My Dearest Friend

Jessica rose practically with the sun as it shined through the curtains on this clear morning. She checked the time and the clock responded with the numbers 7:30 am. It was barely considered a full night’s sleep, but her body refused to comply with more rest; not that it mattered judging by the spring in her step as she got up and stretched. There was a certain feeling inside her that she knew would be a good day; And she often trusted the ‘gut’ instinct. Rummaging through her suitcase for some clothes and toiletries, she quietly made her way to the bathroom at the end of the hall to get ready. The sun seemed to promise warmth, so she changed into a sports jacket and shorts to go for a walk since there was no reason to believe anyone else would be awake at this hour. As she scurried down the stairs, she peeked out the window and sensed a silence on the street, like the whole neighborhood was still asleep. It was the perfect opportunity to adventure out in new territory.

Harry finally came downstairs just after 9:30. His mother was already cooking up a meal with the t.v on for some quiet company. He sat down at the island in silence.
“ Morning sweetheart.” she greeted him.
“ Good morning.” he responded, not nearly as awake as everyone else.
“ Aren’t you forgetting something?” Anne asked as she turned around, giving him a look. That’s when a spark flickered in his eyes.
“ Jessica!”
“ Not so loud!” she whisper-shouted. Immediately he got up and ran back upstairs. As he reached her door, he realized it was open a crack; still, he gave a firm knock. No response was given. He pushed it open and the room revealed no residence. He returned to the kitchen, where his mother watched him expectedly.
“ I lost my guest.” he simply stated.
“ What do you mean lost?” his mother said with a little more enthusiasm.
“ She’s not in her room!”
“ Calm down. She’s got to be around the perimeter somewhere.” she tried to sound more composed. Harry began searching every room, only to see no disturbance anywhere. Last resort, he went to the front door and as he grabbed the handle, it opened without his command and Jessica emerged. He quickly grabbed her arm and pulled her inside.
“ Umm, good morning?”
“ Where were you?”
“ Relax sleepyhead.” she removed herself from his grip and went into the kitchen as he stalked behind her. “ I woke up early and went for a walk, found a park and was there for an hour or so. Morning Anne!”
“ Good morning sweetheart. Ready for breakfast?” Jessica nodded in excitement and sat down at the table.
“ Harry, what’s wrong?” she shyly asked as she noticed an extra huff in his step as he retrieved plates and silver wear.
“ I really wish you hadn’t stepped out this morning on your own.”
“ Oh. Well I wasn’t going to wake you up so early, so I thought why not?”
“ You could have gotten lost.”
“ I only went around the block. Until I saw a playground, that was a little out of the way.” Harry could only shake his head while his mother laughed at her innocence.
“ I’d rather you wake me up instead.”
“ Next time then.” he wasn’t sure how she was handling the situation, him being all protective all of a sudden, but she seemed to pay no real attention to it. “ Remember we said that we’d find a swing to talk on?” Harry looked up at her as she sat opposite him, thinking of the exact letter they talked about her photograph and the agreement they made.
“ Yes.”
“ We were supposed to do that first. So I think we should do that today.” Anne’s eyes met with her son’s with a sweet smile on her lips.
“ Any old swing?”
“ A porch swing.” Harry answered.
“ So you’re going to go up to any porch you find with a swing?” she asked, trying to include herself into the conversation.
“ Don’t be ridiculous mum.” Jessica quickly looked to Harry and a little guilt seeped inside him. “ We’ll find the porch swing, I promise.” Jessica managed to put a smile on her face, but it was only for show.
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“ I think some fresh air will do you some good.” Jessica explained as they stepped outside. After changing and getting ready for the day, they decided to go looking for a swing. Side by side, they walked down the driveway and headed towards the park. Harry stole a glance at Jessica and saw a sincere smile on her face, but he couldn’t shake the feeling over what had happened this morning.
“ Jess?”
“ Yeah Harry?”
“ I’m sorry for being rude this morning.” Jess slowed her strides for a moment, but then smiled even bigger.
“ I guess I should have left a note or something.”
“ It’s not even that, though I did have a little scare that you weren’t in the house, but I just don’t want you walking around alone.”
“ I’m not a child. I didn’t come here for you to babysit me.”
“ Says the one who was at the playground for two hours.” Jess responded by giving him a shove.
“ I still see no error on my part.” The slides from the playground came into view and before Harry could counter her argument, she ran off to the swirly slide. He caught up to her speed, but as she climbed the ladder, he waited for her at the bottom of the slide. He heard her feet hit the metal, followed by her petite body sliding down into view and stopping right against him.
“ How old did you say you were?” he asked, only half serious.
“ I never told you. All I said was that I finished my first year of college.”
“ 18 I take it then. In this country, we can have some serious fun at 18.”
“ You keep talking about this ‘real’ and ‘serious’ fun. I didn’t come here to do anything reckless.” Jess was trying so hard to keep the conversation from going too serious. She climbed around him and went to the swing set. So far this morning had been nothing but tension between them, something neither of them were prepared for. He followed her steps to the swing set and stood in front of her.
“ I’d move if I were you...” she said in a sing-song voice.
“ You wouldn’t dare.” he challenged her. Whether he could see her grin or not, she swung her legs back and forth and gained more momentum. Harry refused to move and inch. Her legs kept getting closer to his chest, but each had their own plan up their sleeves. As Jess geared up for one more swing, Harry ran around her and grabbed her waist from behind as she came down, stopping her still, though with all the speed Jess had gained, he caused them to fall backwards. As they laid on their backs, she began to shout,
“ Are you crazy!” she could barely hear herself over his laughter.
“ Only a little.”
“ Do you realize what could have happened?” Jess was still hysterical. He sat up and brushed off the mulch from Jess and himself.
“ Nothing bad happened. Do you think I would have done it if I thought it could’ve gone wrong?” She only stared at him silently. “ You don’t trust me?”
“ I never said that.”
“ But you’re not answering me.”
“ No, I don’t think you’d be that stupid.” Harry quickly turned to her but Jessica was faster as she jumped up and ran away from his clutches. She zig-zagged through the the swings and went for the slides with Harry hot on her tail. Going around the slide twice, she began to climb the ladder and Harry followed suit. She prepared to go down and just as she let go, she saw him run around to the pit, ready to catch her. Jessica gave up the game and freely fell into his arms at the bottom.
“ And here we meet again.” he said with all the charm he could muster up.
“ I guess so.”
“ Are we friends now?”
“ I guess so.” she repeated. He hugged her a little tighter until a laugh escaped. “ Can we forget this whole morning then?”
“ It’s a deal.” Harry agreed.