The Best Friend Equation

Prologue

They say that kids do not fall in love. Kids have crushes. Puppy love. Love that does not last. I beg to differ. I fell in love when I was ten years old. That was the day the Millers moved in next door.

I had gotten into a fight with my older sister, Venus, and in her anger, she had broken my favorite porcelain doll. It was a delicate figurine, with plump red cheeks and a sweet smile; it was one of the few gifts I had gotten from my father. He traveled a lot and had gotten the doll for me from his trip to Europe. I loved the toy but now she lay in pieces in my hands. I knew if I held on too tightly I would cut myself and so, even in my anguish, I was careful. I was sitting outside on the sidewalk, weeping soundlessly, when a car pulled in next door.

A man and a woman along with two boys exited the vehicle, talking animatedly. One of the boys was older – about thirteen or fourteen years of age, and he was furiously typing on his phone, while the younger boy, who had a basketball in his hands, immediately started dribbling it. A moving van pulled up behind them and the man talked for a couple of minutes with the driver before opening the back door and climbing in. He and the driver began removing furniture from the van.

I watched with interest, the broken doll forgotten in my hands. The mom yelled at the boys to help. The older boy groaned but pocketed his phone while the younger boy dropped his ball on the grass and ran up to the van. Both then started carrying boxes into the house.

After some time, the younger boy noticed me. Flushing, I ducked my head and wiped at the tear tracks on my cheeks. When I looked up the boy was walking up to me. "What is that?" he asked curiously, while he was still several feet away.

I ducked my head again so that my curtain of hair hid my face. "Just my doll," I muttered.

"I'm sorry, what?"

I looked up at him again. He was standing over me so that the sun was in my eyes. "My doll." I said louder, my eyes squinting. "It's broken."

"Oh." I didn't know why, but he took that as an invitation to join me on the pavement. "Can I see it?"

I bit my lip, fiercely protective of my toy but it was already destroyed. Mamma would throw it out anyway. A fresh batch of tears pricked my eyes at the thought. Horrified that I was going to cry in front of this new boy I set the pieces on the sidewalk and ran off, not looking behind.

***

Later that evening, my mamma, my sister and I were just about to sit for dinner when the doorbell rang. My mamma looked annoyed. "Who is it now?" she asked us irritably as if we would know. When no one said anything, she threw her napkin on the table in frustration and walked away to open the door. We heard some muffled talking and then my mamma appeared again.

"Aria? Venus?" my mamma called us. "Could you both come here, please?"

Confused at the change in her tone, we got up and followed her. At the entrance was the woman from next door along with the younger boy who had talked to me.

"This is Mrs. Miller and her son, Lucas," my mom introduced. "They just moved in next door. Say hi!"

We both muttered hi, my eyes moving to the boy who was grinning at me.

"Well, thank you so much for coming over to greet us," my mamma said. "It was really nice meeting both of you." There was an undertone of irritation in her sugary voice, that I doubted anyone but Venus and I could pick up on. It made me shift uncomfortably.

"Same here!" smiled Mrs. Miller. Then she turned to us. "Aria, my son Lucas is about your age. He had to leave all his friends when we moved. Maybe you both can be friends, hmm?"

I looked at my mamma who was frowning but quickly recovered. "That's a great idea!" I could tell she was losing patience fast, so I just nodded. Lucas looked embarrassed at his mom's pushing but smiled sheepishly at me again.

"Nice to meet you. I'm Lucas." He held out his hand for me to shake.

"I'm Aria," I said softly. When I shook his hand, he pushed a piece of paper in my hand.

When they left and my mamma went back to dinner, grumbling about it being cold, I looked down and opened my hand. It was a note, saying:

Open your bedroom window at 8.

Confused I went back to my meal.

***

At night when I had brushed my teeth and worn my pajamas, I looked at my clock which said five minutes to eight. I quickly went to my window, which overlooked one of the bedrooms at the Miller house. The room was dark. Wondering if the note was just a joke, I was about to turn away when the light switched on and Lucas walked in what seemed to be his bedroom. His gaze zoomed to me, standing at the window in my nightclothes. Immediately he grinned widely and waved.

Timidly I waved back. He then proceeded to open his window and climb out. My eyebrows rose, wondering what he was up to. When he jumped the short fence between our houses, I couldn't stop my gasp.

I watched him dumbfounded as he tapped on my window and mouthing "Open up."

Quickly I unlatched the window and opened it a few inches, still wary of the suspiciously joyful new kid.

"What?" I asked.

He rolled his eyes. "Are you seriously going to let me stay outside in this cold? Come on, let me in."

I bit my lip again. It wasn't that late and if he made too much noise, we would both be caught. And I really did not want to know what mamma would do if she found a boy in my room.

"Go home, Lucas. I'll see you tomorrow."

I went to close the window when he whispered loudly, "Wait!"

Terrified someone had heard that, I glanced at my door then back at him. "Be quiet," I hissed.

"Sorry," he said, his grin back in place. "I have something for you."

My curiosity overpowered my guardedness. "What is it?"

Slowly he reached into his pocket and took out a small package that was crudely wrapped in crinkled brown paper, and slipped it into my open window.

Then grinning, he turned and went back to his room.

Frowning, I closed the window, then took the package and sat on the bed. When the wrapping fell away, my jaw nearly hit the floor. It was my doll. He had repaired it, probably using superglue. I lifted her dress to inspect her body. It was not perfect, the thin lines still showing where it had broken but it was whole. Imperfectly perfect. Staring at the toy, my chest felt strangely tight.

It was at that moment that Lucas and I became the best of friends. And I had fallen in love.

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Hey guys!

This is my story! Hope you like it. Also, it might need major editing. So if you guys find grammatical or other mistakes, please let me know in the comments. Would really appreciate some constructive criticism.

One more thing. Please do not search for porcelain dolls on the internet. Especially "broken" porcelain dolls. I did and got thoroughly creeped out. And if you do search for them, don't say I didn't warn you!

Love,

Thunderbird