Hello, Good Friend

“So, who all is supposed to be meeting us here?” I asked from my seated position on a wooden bench. Tony was currently across the sidewalk from me, leaning back on his elbows against the brick wall behind him.

“Casey, Taylor, Ryan, Shane, Mitch, and some girl,” Tony said, “I think her name was Vanessa or something.”

I nodded and began to fidget with the hem of my cardigan. They told Tony that they would be here in five minutes approximately seven minutes ago… not that anyone was counting.

“You’re nervous, aren’t you?”

I looked over at Tony and smiled sheepishly. “I just wish this would have happened on my own terms, you know? I don’t know how he’s going to react to seeing me again. I feel a little out of place, that’s all.”

“Don’t worry about it, he doesn’t even know you’re here.”

My head snapped up and I stared blankly at Tony.

“I just told them I was bringing a girl, I didn’t say exactly who it was.”

I scoffed lightly and continued to chuckle in disbelief. They didn’t even know I was here. Wonderful.

“I’m assuming it is common news that you always bring girls to hangouts, then?”

He nodded before turning his head to the left. Something he saw made him promptly stand at attention and he offered me his hand, pulling me up beside him.

I took a deep breath and held tightly on to his hand, burying my face into his chest momentarily to garner enough confidence to face Ryan. After a few moments, I looked up at Tony and noticed he was smiling down at me encouragingly. I realized that what I was doing was probably considered snuggling or cuddling, so I immediately let go of Tony.

“Hey, aren’t you that girl from the airport?”

I glanced at the boy who questioned me and saw the curly-haired boy who helped me get my bag off of the rotating baggage claim.

“Yeah, I am.” I held out my hand for him to shake. “I’m Chloe.”

“Casey,” he said, shaking my hand.

“I know,” I said, smiling.

Shit. Smooth move, Chlo.

“What she means to say is that we’ve been here a while, so I’ve told her all about you,” Tony said, giving bro-hugs to everyone in sight.

I shot a look at Tony and then realized what I had said might have sounded a tad bit strange. “Right. So, down to go to the arcade?”

I looked at Ryan and his brother and saw that they still looked very similar to each other. Ryan's longer hair had been cut short, and both Shane and he donned a buzzed head of hair. I smiled at a memory of the boys getting their hair cut together when I convinced them girls thought brother bonding was cute.

“Chloe?”

I was pulled out of my thoughts by Tony holding his hand out to me.

“Sorry,” I said. I looked around and noticed the gang had begun to walk off toward the arcade. I guess I had zoned out when I got lost in my thoughts. I spent another moment looking at Tony's outstretched hand before I took a slight step back. “I'm sorry, Tony. I'm not ready for this, I thought I was. They don't even know me anymore, I can't just spring up on them like this!”

Tony tilted his head and took a step towards me to close the gap between us.

“Ask yourself this: Why was it so easy for you to spring up on me, then?”

My eyes widened. He had a point.

“You are ready for this, Chlo. You're just scared. Come on, they'll think we're up to something dirty and that's probably not what you need right now.”

I laughed out loud as my hand raised to cover my mouth.

“You're a player, aren't you Tony?”

He simply shrugged and smiled at me, his brown eyes looking straight at me. I rolled my eyes and walked off toward the arcade, smiling as I went. When I walked through the brightly lit doorway, I looked around and spotted the gang standing in line for an air hockey table. I shook my head in disbelief. They haven't changed a bit…

"5 dollars says I beat all of you," I heard Ryan challenge the group as I approached the tables.

"You're on," I spoke, catching them all off guard.

Casey laughed out loud. "New girl's feeling playful! Ok, let's start a bracket. Mitch versus Chloe; Ryan versus Me; Shane versus Tony; and Taylor versus Vanessa. Losers are automatically out, winners play winners. Anyone want out? Otherwise, pitch in $5."

Mitch and his girl Vanessa decided to do their own thing, so I ended up playing against Taylor the first round. It was easy enough since I remembered she always forgot to goal tend, leaving her goal wide open for me to bounce the puck off the sides and into the slot. Since there were only three arms of the bracket, we had to do best 2 out of 3 in the final rounds to determine who went into the final. Ryan won his round against Casey and Tony won against Shane, so they played each other to determine who would play against me. They let me be in the winner's bracket because I was a girl.

