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23- Oh The Places You'll Go

Emma

So, you and Jeremy are pretty good friends?" asked Marvin who also had his sight on the bright yellow stars.

"Yeah, ever since I moved here in second grade, we became best friends." There was an unexpected sigh. "Best friends. Best friends forever."

"You like this Jeremy, don't you?" he asked. I couldn't give an answer. Silence was my only answer. "Something tells me he doesn't feel the same way about you."

"No, he has the hots for Hailey. Sometimes, she's literally the only thing he thinks about. Hell, he talks about her a lot, but he can't man up and actually talk to her."

"And what about Hailey? Does she feel the same way about Jeremy?" There seemed to be a lot of concern in the way the question was asked.

"I don't know. At the party tonight, it seemed like she was giving him a couple of signals, but it was hard to tell." Biting my lip and lying on Marvin's stinky shoulder, I continued to speak. "I feel like I'm losing my best friend. Hell, I am losing him. I know I am." Tears were dripping out. "I don't know what to do about it."

"Ready for third grade?" asked Jeremy as we sat on the bus.

"Yeah, it's been a really long summer. All my mommy did was cry." Telling that to Jeremy also made me want to cry."

The boy gave me a hug and handed me a chocolate Kiss. Somehow with this Kiss, the day got a little better. Maybe it wouldn't be a bad year. I could do this.

At recess, I was on the swings with Jeremy and we were going super high. He even dared me to jump off, but I didn't want to. Back in second grade, Billy broke his foot by jumping off the swing.

"Hey little butt head," greeted Ted with a sucker in his mouth. That idiot was able to stop Jeremy's swing. "That's my swing. Give it to me." For a moment, Jeremy sat there unsure of what to do. My whole body was shaking at what could happen.

"There are plenty of other swings. Go find your own." Nice response!

"Bite my shorts you little dweeb!" Ted was angry and hated Jeremy's answer. "You either give me that swing or I'll pop your jaw open. I'm going to count to five."

"Alright!" declared Jeremy. "Chill out. You can have my swing. We'll find another one."

"No," was my unexpected response. "Jeremy, you can't let him take your swing."

Ted stood right next to me making noises with his sucker. Was the scary bully ever going to say anything? At least he forgot about the counting down to five.

"Emma, come on," Jeremy tried pushing me off and it worked. We both looked for another swing.

"That's right you little barf head, go with your girlfriend to another swing," laughed Ted.  

That was the final straw for Jeremy. Without thinking, he rushed over to the bully and tried pushing him. Sadly, Ted was able to grab Jeremy and lock him as if he were getting arrested. The boy could do nothing but scream in fear. My body stood there unsure of what to do. Part of me wanted to run away. Slowly, my feet began to back up. Ted eventually threw Jeremy to the ground. The next thing I knew, my poor boy was getting sand kicked in his face. Ted enjoyed every moment of it. Once that ended, Jeremy ended up going to the nurse and went home early.

As the school year went on, Ted was always bothering Jeremy whenever we were together. Sometimes he'd get kicked off the swings. Other times, he would lose his lunch. My heart was always hurting for Jeremy. Someone had to do something. Nobody seemed to care. Maybe I was the only one who cared. Of course, my brain always told me to do nothing.

At the end of January, it was Jeremy's birthday and he didn't want to have a birthday party. His parents were concerned as he stayed home that day. It was a lonely day at school, but at least Ted didn't kick me off the swings.

There was nobody to push me on the swings. Because of that, I just sat there all alone thinking about how sad Jeremy was. Maybe he needed a nice birthday present. After thinking about what to give him for a few minutes, an idea went off. I knew what to give him. It took forever for school to end that day.

"Happy Birthday Jeremy!" He was sitting on a large tire that we had found in the junkyard. The sun was going down and I found a seat next to the sad boy."

"Hey Emma," was all he could say as he threw a few rocks that were in his lap. "What's that book?"

Yes, there was a book in my hands for the birthday boy.

"Oh, it's a new book for you. I found it in our school library."

For a moment, Jeremy didn't want to take the book. It took a while for him to grab it. Once he did, he opened it up and began reading it. The boy smiled. Dr. Suess can make anyone happy. I loved the way he read the book.

"Congratulations, today is your day. You're off to great places! You're off and away."

Eventually, I began reading with him. Yes, we both loved "Oh the Places You'll Go." When the book ended, Jeremy noticed a key that I taped to the back.

"It's a key for you," my words said with joy. "Someday when we finish our car, we can go wherever we want. You won't have to be scared of Ted anymore.

Once my story ended, there was a silence between me and Marvin. All we could hear was the chirping of the crickets. Marvin needed to say something. Anything. This silence sucked.

"You know, sometimes people don't like us back," stated Marvin. "There's this one girl I like and I can tell you she doesn't feel the same way about me. I'm too weird for her." There was another quick silence. "But at least you guys are friends. That's a special bond that can't be broken. He may not like you back, but I'm sure he'll always cherish you."

That was somewhat nice to hear, but at the same time, that was the last thing my ears wanted to hear. Why couldn't Jeremy feel the same way I felt about him? Why?

"I need to take a walk," announced Marvin. "I'm hungry." Getting out of the car, he immediately tripped and landed on his stomach. Without hesitation, I hopped out of the car to make sure this dude was alright. Turns out, that was not the case. Pulling up his right pant leg, we noticed that his right foot was missing. My whole body became cold and shaky and wanted to faint. My arms began to tremble at the sight once it became apparent that his left leg was blood red. Just like Jeremy.

"Oh my gosh! What happened to your foot?" I fearfully asked.  

"It's a long story. Can you help get me back into the car?" Crap, how was this guy calm? Why wasn't he freaking out?

Such a sad chapter. Hope you enjoyed it. Remember to comment and vote!

Did you like Dr. Seuss's books growing up?

Thoughts on the flashback?

What happened to Marvin's leg?