1: Raelynn
Before you start reading, this story is slow and I know it is cringey at first, but as the story goes on, it will get better, I promise.
"Goodbyes are not forever, are not the end; it simply means I'll miss you until we meet again."
Chapter one: Raelias world.
*
Elias Armani was my hero.
He was the one who saved me from hunger and loneliness. I was sitting alone at lunch without food. I never took my food to school because my parents needed it more. He gave me his lunch one day, and then he brought extra lunch for me the other days.
Now, as I watched my parents cry in front of me, I knew something terrible happened.
I was only six, but I understood their feelings. We were poor, and now my dad got fired. My nine-year-old brother sat next to me as he comforted me, but I wasn't the one crying. He was.
Maybe he was crying because he knew why my parents were crying. But for me, being so little made it hard for me to understand what's going on and harder for them to make me know.
Yet, I did.
"We are moving," Eddie told me.
I was confused. "What?"
"We are going to another state," he explained.
I still didn't get it, and I tilted my head with a confused expression on my face. "What do you mean?"
"You are not going to see Elias ever again!" He exclaimed.
That's when the tears started to stream down my face. Wasn't I going to see my best friend ever again?
My mom ran to me and hugged me. "You will get to make new friends in Mississippi."
"But I don't want new friends, and I want Elias!" I cried.
"It's time for bed," dad claimed as he picked me up.
I placed my head on his shoulder, but the tears still streamed down my face.
I couldn't believe that I would leave, and Elias wouldn't be my best friend anymore.
It broke my heart, and I was only six.
*
The next day we had to say goodbye to Elias, and it was the most challenging day ever. He lived in a mansion with ten fancy cars and animals in his backyard. Elias stood in front of me with a grin on his face, but soon enough, the grin fell when he saw my red and puffy eyes.
Elias was blond, and he used to have a mop-top which meant his hair was long, but his father took him to the barber to cut it. He didn't like it, so now he had a messy blond top.
He immediately knew something was wrong, so he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me.
"What's wrong, Roony?" He asked.
"I am moving," I replied. "We won't be able to see each other ever again."
He took a few minutes to think about what I said. His face turned red, and he looked at my parents. "NO!" He shouted.
He took my hand and pulled me towards him. "YOU CAN LEAVE. ROONEY IS STAYING."
My mom chuckled. "You know that we can't leave her. We are her family."
I didn't want to leave him, and he was my best friend. They couldn't make me move to another home without knowing Eli was near me.
I hold onto him, afraid to let go. I knew if I let go of Eli, then they would take me away from him.
I didn't want to be apart from him, I wanted to be next to him, but no one understood me.
No one understood my feelings, and for the first time, my heart broke into pieces when my dad picked me up.
"Eli!" I screamed for him. "I don't want to go, and I want to stay with Eli."
My dad started walking to the car while I was banging on his back to let go of me.
I was going to miss Elias.
"Wait, please!" Eli ran after my dad. "I have something to give her!"
My dad stopped, and he turned around to face the small kid.
"Wait here, and I promise I will be here in one minute!" After that, Elias rushed into his enormous mansion, but we all knew he would be late.
I was shaking with anger at the thought of leaving Eli, and the two people to blame were my parents.
"HERE!" He ran back to us, holding a diamond bracelet that looked big. "I wanted to give this to you when we get older, but since we do not see each other ever again, you can wear it when you're older."
He handed the bracelet to me, and my eyes stung with tears. "That's my grandma's bracelet. She told me to give it to a girl I loved the most and the only girl I've ever loved."
"Eli, I love you," I told him. "Daddy, can you please put me down?"
My dad put me down, and I faced Eli. "I can't believe that you want to give this to me."
I remembered when his nana gave him the bracelet, and he made his parents call me. He told me that his nana gave him a bracelet to give to the special girl he fell in love with.
Now he gave it to me, and my heart busted with butterflies.
I hugged him, and he hugged me back. When we pulled away, I had a smile on my face.
Eli took my hand and ran to his vast backyard. As I ran after him, I heard my dad yell for me to come back, but I didn't care.
He stopped when we reached the swimming pool. He looked around and leaned forward, he pressed his lips onto mine, and I froze.
My eyes widened, but I couldn't move. I couldn't push Eli away, and I didn't want to go him away.
Elias was my first kiss. He was my first friend and my best friend.
I ran back to my dad, and Eli followed me.
I waved goodbye to Eli and his parents, then I held my dad's hand, and he buckled me up into the car seat when he opened the car.
I hoped to God that this wouldn't be the last time I saw Elias.
I wanted to grow up with him, and I wanted to watch him become a good man. Now I knew that he would be far away from me, and I wouldn't be able to be there for him.
