Ace + Thorn = Love = Impossible

We smiled at each other feeling the slow chill of incoming night creep over our skin. The sun began to set as we looked at the ocean… a true sign that we had lost track of time. The sand tickled our bare feet as we put our feet into a hole we just made. The waved crawled onto the beach and took another bite of a sandcastle we made earlier in the day. The castle now collapsed and she poked me softly.

“Its time to go home” she said and I nodded. A gust of wind passed us and her blonde hair flowed forward like something in a movie. I smiled at it and we both started laughing. Somewhere thunder was heard. It wasn’t even two seconds after that that it began to pour heavily.

“I’ll race you” I declared and Thorn smiled agreeing. We both put our shoes on and we drew a line in the sand. I put a seashell on each side of the line to better define the line.

“Ill kick your butt Ace” she declared. However everything inside me made me doubt that; I was ready and she had no idea. “On your mark, get set, go!” she screamed and we ran off. We ran through the streets like crazy kids and then through a corn field. I saw her running a little bit ahead of me and I tried to run faster. Thorn pulled a stalk back and let go. It flew forward and smacked me square in the nose. My eyes watered and she stopped. I felt a trickle of blood crawl down my nose like a baby. “You can cry… I promise I won’t tell our moms’ you’re a big baby” she grinned. I crossed my arms and frowned, crinkling my face.

“I’m not a baby” I yelled and she rolled her eyes. I grew angry and my face grew red like a tomato. She looked at the sky seeing that it was now dark. We both knew we were probably going to be in deep trouble then.

“Yeah well you’re acting like one” she muttered and held out a hand. I grabbed it and got up. “We gotta go before we get in trouble” she pointed out and I had to agree. We ran and when we got up the hill leading to our house where her mom and my mom were waiting outside.

“You’re late” they said with spoons in their hands; they tapped the spoons against their thighs, a sure sign of trouble. They usually don’t start cooking until eight and we are supposed to be home when it starts getting dark, which is around 7:30. I could smell food cooking and I looked down to avoid their faces.

“Foods cooking; you two wait in the tree house until its ready. We will call you” my mom said and we nodded. We walked toward the backyard and opened the gate. We closed the gate just in time to be greeted by Rufus, my fat Jack Russell. I put him inside the tree house first and then jumped up. A groaning Thorn followed behind.

“What happened to Ladies first?” she asked meanly. I rolled my eyes and pulled Rufus closer to me. I almost laughed at the thought of her being a lady but I thought it would be better not to.

“You’re not a lady, crazy” I bluntly said. She punched my arm and I groaned in pain. I felt my arm, now numb, and felt a sore spot. I knew it was going to be bruised. She was the toughest girl I know and probably will always be the toughest girl I know.

“My mom says she wants to get married” she told me and I looked confused. “It’s where a guy and a girl promise to be together forever. Guys have a best friend who helps them out in the marriage and it’s called a best man. For girls they have a maid of honor” she told me.

“You mean they actually hire a maid?” I gasped and she punched my arm again and in the same spot; I almost screamed in pain; she did that a lot and our moms didn’t know that… Kinda like our little secret.

“No! It’s the girl’s best friend” she clarified.

“Do they clean” I asked still confused. She lightly punched my arm where I flinched like crazy only to find that it didn’t hurt.

“No!” she snapped and I made my mouth form an O. “Anyways, I was thinking we should get married” she said and I crinkled my nose.

“I don’t want to be your friend forever. You’re a girl and I think eventually you’ll give me cooties and no boy wants a girl who will give them cooties. How bout this? Ill be your maid of honor if you’ll be my great man. But I’m not cleaning.”

“Its best man; well okay, do you promise?” she asked and stuck out her pinky. I stuck out mine and nodded and we made a pinky promise. Then as we usually seal our promises we spit on our hands and shook after. “Remember you have to be my maid of honor” she reminded and took out a pen. She wrote it on my hand and then slapped it. “There I just gave you a tattoo” she grinned proud of her accomplishment.

“What happens if none of us got married?” I asked and she bit her lip thinking. She huffed and frowned.

“I guess we have to marry each other” she sighed. “But that’s only if we can’t find anyone else. Is that okay with you?” she asked and I shrugged.

“I guess… How long do we have to wait?” I asked. She grabbed my shoulder and looked me in the eye, having the most serious look I’ve ever seen anyone have, on her face.

“My mom says that until we are her age” she said and my eyes widened. Her mom came out wearing an apron and had her hair in a bun, looking like the cafeteria lady at our elementary school. We both knew to be a parent you had to be old.

“Dinner!” she called out and Thorn and I looked at each other. We shivered and made a face at each other. I felt hopelessness for my future and seeing the look on Thorns face I could tell she could too.

“That’ll be forever! We will never be married!” I frowned exasperated. Her mom called out again and I grabbed Rufus and descended the ladder. I looked at my tattoo and bit my lip. She descended afterwards and ran inside.

On that day our promise was made. Of course then we were six and we didn’t know how much love would hurt.