Page 4 of Before We’re More Than Friends (When We Faced the Music #1)

“He’s not my boy.” I snorted. “You’re making him sound like we’re in some torrid love affair or something.

” Even though we were only in fifth grade, everyone was already looking for love, even Arielle.

But Isabelle and I weren’t into the dating scene.

What was the point? So you kiss someone until you get bored of them and move on to the next. How fun.

She grinned. “I know. I just said it to see how you’d react.”

I rolled my eyes before I started to write.

Twenty minutes had passed by the time I put my letter in a glittery purple envelope and sealed it up. To think I hadn’t been thrilled about being put in the pen pal program and now had just opened up to a complete stranger about my roller coaster of a life was wild.

Something about the way Alex had responded made me feel appreciated and wanted, not just someone he had to talk to for a school project. And I couldn’t know everything about him just from one letter, but he was pretty fun.

My dad knocked on the door before cracking it open with a smile. “Hey, ladies.” He looked at me. “Have you written back to your pan pal?”

I nodded, clutching the envelope to my chest. “Can we go to the post office?” We usually had our home chef and maid, Francesca, do errands like that for us, but I wanted to slip the letter into the slot for this one.

“Hey, I want to come!” Isabelle got up from the floor. “And Penrose.”

“You know she hates the car.”

“Bull . . .” Isabelle’s big brown eyes went to my dad, and her cheeks flushed. “Dog poop.”

Dad shared an eye roll with me before the three of us got in his car and went to the post office. When I dropped the letter into the slot, I imagined how Alex would do the same with the same excitement I had.

Once we got home, Isabelle and I took Penrose to the dog park not too far from my neighborhood. Isabelle wasn’t allowed to have a dog, so she lived through me and Penrose. Her dad wanted her to have a dog, but her mom refused it because of how high-maintenance it was.

“I’ll never not be jealous of you,” Isabelle said as we arrived at the park.

“Um, there are many reasons why you shouldn’t be jealous of me. ”

She shoved my shoulder. “I’m talking about you and your dog. I swear if I could just sneak her into my house. Or just get rid of my mom entirely. I’d do anything for a dog.”

I resisted the urge to sigh, preparing for another one of these speeches. “I don’t think a dog is worth losing your mom.”

“You say that as if I would have to sacrifice her for a dog.” She sighed as she sat on a bench. “I don’t know, the lady gets on my nerves. Wear this, don’t say that, make sure you smile.” She made a blabber motion with her hand, rolling her eyes to the moon and back. “All she does is annoy people.”

I laughed and rubbed Penrose’s stomach. “It’s part of the role.”

Isabelle slouched in her seat, looking at the sky. “At least you’re already cheering up. I’m always here for you, but sitting in your room in silence was getting old. There weren’t even tears.”

“Everyone grieves in different ways.” And I had been crying every day, but I held the tears in when Isabelle was here. She was a sympathy crier, and the last thing I wanted was to turn my bedroom into a pond.

“It really sucks that they had to give you a label. I mean, it will help with closure and your treatment?—”

“Oh, gosh, not treatment.” I grunted, closing my eyes and letting the sun warm my face. “That makes me sound like I’m sick.”

“You are.”

“Well, thanks!”

“I’m sorry.” Isabelle sighed, rubbing my arm. “I just don’t know what to say.”

“Doesn’t that make me feel great,” I muttered as I slouched against the bench. I knew I was being a jerk, but I couldn’t stop myself. “I’m so broken that I’m knocking people speechless.”

“Oh, Rainy, that’s not true.” Isabelle put her hand in mine. I had the urge to pull it away, but I didn’t follow it. “We’ll get through this together like we always do, okay?”

“But this is so much different than ‘always.’”

“I know, but you’re going to get the help you need. Your parents are here, you have psychologists who know what they’re doing, and I’m here for emotional support.”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “I don’t want to need help. I want to be normal.”

“You are normal, Rainy. There’s no such thing as normal.”

I snorted, despite the frustration that coursed through me. “I can’t believe you tried contradicting yourself to make me feel better.”

Isabelle shrugged. “Hey, I’m speaking facts.”

“You wish.” I sighed. “Normal is someone like you. You don’t have compulsions or worry about .

. .” I noticed that Penrose was playing with something in the grass, and worry spiked in my chest. “Worry about accidents happening.” Like that Penrose can get hurt from whatever is in that grass .

Or that she’ll drop it, and another dog gets hurt instead . Or one of us steps on it and ? —

Isabelle squeezed my hand tighter this time. “I’m not leaving your side.”

“Thank you,” I said before taking a breath and giving her a small smile. “I mean it.”

As soon as I got home, I turned on my playlist to start making Alex’s bracelet. I took out green and blue beads and black star-shaped beads. I drew what I wanted the bracelet to look like in the notebook before starting to put the beads on the bracelet string.

When I made bracelets, all my worries melted away. My thoughts were occupied with threading each bead carefully as I hummed along to my favorite songs.

After fifteen minutes, I smiled at the creation in front of me.

To make the bracelet more unique, I used two shades of green and two shades of blue, alternating shades each time.

I placed a black star in the middle to top it off.

I put the bracelet on my wrist to make sure it was sturdy enough before packaging it in a green bubble mailer.

I jotted a note on a purple piece of paper. I debated throwing it away since it seemed a little too personal, but I added it to the bubble mailer anyway.

I hope you think of me whenever you wear this.

I did hope he’d think of me whenever he looked at it. That he’d see me in a happier way than I viewed myself right now.

Around a week later, a new letter came in the mail.

This time, the envelope was stuffed, as if there was something else in it.

I ran to my room to carefully unwrap it, and a purple-and-green bracelet with an identical black star fell out.

A smile spread across my face as I read the note attached to it.

I hope you think of me whenever you wear this like I’ll always think of you when I wear mine.

At that moment, I knew this wasn’t going to be a friendship we would maintain just for a school project. This was the start of forever.