Hi loves! I'm back to give you another chapter! I hope you like this, I think it's really sweet. So, enjoy!
December 25th, 2001
Five year old Stevie Baskara opens her eyes slowly and glances at the clock on her nightstand. 5:50 AM. She smiles and then climbs out of her bed, moving towards her bedroom window. She pulls open the sky blue curtains that cover her window, and looks out at the dark sky, and snow covered ground. She looks through her window, straight across the fence down below, and into the window of the house next door, still covered by its curtains. She waits for a moment and then sees the curtains pull back to reveal the person she's been waiting to see. Zander Robbins, her best friend; even though they just met that summer, it was like they have known each other for years. Stevie smiles and waves at him, to which he gives her a half smile and waves not less enthusiastically. Since there isn't much space between their two houses, their windows are fairly close, meaning that they can talk to each other without yelling. Stevie pushes her window up to open it, just as Zander opens his.
"Hi Z," she smiles at him.
"Hey Steves," he says back.
"Merry Christmas."
"Merry Christmas to you too."
"Your parents up yet?" She asks him.
"Nope. But I'm gonna go wake them up soon. Yours?"
"Nah. I'm gonna jump on my brothers first, then I'm gonna run all the way to my parents room and climb in between them to wake them up."
"Sounds like fun."
"Yeah," Stevie smirks, "my brothers are gonna want to hit me. But I can take them."
"All four of them?" Zander questions unbelievably.
"Of course I can. I'm tough." She holds up her arms to show off her muscles.
"Whatever you say Stevie. I'm gonna go wake up my parents now. See you after presents?" he smiles.
"I'm gonna wake mine up too. Meet at our spot." She smiles back. They say goodbye to each other and then close their windows and walk out of their respective rooms to wake up their family members and to open presents.
*10:00 AM, Zander and Stevie's spot*
Zander walks slowly up to their spot, seeing Stevie sitting down playing with one of the new toys she must have gotten for Christmas. "Hey Steves," he says.
Stevie lifts her head up and a smile immediately grows on her face. "Hey Z! Get any cool gifts?"
"Yeah," he says standing in front of her, "I got a few cool ones."
"Why are you still standing up?" she asks him.
"No reason." He says nervously.
She stands up from her spot and puts her hands on her hips. "Zander! I'm your best friend. Tell me what is wrong this instant. I know something is up."
Zander sighs. He can never get anything past Stevie. He pulls a blue cardboard box out of his coat pocket and holds it out to her. "Here. Merry Christmas." Stevie accepts the box and begins to open it. As she does so, Zander speaks. "I know it isn't much, but I really hope you like it."
Stevie just stares down at the item in the box. A tin foil covered, cardboard heart necklace, split in two by a slightly jagged line down the center. On the left front side, in black paint, it says Best Friends; on the right front side, the same thing. Zander walks forward and flips both of them over, the left now reading Z, and the right reading S. Stevie looks up from the gift and stares right at Zander. All of a sudden, she reaches forward and engulfs Zander in a hug, her arms going around his neck, his going around her tiny waist. She pulls back and looks at him, "Thanks Z. This is awesome. I really love it." Zander smiles at the positive response to his gift.
He reaches into the package, and pulls out both of the necklaces. He unhooks the simple silver chain with the Z painted on it, and motions for Stevie to turn around. She cooperates and he clasps the necklace around her, his tiny fingers struggling for a moment. "Put mine on me." He says when she has turned back around to face him. He hands her the necklace and turns around so his back is facing her. She takes the necklace from him and hangs it around his neck, clasping it in the back. He turns around to face her again and smiles.
"Now we each have a piece of each other forever. Yours says Z, for Zander," He points to Stevie's necklace and then at himself, "and mine says S, for Stevie." He points to his necklace and then back at Stevie. "And we'll never forget each other."
"Why would I forget you Z? You're my bestest friend in all the world!"
Zander looks down and sighs, "Well, um, I'm moving. To Wisconsin. My daddy got a great job offer there and so we're moving there."
"When are you leaving?" Stevie asks with a sad look in her eyes.
"Two days."
"So you won't be here for New Year's?"
He shakes his head. "I'm really sorry Steves. I don't want to leave, but I can't stay here without my family."
