A nostalgic memory

Please, if you notice any mistake in the writing, let me know.

Knock Knock Knock

...

Knock Knock Knock

...

And here she was again, it was a tradition she had started a couple of years ago, after Mari committed suicide, she would knock on the door of her house every end of the month to see if Sunny would come out, she had at first come with people, but after a while she started to come alone, Why? She realized that the people she invited were not expecting her plans to sit in front of a door for 4 hours, despite the patience involved in waiting for an inordinate amount of time alone, she was not going to give up, unlike Aubrey.

Knock Knock Knock

Aubrey...

She would be lying if she said she didn't absolutely hate her, not only was there the fact that she had started hanging out with delinquents, but she had started stalking Basil, practically part of her daily routine was to make sure she didn't murder him, There was one time when she tried to reason, but all she got were a couple of insults and a headbutt to the belly

Knock Knock Knock

But she didn't lose faith that the old Aubrey was still there, in some way or another, although every time she had to defend Basil a thought popped into her head, it was the fact that Aubrey was maybe not going to change and that she had become a piece of shit because she simply didn't understand that they were also suffering from the situation they had lived through and that there was even one person who had had it worse than her....

Knock Knock Knock

She doesn't know for sure if Heroine ever fully recovered from that, she remembers all those days when she locked herself in her room and came out only when she had to fulfill her basic needs, she remembers Heroine's face when they came back from the funeral and how they had to stop in the middle of the road because she was having an anxiety attack and she would never forget the night she yelled out to her.

Knock Knock Knock

She sat down on the floor in an attempt to rearrange her thoughts to move on to something more pleasant. Then she remembered the reason why she was there and stared at the door next to her.

...

She had met him four years ago, it was when they had moved in, their mother had sent them out to welcome their new neighbors and she gladly grabbed her sister's hand aggressively and walked out the door. Immediately upon leaving they ran into the neighbor who was possibly Heroine's age. She was a bit disappointed, she could already see the situation, they were going to spend the whole day doing feminine and immensely boring things as it always happens every time she spent the day with one of Heroine's friends. She was already accepting her fate when something caught her attention, apparently the girl had not come alone, behind her was a boy (who somehow had managed to hide perfectly behind her).

"Come on little brother, there's no need to be so shy" said the older sister as she approached them.

She quickly walked towards their direction and introduced herself.

"Hi, I'm Kelsey what's your name?"

He took a small moment to respond, gave a glance at his sister, who was already engaging him in an amusing conversation, grabbed a little confidence and spoke.

"My name is Sunny, do you like Captain Spaceboy?"

And with those words an unbreakable friendship was formed that for her had transformed into something more after some time.....
She had heard that Hobbeez was open 24 hours so after a long conversation she convinced him. That same day they made the most elaborate and logical plan two 12 year olds could come up with: they would wait until it was 10 PM, sneak out their kitchen windows which they left open so they could go back in later and go have a good night reading comics. With the plan already made, the two youngsters carried it out without any counter time and once they were reunited, little Kelsey cheerfully said:

"So.... What the hell are you waiting for'!!! Let's go there!"

With a big smile, she dragged him all the way through their little walk before arriving at Hobbeez, immediately upon entering the store she grabbed as many comics as possible, she threw them on the floor and they sat down on the carpet to read

4 hours later...

"Then Spaceboy pointed at the impostor and..."

She had just finished the last comic book, she could barely keep her wits about her, the little notion of time she had left told her it was time to go home and she was starting to sort through the mess of comics she had made, but when her eyes cleared she realized there was nothing there, apparently the mess was gone and the only comic that wasn't on the shelves was in her hands, she looked around to realize that her companion was carefully sorting through the comics, it was an embarrassing sight for her, did she really let her best friend, who she was supposed to enjoy tonight as much as she did, clean up all the mess she had made? She put the comic book on one of the shelves and walked over to the boy so she could at least help him out

"Are you done reading yet?" Sunny says to her.

"Yeah... do you need some help, buddy?"

"Don't worry, just sit down and relax, this is your night after all."

"But, don't you want to take a break? I guess you've been doing the store guy's job for a while now."

"It's no big deal Kelsey, besides I'm just about done" Suddenly, Sunny pulled an Orange Joe can out of his pocket and held it out to her.

"Come on, it won't take more than two minutes."

So, reluctantly, she took the can and turned to sit on the carpet, waiting for Sunny to finish organizing the shelves, even though her friend didn't show any kind of discomfort, she was still embarrassed about it, though a small smile formed at the thought: no matter if it was a big or small task, he would always make sure that the people around him were happy, even if they couldn't return the favor. She remembered what Basil had told her the first time he had introduced them to his garden

"And these... These are white tulips. Tulips are not very showy plants. They're not too big or too small, not too elaborate or extravagant. If I could put it another way... I guess I would say. They are comfortable, simple, modest and perfect. Just like Sunny."

A blush formed on her face as she realized how corny and accurate those words were. She opened the can and took a sip then noticed Sunny was shaking her hand.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked her.

She took his hand and said, "sure, buddy."

Sunny left some of the money on the counter, they said goodbye to the sleepy store manager and left. They arrived at their homes (which surprisingly had not been robbed), Sunny went to leave her in front of her kitchen window, but before entering she grabbed his shoulders and said:

"Sunny... Thank you for coming with me, tonight was great..." she said before giving him a hug.

"I hope you had fun, good night" he said to her as he had an unusual smile and suddenly she felt her face burn, it's not like Sunny never smiles, but this smile was not a small one but an ear to ear one and she had seen enough romantic movies to know what his reaction meant

"Kelsey are you okay?" he said to her.

She, between her mixed feelings and tiredness, just quickly stepped through the window and awkwardly waved goodbye

"BYE SUNNY, TAKE CARE"

She then went down the stairs as quietly as possible and slowly opened the door to her room to make sure Heroine was asleep. Once she was sure everything was clear, she went to bed, sank her face into the pillow and, with a blush still burning her face, her mind began to project that smile Sunny had given her over and over again before falling into a deep sleep.

...

She let out a small chuckle as she remembered all that, definitely little Kelsey was a goofball, had she really fallen in love with someone because he had given her a cute smile? Now that she looks back on it, maybe that was the little push to realize that she had those kind of feelings, even nowadays, even though it had been 2 years since she saw him, she couldn't help but form a silly grin when she thought of his gentlemanly and shy atti-

Suddenly, sounds of footsteps were heard on the other side of the door, she quickly got up from the floor, excited by the unexpected fruit of her efforts

Knock Knock Knock

"Sunnyyyyyyy are you there? It's me, Kelsey, I know we haven't seen each other in a while...but do you want to go out and play basketball?"

For a moment there was silence, but soon footsteps could be heard, walking away, she could feel a couple of tears on her face as she realized that the sound of footsteps had already faded away

"Perhaps, he's busy...after all, homeschooling must be difficult."

She knew very well that she had told herself that so many times that she had already recognized that it was a lie, but a part of herself believed that Sunny would never have treated her that way for no reason, but even with the possibility that he doesn't want to see her... She has all the time in the world to convince him! It's not as if Sunny was going to leave, after all, he and his mother were surely still attached enough to Faraway to even consider leaving, right?