Basil's Hope

Polaroid

Maybe one day... things can go back to the way they were before.

Basil grabbed his best friend's hand gently, then turned to look at the boy's face. Sunny gave him a small smile in return, his jet black hair swaying in the breeze. The air smelled of flowers, and Basil thought that the sunflower field around them complimented Sunny's deep brown eyes. Flecks of gold could be seen as they shimmered in the sun's early light. Basil, as if compelled by magic, leaned him to kiss him. He closed his eyes...

Whack! Basil jolted awake to something hitting him on the head. He shot up, immediately noticing the drool on his hand, where his head laid a moment ago. His friend Kel grinned in front of him. He held a basketball, which Basil presumed is what hit him in the head. It was then that he noticed that they were the only ones in the school classroom.

"Wake up, sleepy head!" Kel called. "Everybody else is already outside, and Mr. Grats is busy yelling at Mikhael for another prank. So let's get going." As he said "prank", he made exaggerated air quotes with his fingers.

"Already? What'd he do this time?" Basil asked, rubbing his eyes.

Kel chuckled, leaning in closer. "I heard he got caught putting a rat in someone's locker. I wonder how Mr. Gratz could tell them apart!" He laughed hysterically, then put a hand over his month, catching himself. "We should get out before he gets back."

Basil grabbed the book he was currently reading from inside of his desk and shoved it and his math textbook in his bag. As he was hoisting his backpack onto his back, Kel was already pulling him towards the door. He sighed, letting himself be dragged along.

The hallway was pretty empty, only a few people were chatting in the halls, presumably because it was the end of the day. The only students left in the school would either be getting picked up, or on the late bus, although a few students walked or drove themselves. This was the case for Basil. Kel got a ride from his mom. The only other student he knew that walked was not someone Basil was too keen on seeing right now.

As Kel pulled him along in the direction of his locker, Basil stared down at his feet. They marched, one after the other, in perfect rhythm. He then spotted something pink at the edge of his gaze. In a moment he tried to force himself to keep his head down, but to no avail. He looked up to see Aubrey storm by, textbook in hand. Her first day of school must have been hard. Basil sighed again, deeper this time.

Kel whipped his head around to meet Basil's gaze. He frowned. "She isn't doing so well," he whispered, "but I doubt it's your fault," he added, not-so-helpfully.

Sunny admitted what they had done about a month ago, dumping his problems onto Basil and all of Faraway Town. Then he left, just like that, without another thought. He didn't even call, Basil thought, wistfully. But I don't care, I'm mad at him anyway.

At first, the confession was relieving. Basil kept his dark past inside of him for years and it almost killed him. But once Sunny left, it was terrible. Aubrey treated him like garbage (which he honestly thought was warranted). Kel wanted everyone to be friends again, which almost stung more. Sunny was gone forever. And Hero wasn't even around to stop Aubrey and Kel from fighting. So it was just non-stop chaos.

Kel made it to his locker and dribbled his ball. He took his time, searching for something in the absolute disaster of his locker.

"Isn't it the first day? How'd it get like that?" Basil pointed out, scrunching his nose. His eyes darted anxiously as a few other students passed.

"I kept my locker from last year," he answered, pulling what seemed to be a very old banana peel from the mess of papers in the back. Basil gagged, covering his mouth. Kel laughed and chucked it in the nearby garbage.

"There is a garbage right there! How could you not throw it out earlier?" Basil asked, then shrunk his shoulders. Maybe he should be a little nicer to the one guy treating him like nothing happened a month ago. Or four years ago...

To his surprise, Kel laughed some more, shrugging. He finally pulled out an old Polaroid and handed it to Basil carefully. The Polaroid was sticky from something in his disgusting locker, but Basil could still make out the photo.

The Polaroid had an image of Kel, Hero, Sunny, Aubrey, and himself, all smiling together, before the incident, all those years ago. For a moment, Basil wondered how Kel got such a photo when he kept any photos he took of his friends very possessively.

"You let me keep this one. Way back then," Kel answered him before he could speak.

Basil didn't know what to say. He suddenly felt very sick to his stomach and turned away from Kel. His vision wobbled as tears filled his eyes. He couldn't exactly pinpoint why.

Kel put a hand on Basil's shoulder and said "sorry" sweetly. "I didn't mean to make you sad."

Basil shook off his hand and held the photo close to his chest. He then whipped around and threw himself at Kel in a massive hug.

"Woah," Kel said and took a step back, clearly not expecting such a reaction. He pat his back in return but Basil wouldn't let go. He was crying.

Kel noticed his friend sob and held him closer for a moment, then released him slowly. "It'll be okay," he said.

Basil wiped his tears from his eyes, and glanced back at the photo. "That's just the thing," he spoke, his voice wavering. "It's not."