Foolish men, don't they know that girls run the world?

While we all watched the two boys battle it out on the air hockey table, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I turned slightly to see Shane holding out a cone of raspberry shaved ice for me to take. My smile faltered a little bit and I took a deep breath, wondering if he was just being nice or if the cone had a deeper meaning than a mere gesture of kindness.

"You bought me enough of these things when I was younger, I thought I'd return the favor. Raspberry was your flavor, right?"

I let out a short laugh and nodded, grabbing the cone from him. Deeper meaning it was.

"Thanks," I murmured under my breath.

Before I knew it, he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me tightly. All I could do was wrap my arms around him and do the same.

"Hey Tony, I think Shane's making a move on your girl!" Casey shouted out, causing Tony to look up from the game. Ryan took this opportunity and sank the puck into his goal, making him the winner of the match. I laughed and ruffled Shane's hair how I used to when we were younger. Before I could make my way to the table to take my turn against Ryan, Shane grabbed my arm and whispered to me, "Don't worry, I'll let you reveal yourself."

I smiled in gratitude and sauntered over to the table.

"Ready?" Ryan asked, hovering the puck in the center of the table.

"When you are," I replied, winking at him playfully.

He raised his eyebrow, shook his head quickly as if dismissing a thought, and then dropped the puck. The game had begun. And it felt just like the old days, when Ryan and I would always be the final two facing off in whatever game the gang had decided to participate in. The only thing different was that Ryan was going easy on me. But after the third rapid goal I scored, he muttered, "No more Mr.Nice Guy," and began to really get in to it.

Since we were only going up to five goals, I anticipated an easy win, but I had forgotten that Ryan was a natural at air hockey and he evened up the score almost instantly. I began to get frustrated at his third goal and called for a time out. I stuck my tongue out at Tony who called me a sore loser and walked over to Shane who was holding my sno-cone for me. I took a few licks and nibbles at it when I remembered a system we had worked out when we were younger.

"Two coughs left side, sneeze on the right. Got it?" I whispered to Shane, handing him back my cone.

The corner of his eyes wrinkled as a huge smile spread across his face. His expression was one of sheer mischievous delight and I couldn't help but smile myself when I saw it. He nodded and walked with me back over to the table. He positioned himself a small distance away from Ryan's side of the game and gave me a thumbs-up. I glanced over at Tony and found him with a puzzled expression on his face.

I smiled in disbelief at this actually happening and then motioned for Ryan to start the game again.

The match was incredibly heated. Ryan scored the first goal post-break, making the score 4-3. He only had to score once more in order to win. I took off my cardigan and tossed it to Tony to hold. I meant business. I placed the puck slightly off-center and struck it with such force that when Ryan returned it, it left the table and flew up in the air. I squealed as it hit my fingers grasping the pusher, and the onlookers either snickered at the noise I had just made or gasped out of concern for my fingers. Nevertheless, I remained focused and continued to volley the puck back and forth on the table with Ryan.

A minute or two later I heard a sneeze coming from Shane and took the opportunity to quickly strike the puck off the right side of the table into the opening Ryan left in front of the goal slot. The score was now even, 4-4. Not even seconds after Ryan had dropped the puck on to the table again, Shane sneezed again, encouraging me to sink in another puck the same way I just had. And I did.

"Yes!" I exclaimed, punching my fist in the air as I spun around. I looked around the table and was met by mostly shocked and awe-struck faces. Ryan stood with his hands clasped behind his head, looking at me with a surprised look on his face.

"You know, since I'm feeling generous, you can keep your $5," I said teasingly in Ryan's direction.

He laughed, pulled out his wallet, and handed me a five dollar bill regardless. "A bet is a bet."

"Hey guys," Casey said from the corner of the room. "This place is closing and Taylor and I are gonna head out. Tony, can you give Ryan and Shane a ride home?"

Before I could say anything, Tony had agreed and the couple had left. I let out a sigh of disbelief.

My house was the same house that the 13 year old Chloe Parucha had lived in before she moved to Colorado. And Ryan Sheckler had spent as much time there as he did at his old house.

If he didn't realize who I was by the time I was dropped off, then he truly had fallen off his skateboard one too many times.