1- The start of everything

I could still remember the time when I met him really vividly. The moment I walked past his room in the hospital, he caught my eye. He was resting his head on his hands and was looking out of the window dreamily. At that time, I didn’t care that much, as to why he was hospitalized. 

I walked in like it was my own house and told him, “Hey, I need a partner for a game the other kids are playing downstairs.” 

It felt more like a command rather than a request. I wasn’t expecting him to agree, him being a sick kid and all.  Surprisingly, he smiled and got out of bed. He stood in front of me, wearing a excited smile and looked up. We were 11 years old then, still very innocent, and naturally, I was taller. I grabbed his hand and dragged him downstairs, to the courtyard, where many of the hospitalized kids were having a match. It was the kind of match where you played in teams and competed in many different games, accumulating points to win.

The first thing I said when we were done establishing our teams was, “What’s your name? I don’t want to be yelling ‘hey boy!’ throughout the game.”

He looked at me hesitantly before looking down and answered, “Z-Zane T-Travis. You?”

“Hayley Jackson.”

Before he could say anything else, the match had started. It started with games which didn’t require much effort. However, Zane got tired easily and had to take a break occasionally. I could see that he wanted to play desperately but his body did otherwise. Finally, they called on us for the last and deciding match. Zane ran up to the front enthusiastically and hurried me. The final match was a dodge ball-like game. Zane and I were required to avoid getting hit by the ball or catch the ball. Zane mainly avoided the ball whereas I kept catching it, without knowing it myself. It was when I saw Zane pouted before I let him get the ball. 

“Zane, catch it!” I shouted over to him. He got ready in his stance. If he caught this ball, we would be the ultimate winners! Zane placed his hands in front of his chest as the ball came flying. 

“Oof!”” he groaned.

Realizing that I had kept my eyes closed, I slowly opened them. Zane had caught it! His eyes started to water and I went up to him. 

“Crybaby,” I laughed, ruffling my hands through his sweaty darkish brown hair.

I turned to high-five the other kids and celebrate our win. The moment I had turned, I heard a loud ‘thud’. A few girls who were playing with us shrieked and I immediately spun around. There I saw, Zane lying on the ground, unconscious. All of the other kids panicked, no one knew him that well and thus, no one knew what had happened to him. As they gathered around him, another boy and I went to get the nurses. 

The nurses called hurried over and they hastily sent Zane into the emergency room. I ran outside and saw my father getting ready to operate. On Zane. 

I ran up to my Dad, “Daddy! Will Zane be okay?” I asked. My voice sounded choked and strained. I was resisting the urge to cry, I had caused this, I should have asked him if he was in the condition to play or not. He was hospitalized after all. 

My dad looked down at me angrily, his eyebrows was slanted and his wrinkles, folded deeply. “Were you the one who took him out to play?”

I nodded hesitantly, not daring to look into my father’s eyes. All of the sudden, his hands came flying towards me and landed on my cheek, hard. Without a word, he hurries into the operating theatre. 

I stood there quietly as the nurses hurried past me. My cheeks felt burnt from that slap and I knew I deserved it. Tears welled up my eyes. I started blaming myself again. I should have find out further about him, ask the nurses or something before taking him out to play. I crossed my fingers and closed my eyes, praying that nothing happened to him. If anything happened to him due to my recklessness, I would never forgive myself. Thankfully, my prayers were answered, he was alright. However, I did not see him until a week later. I was punished, of course. Grounded for a week. 

I stood outside the door and sucked the air in, holding it there. I wanted to enter yet I did not know what to say. I could not possibly walk in and say, “Hey, sorry for almost killing you.” could I? Just as I was about to run away, he turned his head and saw me, giving me a great big smile. A smile which showed off his dimples. At that time, cute. 

“Hey Hayley!” he greeted a little too loudly. 

I forced a smile and walked towards him reluctantly.

“Sorry if I caused you any trouble, I didn’t know Dr. Jackson was your father,” he apologized.

His apology took me by a surprise. “Why are you saying sorry for? It was my fault. I should have found out about your condition first. I’m so stupid, I should have known. You were hospitalized in the same department my daddy is working in. I should have known you had heart problems. It was all my fault…” I started blabbering.

Suddenly, he cupped my face in his hands, “You’re gonna cry,” he said as his eyes widened. I did not realized it until he told me. I removed my face from his hands and hurriedly wipe the tears that were going to roll down my face, away. I looked at him and blushed, I hardly ever cried, furthermore, he was the crybaby, not me!

He grinned at me again and comforted me, “It’s not your fault! Don’t blame yourself! If there’s anyone to blame, you should blame me for it! I should have told you I’m not allowed to play. Anyway, you had let me have the greatest fun I’ve had in years! Possibly in my life! I’ve never felt what it’s like to play with other kids!”

I was stunned. I stuttered, “W-Well, it’s still partially my fault you fainted and had to be operated on! I-I would do anything you want me to do.” 

He looked at me with his eyes wide open. Embarrassed, I looked away, not before spotting his sly grin, “Well… if you insist.”

I hurriedly added in, “As long as it’s reasonable, I would definitely do it! Just don’t ask me to take you down and play again, yeah? The previous incident made me go crazy.”

“Crazy?” 

“I prayed so desperately for you to be alive. I-I-I didn’t do it for you though.”

“Then who?”

“Myself! I don’t want me to be feeling guilty for my whole life! I’m only 11 years old!”

“So am I!”

“That’s great! A-A-Anyway, your request?”

He chuckled, “My request is that I want you to be my best friend and play with me.”

I breathed a sigh of relief, “Heck, I would even stay with you forever if you asked me to.”

He glanced at me, smiled and shoved his pinky into my face, “Well… since you want my company forever, I shall change my request to suit your needs.”

“Hey! I didn’t say that!”

He ignored me and said, “I want you to be my best friend forever and stay with me forever. Promise?”

I stared at his pinky and felt my face heating up. Not looking at him, I hooked my pinky onto his. “I, Hayley Jackson, promises to be Zane Travis’s friend and stay with him forever.”

“Best friend,” he corrected. 

“Best friend.”

At that time, we were only 11 years old. To us, it was just an innocent promise. Sure, we would remember that promise forever, but it didn’t occur to us that it would be near impossible to keep. 

Author's Note

This story may be familiar because it is based on a manga by Kotomi Aoki, "Boku no Hatsukoi o kimi ni sasagu". For those who dislike reading manga or watching Japanese dramas, enjoy this story! :D For those who have read it before, the manga and drama of this story is mostly in the boy's POV, I'm creating my own in the girl's POV. I preserved some of the elements in the manga in my story but I've also added some originality in it. The starting of the story may be similar, but the ending will definitely be different (Partially cause i don't know the ending yet.) Anyway, hope you enjoy! The first few chapters may be boring 'cause I'm explaining their childhood.