkie-talkies, and handed it to his friend, flicking a small switch on the side. Evan held the small walkie-talkie to his mouth, and held down the button on the side.

"Black cat, come in black cat."

Connor threw his head back and laughed.

"Black cat? What the heck?" he smiled

"Well.. you.. do always wear black to school." Evan replied, a pink blush covering his cheeks.

"Okay, okay. This is black cat, come in squirrel."

Evan's face turned the brightest shade of red, turning his eyes downward looking at the ground below him. Had he and Connor just given each other nicknames? Once the laughter died down, the two friends sat in silence, both turning over their walkie-talkies in their hands.

"Will you really talk to me over break?" Evan asked quietly, his voice almost a whisper

"Sure. I mean, who else am I going to talk to? Are you going to talk to me?" Connor asked in return

"You're my best friend, I wouldn't call anyone else."

Connor reached over, and gave Evan a soft punch in his arm.

"Good. I wouldn't let you call anyone else on your walkie-talkie anyway."