Stevie looks at him, tears brimming her eyes, "But, you… you could stay with me. You could sleep in my room."
"I can't though Steves. I have to go and live with my family."
"But, who's gonna protect me from Perfy and her posse at school. They are so mean to me all the time."
"You said you were tough. You can handle them. And you have Kevin and Nelson."
"I am tough. But I don't think I can handle it by myself. And Kevin and Nelson will just run away if I asked them to save me."
"Well, you'll just have to think of me when you try. Just imagine me standing right next to you telling Perfy and her posse to leave you alone."
"Okay. But don't expect me to be alive when you come back." She says, crossing her arms in front of her chest.
Zander smiles at her and chuckles, "I'll be sure to keep that in mind."
They both just stand there for a moment, neither of them saying a word. That is, until Zander finally breaks the silence, "Well, I should probably go and help my mom with packing now."
"Yeah. Probably." Stevie mumbles, her head down, eyes staring at the ground.
"Come here," he says and holds his arms out to her.
Stevie looks up and then walks into the waiting arms of her best friend and hugs him, wrapping her tiny arms around his waist. He does the same.
"I'm gonna miss you so much Steves."
At this, Stevie finally lets the tears fall from her face, "I'm gonna miss you too Z! You're my best friend in the whole entire world!"
They stay in the hug, just enjoying each others company for a little while longer. They then break from the hug and Zander turns around and walks back to his house to finish packing. As for Stevie, she just stays there in their spot, crying and thinking to herself while playing with her necklace. And no matter how much she wanted to two days later, she didn't go and see Zander again before he left, because it would hurt her too much. She would never forget him though, even without the necklace, she wouldn't be able to forget him. He was - is her best friend, and always will be.
*December 24th, 2012; Brewster High*
16 year old Stevie Baskara stands in the middle of the Brewster High courtyard at 10:00 AM; a large strand of Christmas lights hanging around her body. One end is hoisted above her, being attached to the wall of the school's courtyard. "Hurry up Nelly!" She shouts, "I want to get these lights off of my body."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just give me a minute. And this is just the beginning. You do know that right?" Stevie just looks up at him and glares. Nelson Baxter. One of her closest friends since kindergarten. The other friend being Kevin Reed. Nelson shakes his head to get his shaggy hair out of his face and continues to attach the lights to the wall.
About an hour and a half later they are finished hanging lights and Stevie is relieved to have those lights off of her body. They were starting to hurt.
"No you loser! Lower on the left side!" Stevie turns around to see none other thank Kacey Simon, leader of the Perfs, standing in front of the stage with her posse behind her. They are standing there watching and bossing around a boy who is hanging up a banner above the stage. Stevie gets a closer look and notices who the boy is. Andy Bartlett.
Stevie sighs and steps forward, "Andy, why do you do their work for them?" She says, causing the Perfs to all turn around and look at her. Kacey breaks through the group and steps towards Stevie, her second and third in command, Molly Garfunkel and Grace King, right behind her.
"Loserberry," Kacey says to her, holding her fingers in the shape of an L against her forehead.
"Nice to see you too Perfy," Stevie says with a blank look on her face.
"For your information, that loser over there offered to do this for us."
"After you pretended to flirt with him is more like the Kacey Simon I know and hate."
"Think what you want Loserberry. You are your dorko friends over there are always going to be at the bottom," Stevie turns to see where Kacey is pointing. Kevin and Nelson are playing with two of the large displays that are going to be hanging from the ceiling. They are making them fight with each other, doing all the sound effects with their mouths.
Stevie turns back to face Kacey and looks her dead in the eye, "You leave my friends out of this Kacey. This is between you and me. Always has been, always will be."
"You're right about that, for once in your loser life you're right about something."
"Just back off," Stevie says, giving her a death glare and pointing her finger at her. Then without another word, she turns around and storms off down the hallway of lockers.
Once she reaches her locker, she puts in the combo and opens it. She isn't really sure why she is digging through her locker, but anything to keep herself from hitting Kacey square in the jaw. That girl just about drives her to insanity.
"I saw what you did out there baby. And let me just say, you're my kind of woman. Feisty."
Stevie rolls her eyes and shuts her locker door, turning to look at the face where the voice had come from.