We reached the airport, and we all went down. Even though I was walking, but my head was somewhere else. Somewhere far away from me, like how Eli would be soon.
I was thinking about my future without Eli, and I could never make friends until Elias. Elias was friendly enough to share food with me, and now I was leaving him to eat alone.
He had friends, unlike me.
How would I make friends? I didn't know. Elias was the first kid who talked to me.
I sighed, and I knew my mom saw me, but I didn't care. I wanted to stay with Eli, and she didn't care. She laughed as if she knew how we felt.
I refused to hold her hand, but I agreed to hold my dad's hand. He let me have my time with Eli, unlike my mother, who laughed at us for wanting to stay together.
It was heartbreaking because I knew that today was the last day I saw Eli, and I didn't think I could live, knowing that Eli wouldn't be one call away or at school.
*
Sadness flashed into me when I looked up to see my new home. It was small and red, and it didn't look good at all. I looked at the small house next to ours and then to the house on the right. Both were colored yellow.
Ugly houses.
I looked up to see my mom staring at me with a disapproved look on her face. Could she blame me? Did we leave a lovely house for this?
Our old home wasn't big like Eli's, but it was tolerable. However, the tiny house in front of me was the worst.
"How small is this house?" Eddie huffed out with furrowed eyebrows.
It was like he was reading my mind.
"It is above 600 kilometers which are good," daddy answers. "There are three bedrooms, and it fits us all."
"Before it kills us," Eddie comments.
I gasp. "Is it going to kill us, daddy?"
My brown hair flying onto my face, so my dad pushed them behind. "No, it is not possible. Your brother doesn't know what he's saying."
"Indeed, I do," he nods. "This small house is going to suffocate us, and we are all going to die one by one."
"Edward!" My mother scolded. "Do not say that in front of your sister!"
"Trust me, Rae, we won't die," dad shuffles my hair. "I can promise you that, okay?"
I nod. "Okay."
"I have a surprise for you," mom told me. "But first, we have to take a shower and get ready for bed."
I jumped and hugged her. "What is it?"
"It wouldn't be a surprise if I told you," she smirked. "Come on, let's go inside to prepare for the surprise.
I missed Eli like crazy, but knowing that my mom had a surprise for me made me forget about him for a couple of minutes.
*
The house didn't look small inside, and it was quite the opposite from the outside.
"Never judge a book by its cover," dad told me as he kissed my forehead.
"But the house isn't a book," I scrunch up my nose in confusion.
Dad laughs. "It's a metaphorical statement."
"What does that mean?" I ask.
"Let me give you an example," he says. "Rae is an early bird. Are you a bird? No, but you wake up early as a bird does."
Now I understood what he meant, but I wanted more. "Give me some more examples."
"He was a diamond among the sea of glass," he told me. "Uhhh... Life is a journey, and you had Eli wrapped around your finger."
I had Eli wrapped around my finger? What did that mean?
"Can I say? Can I say?!" I exclaimed, raising my hand.
"I don't see why not," he grinned.
"My brother is a pig," I laugh. "Ask me why?!"
"Raelynn, that's a bad thing to say about your brother," he scolds. "But tell me why?"
"Because he overeats," I joke.
"Ahh, Rae," he punches my cheek. "We don't want Eddie to hear us, do we?"
After we calmed down, I finally looked at my dad in his eyes. "Daddy, did you find a job here?"
"Not yet," he shook his head. "But daddy will make sure that he buys you all the greatest stuff you see on tv."
"Where is my surprise?!" I whined. "Mommy told me to wait, and now it's time to go to bed."
"You're right," dad kissed my forehead. "Mommy will be here soon."
On the cue, my mom walked into my new bedroom that walls were in white. She had red eyes but a smile on her face.
She gave me the phone, and I looked at it confused. That's until I put the phone in my ear and heard who was on the other side of the phone.
I squealed when I heard him call my name, it was like the butterflies never left my heart.
"Eli!" I shouted happily.
"Rooney, I miss you!" He said as he sounded upset.
"I miss you more!" I frown. "I live in the smallest house in the world, can you believe that?!"
"What? I told your parents that you're better off here with me, in my mansion!" He exclaimed. "If only they could listen to six-year-olds!"
"I know, right!" I gasped. "Imagine a world where we can control it. Wouldn't that be awesome?!"
"Yes, we would call this world... what do you want to call it?" He asked.
"Rooney and Eli's world?" I suggested.
"Raelias world," he said.
"That sounds so good," I grin happily.
I enjoyed talking to Eli on the phone, and it made me so happy. I slept with a smile on my face because I spoke to Elias.
No one made me this happy before, and I was only six.
***