Chapter 24: Alone Again
All the times we laughed together, gone. All the fun, all the tears, all the adventures and camp outs, all the forts we built, everything is gone. I never had a friend like Stephen back home—he was my summer buddy, a forever friend, someone I thought would always be there for me, up here in Sugar Creek, away from the madness and uncertainty of my “real” life. All year long I used to look forward to the trip to Aunt Evie’s—freedom, excitement, Stephen there every single day, knocking on the door first thing in the morning, not heading home until well after dusk. A summer of friendship, a lifetime of summers. And now it’s gone.
Any other time and it wouldn’t be hard to patch this rift between us. It’s not like we haven’t had arguments before—boys fight, and Stephen
