Promise

This sets up the story.

It was a gorgeous day. the leaves were turning colors, and the path was cleared out. I looked over to my left and saw my best friend, Trey, walking along side me. We were both relatively quite, but it was okay, because we liked to absorb the air and scenery.,
 

It was just as pretty as always. Or it seemed like it. Today, this trail was magical. The air felt beautiful and light. The

leaves all seemed to be in a perfect collage with the trees. The path was perfectly clear, and the roots were staying clear of it. It was a storytale scene.
 

Not only was it beautiful, but Trey was with me. I had something important to tell him. It had been eating at me for the past eight months that I’ve been friends with him. He had to know, and I decided today was the day to tell him. The timing had to be right though.
 

We continued to walk in silence. It wasn’t a big deal, yet. I figured that the longer I waited, the better. I looked over to Trey, and thought of how much I had to tell him. I wasn’t sure how he’d react. I wasn’t sure how to exactly tell him either. I wasn’t sure how I could hold it in either. All I knew was the timing had to be perfect.
 

We kept on walking, until we hit the stream. That was when we got the choice of crossing it to go left, or staying right and staying on the path. I let Trey decide, and he picked left. Secretly, I was hoping he’d go right, but that was because I knew where it went, all the way back to my house. He chose the path that had the really nice pond at it.
 

Trey hopped the stones across the stream and got to the other side. He gave me his hand to help me across. I took it and stumbled across. His hand felt warm, and I loved it. He was a friend I didn’t want to lose. But what I was going to tell him could lose him.
 

“So, Madison, what did you have to tell me?” His voice startled me.
“Well, Trey, it’s a little complicated, so lets just keep going until we can sit down.”
 

So we kept walking. There was a spot up ahead where we could stop and sit down. To talk. It was an amazing place, the pond had a mini waterfall flowing into it. We stopped and sat down, and I took my time to get settled. I looked around, and tried to avoid telling him. I was scared as heck and didn’t know how it’d work out.
 

“Miss Madison, I believe you had something to tell me?”
“Oh yeah, uh…” I didn’t know how to word it.
“You’re not going to tell me you’re moving, are you?” He sounded scared.
“No, of course not. This isn’t really terrible news, but its just something I have to tell you.”
“Then tell me.”
“Well Trey these past eight months have been amazing. And I think-” I took a deep breath. “I think I love you.”
“Well, Madison, I love you too. You’re my best friend.” He said he loved me, but I knew what he meant.
“No Trey, I mean, love you love you. As in guy girl love.”
 

With that, he looked at me funny. He was about to say something, and my heart stopped. I was scared. If he loved me back, my life would be amazing. If not, who knows what would happen. He started to talk.
 

“Madison, I don’t know what to say. You’re my best friend, and I don’t feel anything towards you like…” he let his voice trail off. I knew he was rejecting me. My eyes filled with tears, and I felt my throat choke up.
“I knew it. And I wish I hadn’t told you. I just hoped you liked me too, and I really hoped you would. I took a risk, and I probably just ruined our friendship.” I started to cry. There was no way I had just told my best friend I loved him. There was no way. Even if I had, he didn’t love me back. He rejected me, and I had ruined everything I had with him. Eight months of friendship down the drain. I hated myself.
 

“Madison, don’t cry. You didn’t ruin anything. Just please, don’t cry.”
“But Trey…”
 

I couldn’t help myself. I ran away from him crying. I ripped down the trail faster than I had ever ran before. I ran down the path, to the stream. I hobbled across and just kept running. I kept running until I tripped over a root and fell down. I looked at the ground and kept crying. Until I noticed on thing. Trey was right behind me, and he had been after me the whole way. He helped me up. I started crying harder, and he pulled me into a hug. I just sat there crying in his arms, and he was stroking my hair.
 

“Madison, it’s going to be alright. Just pretend it never happened, and we will be best friends forever.”
“ I can’t do that Trey. It did happen. I told you I loved you, and you don’t love me. How can I pretend it never happened?”
“Just do it Madison. I’ll forget too. We’ll go to school tomorrow and pretend we never did anything, except take a walk to the pond to throw rocks. Nothing happened, and you can forget you ever liked me. Okay?”
“I guess you’re right Trey”
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
With that, I hugged him even harder, trying so hard to forget everything. The fantasies of him, how warm his body was. How much I loved his hugs. How much I had loved him. I had promised, and I couldn’t break this promise.