Ignorance

I stared up at them with my eyebrow still raised. I glanced over at Ricky, who simply shrugged before returning his gaze to the four boys in front of us. I unscrewed the cap to the bottle of water that was in my bag before taking a sip of it and looking up at them. They still had yet to speak. From the group, I only recognized Arik and his friend Ethan, who looked completely different from when I saw him the previous day. He had shed his orange Home Depot apron and was wearing all black clothes. His hair was spiked into a faux Mohawk and he had black eyeliner rimming his eyes. I glanced over him before looking back at Arik.

"Is there something you want, sir?" I asked him with a smile on my face.

"Just checking to see if my brother is fine," he said with a shrug.

"You needed your boyfriends to follow you just to do that?" I asked.

"Noelani," Ricky said monotonously as he looked over at me. I laughed to myself before shrugging and looking away.

"Your dad is in the Navy?" another boy asked me.

I glanced up at him and took in his appearance. He was good looking, there was no denying that. He had pale skin and dark blue eyes that were hidden behind his long, blond hair. He was wearing a baggy black shirt that had the sleeves ripped off and jeans that looked dirty and had rips at the knees. I looked back up at his blue eyes before saying, "No, he's a clown actually."

"Stop fucking around, Noelani. He's a first lieutenant," Arik answered for me.

"Arik, why are you really over here?" I asked impatiently.

"To check on my brother, I told you."

"And I heard you. But you're doing a piss poor job of 'checking' on him."

"What the hell is up with you lately? What's your problem?"

I narrowed my eyes before standing up and stepping towards him so we were nose-to-nose. "My problem is that you keep going on and on like you give a shit about your twin but you couldn't be bothered to realize that he was being beat up. My problem is that you keep the inhaler that he desperately needs because you seem to be under the impression that you're psychic and can tell when he needs it. My problem is that before I came along, he had no friends and you could have changed that, but you didn't."

"Noelani, drop it. It's fine."

"How could I possibly change that?" Arik said, ignoring what his brother just stated.

"Well, you idiot, unless I'm seeing things, I see three little boys behind you who you call friends. Didn't it ever go through your mind that you could introduce them?"

Arik pursed his lips as he stared down at me. I scoffed and rolled my eyes before sitting down next to Ricky. Ricky sat uncomfortably by my side, doing all that he could to not look up at his brother. I looked back up at them as I leaned back onto the table.

"God, you're dumb, you know that, Arik?" I sighed.

"I think I like this girl, Arik," Ethan spoke up.

I smirked up at him before turning toward the blond boy and finally noticing the fourth boy in the group. He was as pale as I was, and that was saying something. His hazel eyes were glowing in contrast against his pale skin, which seemed to shine in the bright sun. He was dressed comfortably in black pants and a baggy green plaid button up shirt. It wasn't his pale skin that caught my eye initially. It was the fact that his hair was the brightest shade of red I had ever seen. I knew enough about hair dye to know that his hair was obviously colored. He stared down at me with a curious look in his eye.

"What's your name?" I asked him.

"Benjamin," he stated simply.

"Right. You're Benji now," I nodded before turning to the blond boy. "And you?"

"Joseph."

"I'm going to call you JoJo," I said before turning toward Ethan. "And you're Ethan. I will call you Ethan."

"What are you doing," Arik muttered.

"Ricky, this is Ethan, JoJo, and Benji. They're my friends. And since you're my best friend, that makes you their friend, too. See, Arik, not that hard," I smiled.

"Okay, I get the point! I'm a horrible brother."

"Wrong!" I yelled at him as I threw my water bottle at him. "I never said you're a horrible brother. I'm just saying you could have loaned your friends out."

"Like we're library books or something," JoJo asked incredulously.

"Are you a library book? Because I'd like to check you out," I winked at him.

"I really think I like this girl, Arik," Ethan grinned at me as he placed his chin on the top of Arik's head. I smiled up at him before turning towards Ricky.

We all looked up towards the main buildings as the bell that ended lunch rang. I patted Ricky's hand with a smile as I stood up as I grabbed my bag. I looked up at the four boys with a smile before pushing past them with Ricky in hand. They all turned to follow us into the building, ignoring the looks I was giving them.

"You guys have English 3 AP?" I asked.

"Surprised?" Ben asked.

"Not particularly," I said as I turned around.

"Noelani, can I talk to you?" Ricky asked suddenly.

"Sure," I nodded before following him down the hall. I stared at him as I patiently waited for him to speak.

"Did you mean what you said back there?" he asked nervously.

"About? Be clear, Ricky, baby."

"About being my best friend."

"I said what meant and I meant what I said. Like Horton," I grinned.

"I've never had a best friend before," he smiled.

"Consider me your first awesome best friend. The first of many, I'm hoping."

"You'll always be my number one best friend, Noelani."

"Come on, let's go to English," I grinned.



Ricky was inside my kitchen, helping my mother with dinner as I prepared my room for him. I carefully pulled off the tape from the edge of the wall, wincing every time I saw paint being pulled off along with it and remind myself that my things would cover these mistakes. After I finished peeling off all the tape and picking up all the newspaper from the floor, I walked downstairs and threw all the newspaper clippings into the garbage. I smiled up at Ricky, who was washing the lettuce leaves for my mother.

"It's done. You can see it now."

"Go ahead, Ricky, I have everything under control," my mom permitted.

Ricky dried his hands on the front of his shirt before following me up the stairs. I led him to my room and smiled up at him as he looked around the room. He took a few steps forward towards the wall across from him and looked at one of the boxes that had empty during his previous visit. He leaned forward to read the writing I had placed in it.

"I have found the paradox, that if you love until it hurts, there can be no more hurt, only more love," he read out loud. He straightened forward and looked at me with his eyebrows raised before moving to the next wall.

"In three words, I can sum up everything I have learned about life: it goes on." He nodded once before moving on. My eyes followed his form as he moved across the room to the next wall.

"Forgiveness means letting go of the past," he said.

"To the well-organized mind, death is but the next great adventure," he quoted from the last wall.

“Words I want to live by for the rest of my life,” I said as I leaned against the doorway.

“Good words to live by. They’re inspiring,” he agreed as he walked towards me.

I looked up at him as he stood next to me. He stared into my bare room with shifting eyes before smiling lightly. I copied his smile as he placed an arm around my shoulder and I laid my head on his shoulder. Ricky was my first best friend. He would always be my number one best friend.