“Alexander!” I yelled, running down the sidewalk outside of the school at 3:30. I knew he was too far away to hear me. I kept running fast as I could, Sharon by my side as always. I gave one final stride and I was right there, next to him. You could definitely tell I was holding back tears (since third grade, I’ve still tried to remain the appearance of a tough kid).
“Is it true? Will this be your last Friday in Chicopee? Are you really moving?” I stared at him waiting for the extremely dreadful answer I knew was coming.
It seemed like days passed before he finally gave a deep sigh and said, “Yes, I’m moving to Oklahoma. My mom got a great job offer, almost double the pay she gets now, which isn’t much, but anyway she just couldn’t turn it down.” The cloudy sky was now starting to drizzle.
“Hey! We’ll still be able to call each other right?” Alex said, obviously as sad as I was.
“No, my home phone plan charges, like, jillions of dollars for long distance calls. When my dad gets the phone bill, he’ll murder me.” I said back.
“Well, there is still mail” He sighed.
Ya. I guess. I said depressed, that the only way to communicate with him was to write.
The rain started coming down a lot harder. Sharon whispered in my ear she didn’t want to get to wet and she left the two of us alone.
Alex, one tear coming from his eye, which he claimed was a rain drop, just stared at me and finally said, “Well, we can walk home together once more. My plane leaves early on Sunday, and maybe I can come over on Saturday to say good bye.”
“Okay,” I sniffled.
Just then, his mom in her beat-up Toyota honked, and he said, “Oh, right, when it rains mom gives me a ride home. Gimme a call on Saturday morning ,okay?”
“Okay” I muttered.
There I stood, the last one out of the school just staring as Alex’s car disappeared over the hill. The rain was down pouring now, but I didn’t care how wet I got. I just wanted Alex to stay in Massachusetts.
Friday night was miserable. All I could do was think about how Alexander, my friend since third grade, was moving. I told my mom about the news, and she could tell how incredibly depressed I was.
When I’m sad, all I need is something quiet to do, something that won’t necessarily get my mind off the topic, but can distract me that little bit. I decided to read one of the old, very long books in my bookshelf. I picked the Chronicles of Narnia. I started to read like crazy. I hadn’t realized it right away, but I had started to cry. There was no way Alex and I could stay in touch, unless we had a messenger going from Massachusetts to Oklahoma delivering messages. Then it hit me -- Mail! I guess sometimes when you’re out in the rain holding back tears, you don’t think right. I ran to the phone and I couldn’t dial fast enough. The phone rang three times then I heard the sweet voice of Alex’s mom say, “Hello, Jeff?”
“Yes,” I said. “May I talk to Alexander please?”
“Oh, sure, sure. One moment please.”
In the background, I could hear her call Alexander down to the phone and finally he answered.
“Hello?”
“Hi Alex! It’s me, Jeff. My mom said it’s okay for you to come over today. Get here at one and you’ll leave at three.”
“Okay, let me ask my mom before I agree.” He said.
There was a pause before he came back and said
“Sounds good!”
Then we said good bye and hung up.