(MELANIE: point of view)

"Melanie, Danny's here to play!" My mother called to me from downstairs. Excitement ran through me. I couldn't get down the stairs fast enough. A little brown haired boy stood by his mother's legs. Once he saw me, a smile broke across his face. He ran over and poked my arm.

"Tag, you're it!" he sang, running around the corner.

"Daniel, no running in Mrs. Laura's house!" his mother scolded him.

"Sorry, Mrs. Arnold." His blue eyes sparkled with sincerity. I took the advantage of his distraction. I tapped his arm with a wicked smile on my face.

"Tag, you're it!" I ran out the front door, hoping he would follow.

"Stay in our yard, Melanie!" My mother warned.

"Okay!" I shouted back as Daniel chased me around our front yard. I was faster, but he surprisingly got the momentum to reach out and poke me in the back. I stopped dead on my feet and turned around to see Daniel smiling brilliantly at me. I lurched forward, but he was already running across the yard, away from me.

After an hour of this, my mother came outside to get us. We walked tiredly back into the house where surely cookies and apple juice awaited us. We sat at the kitchen counter, our feet dangling and kicking the wall. Daniel's mom was scrubbing him down with a wet paper towel. I might have, more or less, shoved him into the sand box that held a puddle of mud. I smiled at him as he grimaced at me. I shoved a cookie into his mouth which forced a smile o his face.

"Alright, your clean enough," his mother said in a disapproving tone.

"That was fun!" I said shoving a cookie into my own mouth.

"Take smaller bites, Melanie, please." My mother came and wiped the cookie crumbs from my face.

I sat eating cookies with my bestest friend in the whole world. How could life get any better. I smiled over at Daniel and he smiled a goofy smile back at me. We both broke into a roll of giggles.

"Hey, Melanie," Daniel whispered to me.

"What," I whispered back.

"Let's go play spy," he said, trying to sound mysterious.

"Okay!" Spy was my favorite game to play in the whole world! We both jumped down from the stool and snuck to the wall. I followed close behind him. He made circles with his hands around his eyes. they were supposed to be special agent goggles. I made the same ones around my eyes. Our parents were seated in the living room with cups of coffee. We got down on our hands and knees and crawled to behind the couch.

"I don't hear the children in the kitchen," Daniel's mom said worriedly.

"They're behind the couch," she mouthed.

"Aw, Melanie, you blew our cover!" Daniel hissed. We looked up to see Both of our mothers looking down at us with amused faces. The both started laughing and cooing at us. I slumped against the couch in disapointment. Daniel put his hands down from his face wit his lips pouted out.

"Misson failed," he said to himself. I giggled and turned to face him.

"Your my best friend in the whole world, Danny." I smiled at him happily.

"Your my bestest friend in the entire UNIVERSE!" He said with great enthusiasm.

"Thanks, do you think we'll always be friends?" I asked a moment later. I asked this question often.

"Duh," he laughed. "Forever and always."