Rubberband Ball

November 3rd, 1988

I was in kindergarten. A little girl with tangly brown hair and eyes too big for her face. I was about three feet tall.

Gaspard was swining on the swingset because it was his turn. I was on the monkey bars, waiting for my turn on the swing.

"Hey Cammie," David Brooks said meanly, walking over to me.

"Go away you big meany!" I snapped at him.

"Oh I'm so scared!" He laughed mockingly. Then he grabbed my hand and yanked me down to the ground. My knee stung, but I refused to show any tears. Even at four I was stubborn. Gaspard was turning five soon.

I stood up and glared at David. "Go away!" I said to him. David laughed and pushed me down. This time I did cry.

"You're such a baby Cammie," He said.

"Why don't you mess with someone your own size," Gaspard said.

"Like who? You?" He smirked. "I don't think you can beat me small fry."

Gaspard balled his hand into a fist and punched David square in the nose. The disgusting sound of cartlidge breaking filled my ears. I cringed. David burst into tears. Blood was everywhere. The sight of it made me sick and I had to look away.

A teacher hurried over. "What on earth happened?" She asked, trying to comfort David.

"David pushed Cammie down, so I punched him," He said proudly. I stood up and smiled at him.

"My hero!" I put my hand to my forehead. "Gaspard, you can be my prince."

He grinned at me. "And you can be my princess!"

It was my break and I was sitting on the floor in the storeroom, crying my eyes out. The door opened and Krista appeared.

"Sweetie, what's wrong?" She asked.

"Gaspard came, and we had a fight," I said between sobs. Krista gave me a pained look before giving me a big hug.

"Maybe his coming here is telling you something," She said. I sniffed.

"Like what?" I asked, wiping my tears away.

"I don't know hon, maybe you two are supposed to be together," She said.

I scoffed. "No way," I said.

Krista shrugged. "It was only a suggestion. Maybe you should take the day off?" I nodded. Krista gave me one last hug before I left.

When I got outside, my phone went off. I fumbled around with my purse until I got my phone. "Hello?" I asked.

"Hey," an unfamiliar voice said.

"Who's this?" I asked cautiously.

"Oh right, how rude of me. It's Tyler," he said.

My heart rate picked up. "Hey!" I said.

"Are you busy?" he asked.

"Nope, why?"

"I was just wondering if you wanted to grab a bite to eat. For lunch maybe?"

"I'd love that."

"Okay, would you like to meet at Tony's?"

I laughed. "No thanks, I just got off work. And has it turns out, I work at Tony's."

"Oh, well how 'bout Farrah's?"

"Sounds great. See you in a few."

"Bye." I hung up. Farrah's was a cafe. My favorite cafe. But my favorite place to eat, ever, would have to be Breakfast Junky, a funky little breakfast place over by my apartment. Gaspard and I used to go there every almost morning.

August 7th, 1994

"I love Breakfast Junky!" I exclaimed has Gaspard and I walked to the breakfast joint.

"Me too, that's why I thought it'd be cool to go there." Gaspard took my hand. It was a friendly gesture, but it still made me blush slightly.

We swung our arms. "I love you Cammie," Gaspard blurted. Then he blushed. "You're the best friend anyone could ever ask for."

I blushed. "I love you too Gaspard. You're the best friend anyone could ever by lucky to get." Then he did something very brave. He leaned over and kissed my cheek. I turned absolutely red.

When we entered Breakfast Junky, Janice the waitress let us pick our booth since we were the only ones there. It was, after all, only 6:30am. We wanted to be there when it opened.

"What'll it be?" She asked.

"Chocolate chip pancakes, and bacon," I said. "Oh! And hashbrowns." Janice wrote it down.

"And you?" She looked at Gaspard.

"I'll have a cheese omelet and sausage links!" He said.

"What about to drink?" She asked, smiling.

We both looked at each other. "Chocolate milk!" We said at the same time. Then we doubled over in giggles. Janice left to get us our meals.

That was one of the happiest meals I ever had.