1 Prologue

A gentle, rustling breeze blew across the field causing the long grass to dance against our bare arms. We burst into a fit of giggles, the lull of peace and quiet beckoning us further into the meadow. We stopped at the foot of a large oak, jaws hanging in awe at its formidable size. Feelings of satisfaction over finding a tree of our own overwhelmed us, and twin, unconstrained grins spread across our faces. A single glance conveyed that we were sharing the same thoughts and eagerly we scrambled to the edge of the trunk. Together, we climbed the oak, pointing out ideal places to grip and step on, and places to avoid. I hoisted myself onto the first branch and helped you drag yourself up to me. At the next branch, you gave me a boost and then proceeded to shimmy your way up whilst making sure that your bag wouldn't fall off. By the third branch we were already worn out, so after hoisting ourselves up one last time, we chose to settle atop the rough bark of the tree branch.

"Did you bring it?" I asked, pushing away the wavy strand of raven hair that had escaped from my ponytail as I leaned closer towards you.

You smiled excitedly back at me, your cheeks still red from the exertion the climbing needed. "Yeah," you replied. "I brought them ." With that you twisted around, reaching to grab your small knapsack. You place it between us and smoothed out your pale, lilac Sunday dress (which matched my own mint dress), before looking at me uncertainly.

"Uh," you mumbled into the knapsack. "I could only find yellow and pink and turquoise strings."

"Well that's perfect," I cheered. "We can use two of each color to make our bracelets."

You smiled at me, your uncertainty being replaced with genuine enthusiasm. You reached into your bag and pulled out your colored string, a pair of purple scissors, and two worn, homemade cardboard circular braiding looms, handing me the string with an air of reverence. I giggled at your attitude, which elicited a scowl from you, and took the rolls of string from your palm.

Together we cut out seven pieces of string of similar lengths for each of our bracelets. With me pulling out the string and you cutting at the length we needed, we were able to quickly get started on our bracelets. We worked methodically, slowly weaving the strings into a spiral pattern with the help of the looms. We worked in silence, basking in each other's presence and enjoying the silent sound of nature.

Up and over, up and over, up and over. The process was soothing, and a nice way to calm down and escape the hectic aspects of learning to socialize and to count and to sing the alphabet. It was also much more enjoyable than having to listen to Pastor Stan drone on about the gospel.

"Amy?" You tentatively whispered, afraid to break the sense of tranquility.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"Do you wanna play 'And Then'?"

I grinned. 'And Then' was our game, we played it only with each other because all the other kids always played games that we didn't like, like tag or hide-n-seek. You would start off by telling a story, and then I would continue it, and then you would add more to it, and then I would continue it again, and we would repeat this process until we ran out of people to save and villains to defeat.

"Yes! I love that game!" I squealed. "You start it, Isabelle."

You grinned at me before you began to describe a world with two princesses who were the best of friends and absolutely inseparable. Together they went through everything and anything, defeating and overcoming villain after villain, beast after beast, and rejecting prince after prince.

Eagerly, we babbled back and forth over how one day, the two princesses met a man who cared deeply for the more sensitive princess and helped that princess thrive and become stronger. And then that same man developed into an obstacle in the two princesses' friendship; because as the princess grew stronger with the man's help, she no longer needed her friend to help her defeat villains, slay beasts, or reject princes.

We created a story where the other princess, who desperately wanted to not be left behind, tried numerous times to get rid of the man who was ruining their friendship, only to fail with each attempt. You added that the stronger princess began to feel lonely every time she went on an adventure on her own, and so she found another way for them to have fun with each other. With the help of the man, the stronger princess created a new game that only she and the other princess could play. Once again they became in sync with each other, with a friendship so legendary that all future princesses looked up to them for it.

Soon the story began to wind down, and I looked down at my loom, my fingers had kept going through the systematic weaving pattern throughout the story.

"I finished my bracelet for you!" I declared excitedly.

You perked up at my exclamation and leaned over to look at my finished bracelet. You awed at the pattern and how quick I was able to finish, before frowning down at your similar half-finished bracelet for me.

"Wow," you mumbled with a tinge of shock. "I not even close to finishing my bracelet for you."

"It's okay," I waved off. "You can finish it for me later, I can wait." I eagerly bounced from where I was sitting before leaning towards you. "Here, let me tie it on for you."

You extended your wrist out to me, patiently watching as I carefully tied the bracelet around your wrist.

"There!" I declared. "It's all done." I watched you expectantly, anxious over how you would feel about it.

You slowly brought your wrist to your face, and carefully inspected the bracelet I made for you.

Staring in awe, you exclaimed, "It's beautiful! Thank you so much! I absolutely love it!"

The sounds of footsteps and jeering tore our attention away from the bracelet and out into the field. Running towards us were two of our classmates, both of whom had black hearts filled with child-like cruelty.

"Look! It's Ickybelle!" They guffawed.

"My da' told me that people who talk to themselves should be locked up in a hospital for crazy people." One of the boys said to the other.

"Yeah, I heard that she can't even say a full sentence! What a loser!" Said the other.

You crumbled, the harsh comments eating at your feelings.

I shook in indignation and fury. "Shut up! You guys are the losers! You have cooties, and everyone knows that bullies should get in trouble for all the mean things they say." They just ran away, laughing at their feelings of self-superiority and not listening to a word I said. You stared at me dejectedly, and opened your mouth to speak.

"Boys are idiots!" I declared, stopping you from saying something self-deprecating. "I think you are the most amazing person in the world. They're just jealous that they aren't friends with you." You smiled at me halfheartedly, my words only slightly soothing the stings of their words.

"You know what!" I continued. Grabbing your wrist, I proclaimed, "This bracelet that I made for you will be proof that you are the most amazing person ever and that only those who deserve it will become your friends."