The sun was burning on her
skin, but Dinah had never felt better in the 10 years of her life. Every muscle in her body was aching in a pleasurable way as she caught the flying basketball from the air and jumped up to score for the fifth time that day. Her feet touched the ground again at the same moment the ball fell through the basket and the cheering around her started before the ball even fell back down. Her teammates, 2 girls who lived around the corner, started doing their victory dance while the boys walked away with a sad face. It was embarrassing to lose, but it was even more embarrassing to lose from some girls for them.
Dinah was pulled into a group hug as the boys disappeared around the corner but she didn't care about their hug, the only hug she wanted was the one of the girl sitting on the bench. Dinah smiled at the girl, who smiled back and looked down as a blush appeared on her cheeks. She faintly heard the goodbye of her teammates as she walked over to her friend and sat down next to her on the bench.
'You were great today.' Ally said as they were the only two left on the playground.
'That's because you came to watch. You should try it some time, sport is really fun!'
'No, thanks.' Ally smiled as she shook her head. 'I prefer watching you.'
'You can watch me when I walk home?'
'Is that an invitation?'
'yes, it is.' Dinah laughed as she stood from the bench and waited for the other girl to stand up.
Together they left the playground in silence. Ever since Dinah had met Ally a year earlier she had known Ally wasn't comfortable with talking. She preferred listening and loved being on her own, except for when it came to Dinah. The two had spent a lot of time together but whenever other people joined them, Ally shut up and sat in the back while she waited until they left again. Dinah had always found it strange but never said anything about it. They were friends, best friends, and you don't tell your best friend they're strange.
The 10 year old quickly forgot about the strange behavior of her friend as they walked around the corner of the street and saw the ice cream car was still standing still. Without warning Dinah started running and reached the car just before the man closed the window and stared at the list of ice creams while looking for her last coins.
'I want a vanilla one! And you? What do you want?' Dinah asked as Ally finally reached her, but the girl simply shook her head.
After making sure Ally really didn't want anything she paid her ice cream and ignored the strange look the man gave her as she took the first lick. She knew it wouldn't be long until dinner would be ready and her mother wouldn't be happy with the fact the was eating ice cream now, but she deserved it. She had finally beaten the boys and she deserved to celebrate her victory.
'People are looking at us.' Ally suddenly whispered, interrupting Dinah's story about how she made the winning point of the game.
'That's because they don't have great ice cream, and because I look like an idiot next to you. Are you coming in?'
'No, maybe next time...'
'You say that every time...' Dinah pouted. 'It's almost as if you're afraid of my parents.'
'Maybe I am.' Ally smiled. 'But, I'll see you tomorrow at the playground. I'll cheer for you again.'
Ally turned around and walked away with her friend's eyes on her back. Only when the girl had disappeared around the corner did Dinh open the front door and swallowed the last bit of her ice cream.
'Mom! Guess what?! We won the game!' Dinah's voice echoed through the house as she ran to the kitchen where she knew she would find her mother.
'That's great, honey.'
'Everything went so good and I am sure we won because Ally was there to watch us.'
Milika seemed to flinch as she heard the girl's name and almost dropped the plate she was holding. The angry look in her eyes confused the little Dinah as her mother turned around and sank through her knees so she was at eye level. Was her mother mad at Ally? She had never even met her best friend.
'Dinah, you have to stop with the Ally thing now. You're 10 years old, it has been long enough now.'
'But she is my best friend! Why can't I see Ally anymore?'
'BECAUSE SHE IS NOT REAL!'
The silence after her mother's shout was so painful that Dinah wasn't sure what was causing the tears stinging behind her eyes. Was it that painful silence? Was it her mother yelling at her or the fact that she said Ally wasn't real? Of course Ally was real! They were best friends and they did everything together. How could her mother say she wasn't real?
'No! You're lying! She is real! I have a picture of us!'
As fast as her still aching legs could she ran up the stairs, almost running against the door of her bedroom. She immediately reached for the picture on her nightstand, swearing quietly as it fell behind it. The picture was taken in the summer at the lake after she and Ally had spent the entire day there. Dinah had stuck out her tongue at the camera and Ally... wasn't there at all.
Confused Dinah stared at the picture before looking for the other pictures of that day, the tears rolling over her cheeks as she realized Ally wasn't on a single one of them and the space next to her was empty on every photo. Her friend had been a lie, but her feelings for her were painfully real.