In front of her, she sees a boy, who looks about her age. He has short dark hair, chocolate brown eyes, and a smirk playing on his lips. He is wearing dark wash skinny jeans, a crimson red v-neck t-shirt, combat boots, and a leather jacket. He also has a ukulele case strapped to his back.
"Who are you?"
"Just the man of your dreams baby."
"You wish you could be my man," she says simply.
"Oh you know I do," he replies winking at her.
"Yeah. Okay, why don't you tell me your name and I'll find you if I'm ever interested."
He smiles, "The name is Zander. Zander Robbins."
"Okay Zander, I'm gonna go and help decorate some more. You stay here and just, stay."
She turns around and walks down the hallway again and makes it halfway into the courtyard when she stops suddenly and gasps. She quickly reaches into the front of her shirt and pulls out the necklace she is wearing. She holds it in her hand and looks at the front, then flips it over and looks at the back. She can feel tears brimming her eyes and she turns around again. Standing in the entryway to the courtyard, is Zander, smiling, holding something in his hand. Even from a distance, she can make out what the necklace says.
"ZANDER!" she yells catching everyone's attention. But she doesn't notice them any longer. Just the boy who moved away so many years ago and is now back. She drops the necklace, letting it fall back against her body and then she runs. Runs as fast as she can even though it isn't that far of a distance.
When she reaches him, she launches herself into his arms, wrapping her arms around his neck and her legs around his waist, and buries her head in the crook of his neck. He catches her, his arms going around her waist and spins her around, hugging her tightly. When she lands in his arms, the tears begin to flow from her eyes, staining the soft fabric of his shirt.
"I missed you so much!" Stevie gets out through her tears.
"I missed you too," Zander says, his voice slightly muffled by her hair.
After a moment of hugging, Stevie unwraps her legs from around Zander's waist, and he sets her back on the ground.
"I can't believe you're back," she says to him, smiling brightly while wiping the tears from her eyes.
"Neither can I. But my dad's job transferred him back here."
"Well that makes me very glad. I've missed you so much. I never took my necklace off." She says, holding up the necklace so he can see it.
"Me neither," He says, holding up his necklace as well.
They both smile at each other and then hold their necklaces right next to each other, so the straight lines are touching. "Perfect fit," Stevie says, a few more tears falling from her eyes.
"Yeah," Zander says back.
"Whoa! Is Stevie crying?!" Someone exclaims. Zander and Stevie turn their heads to see everyone with their mouths hanging open.
"Why is that so surprising?" Zander asks her.
She sighs and wipes a few tears from her face, "Because, I don't cry."
"Oh come on, everyone cries," he laughs.
"Not Stevie," Kevin says stepping towards them.
"Yeah, Stevie doesn't cry. Ever." Nelson finishes standing next to Kevin.
"Seriously?" Zander questions unbelievably.
"Seriously." Stevie answers him.
"How come you don't cry?"
"Well, I used to cry. There was this one time especially, when I was five. But I haven't cried since then."
"When you were five? What happened?"
She looks at him directly in the eye, "You told me you were moving."
Zander just looks at her, not sure what to say.
"I'm sorry," he finally says, "for leaving. I had to. But I'm back now. And that should count for something. Right?" he gives her half a smile.
She brings up the corners of her mouth slightly, "I guess it does."
"Awesome. And by the looks of what I saw earlier, you learned how to handle Perfy and her posse on your own." He chuckles.
She laughs with him, "Yeah. I did. I just had to imagine you there with me the first couple times. Then it got easier."
"Well I'm glad I could help even though I wasn't here."
"Me too."
The both of them just stand there for a moment looking at each other, and then Zander speaks.
"You know, I really missed you," he whispers in her ear.
"I really missed you too."
"So, um, what do you want for Christmas?" He asks her suddenly.
"I don't want anything," she says as she wraps him in a hug.
He hugs her back, "Why not?"
She puts her lips against his ear and whispers so that only he can hear her, "Because having you back, on Christmas Eve, is the best present I could ever ask for. And it's our first Christmas together again."
So, did you guys like it? I hope you guys did. In the beginning, I tried to make them sound like 5 year olds as best as I could. I hope I did them both justice in that. So, let me know what you think in the reviews.
Also, I'm still looking for some Schneider Monkeys who want to help me with a super special Christmas present project for Max. PM me if you're interested.
