Chapter 10

A Chapter by L.A.

Chapter Ten

At 4:00 Stacey's doorbell rang. She opened the door and saw Lydia standing on her porch, next to a bicycle.

"Hey," Lydia greeted her, smiling.

"Hi," Stacey said. "Come on in."

Lydia glanced at her bike. "Uh..."

"Oh, just leave it there. No one will take it," Stacey assured her. Lydia put down the kickstand on her bicycle and followed Stacey through her house.

They reached Stacey's room and they each pulled out their homework. As usual, Mr. Howard had assigned them an entire science packet to fill in.

"Does he always give us this much science homework?" Lydia complained.

"Yep," Stacey answered. "I've gotten used to it, though."

Lydia raised her eyebrows. "Seems like you know Mr. Howard pretty well."

"I guess." Stacey shrugged.

The two of them quietly worked for twenty minutes, and then they were finished. Stacey eagerly jumped up. She was ready to go outside for a bike ride. Lydia was just as impatient.

They got on their bikes outside and Lydia followed Stacey to the river. Stacey parked her bike by the dock and Lydia did the same. They sat down next to each other at the edge and dangled their feet above the water. Stacey leaned her head against her favorite wooden post.

It was a quiet and peaceful moment. Stacey remembered something from the past.

She and Francie were eating ice cream, laughing, and throwing rocks into the river while sitting on a huge rock. Stacey sighed at the memory. Francie seemed so far away. Especially ever since she met Claira.

Stacey was sure that Claira was a nice, fun person to be with, but at the moment she did not appreciate her for stealing Francie.

Lydia looked at Stacey. "You okay?" she asked worriedly, noticing that Stacey's eyes had filled up to the brim with tears.

Stacey turned and met Lydia's gaze. "No," she replied, "And I don't think I ever will be. But as long as I have something to hold onto, the hole that's been stabbed through my heart will be patching itself up."

"Maybe you and Francie can work things out," Lydia suggested.

Stacey shook her head. "It won't be that easy. The damage is done. It'll be hard to rebuild our friendship."

Lydia sighed, wishing that she knew how Stacey felt. She also wished that she could fix Stacey's friendship with Francie.

"You know what's weird?" Stacey said.

"What?" Lydia asked.

"I just met you today, but it seems like I've known you forever," Stacey answered.

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Lydia questioned, leaning her head on Stacey's shoulder.

"Definitely a good thing." Stacey smiled as a tear streamed down her cheek. Lydia smiled, too.

The two of them sat there together for hours. Stacey's cell phone rang, but she ignored it. She didn't want to come home now. She wanted to stay there with Lydia forever. But she knew that she had to go, or else her mother would be worried.

"Well, I need to leave, and I'm sure your parents are worried about you as well," Stacey told Lydia, standing up.

Lydia stood up too. "Yeah," she said, sighing. "I just don't want to leave. This is the best thing that's happened to me in a long time."

Stacey looked into Lydia's bright blue eyes and said, "Me too."

For the next month, Stacey and Lydia did everything together. Their friendship grew stronger than they thought could be possible. Stacey and Francie still hadn't compromised, and Stacey couldn't believe that she hadn't made up with Francie. After all, it had been 31 days. But Stacey often found no time to talk to Francie about it. She was always with Lydia.

Francie didn't have time for Stacey, either. She was either at Claira's house, going on a bike ride with Claira, or Claira was at her house. Bill and Jody continued to date and were now calling themselves boyfriend and girlfriend. It was a further stage in a relationship than Mrs. Peterson had ever gone before, and Francie and Claira's hopes were high.

Francie was adapting well to her new neighborhood and her new school. She had lots of friends--thanks to Claira's big mouth--and Stacey didn't seem to matter much anymore. The promise that she made to Stacey before she left for California was now long forgotten.

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