Chapter 7

• Story 4
• They say that life is about meetings and partings, I truly discovered the meaning of this when I turned 19. Growing up in a small community, I realized early on that my parents didn't have much, compared to others.
• By the age of 14, I had the best of both worlds, being a bit of a loner; I would often head to the park and kick a ball about for hours. Then one day I met Laura, a feisty little 12-year-old. Standing kicking the ball off a wall, I listened as she asked me for a kick of my ball.
• Looking over at the cute little blonde girl, I couldn't see the harm in letting her have one kick. Within two hours I knew everything about Laura.
• Laura was your typical tomboy of a girl, the long ponytail hid the rough and tumble side of her personality well, but the more we played together the more I liked the kid I was playing with.
• I guess being slightly shy, I longed to have a friend, and here I had one, well for at least a couple of hours. The following day I headed back down to the park then watched Laura appear about half an hour later.
• Standing in front of me with a dress and sandals on she grinned "Give me a kick".
• "You can't play like that" I added dismissively.
• "If you don't give me a kick, I'll take it myself" she added with a look that told me she was serious.
• Watching her stroll forward with a grin on her pretty little face, I watched as she nipped in and strolled away with the ball.
• Two hours later we headed back to her house, both of us covered in dirt from rolling about on the soft grass. Stepping into the house I watched Laura's mum appear and then scold her for getting so dirty.
• "Mum this is Craig, I told him we could get a drink" Laura added watching her mum size me up and then nod as Laura dragged me through to the kitchen.
• Looking at the fancy house they stayed in, I could only dream that my parents could be rich enough to afford a place like that.
• Laura opened the fridge and then started to pull out stuff for a sandwich as her mum stepped into the kitchen.
• "You, young lady, get upstairs and have a wash and get changed, I will make something to eat" Laura's mum hissed before adding "Craig can keep me company".
• Watching Laura's mum making two sandwiches stuffed full of meat and salad, I watched her eyes continue to size me up, then finally she decided to get round to saying what was on her mind.
• "Craig do you not think you're a little old to be hanging about with my daughter" Terry said, gently cutting through the sandwiches as her eyes stayed fixed on me.
• "To be honest with you, I can't get rid of her, I was playing by myself, and she just butted in," I said watching Terry give a smile; she must have known Laura's personality only too well.
• "Don't get me wrong, I like Laura, I guess she's like having a little sister, but I wish she could take a hint" I added watching another smile creep across Terry's face.
• "So do you have any brothers or sisters?" she asked then listened to me explain that my mum had complications at my birth and had to be given a hysterectomy.
• "Would you have liked to have brothers and sisters?" she asked then listened to me give a full and frank account that I thought maybe having a sister would have been fun, but I didn't think I could stand the constant bitching. Laura just laughed and then started to explain that as I was a couple of years older than Laura it was possible that people would get the wrong idea.
• Dropping my head in shame I groaned "I guess I never thought about that" I added watching Terry laugh then explained that she had no problem with Laura hanging about with me, as long as I didn't get her into trouble and as long as Terry knew where we were.
• From that point on, Laura and I were to become best friends, during the summer Laura and I would head up to the lake and swim, or fish. By thirteen Laura was playing for a girl's soccer team.
• The number of hours we spent in the park kicking a ball about or in her large back door, I would hate to count.
• By the time Laura turned 14, I was a regular guest at her house, Terry had a couple of spare rooms, one of which she allowed me to use to stay over. It seemed like I had two families and two houses.
• By the age of fourteen, Laura was allowed up till 10 pm, after she had gone to bed, Terry and I would sit talking or watching the television.
• Within a few weeks, Terry and I sat discussing her messy divorce and how she had taken her husband to the cleaners in the process. As I was sixteen Terry didn't see any harm in treating me like an adult. As the weeks passed Terry started to discuss my seemingly nonexistent sex life.
• I explained that I didn't like the girls my age, they were too immature, and I would have preferred to date a girl a few years older than me. Laura just laughed then added "And this comes from a guy that hangs around with a fourteen year old".
• She had a point, I sat explaining that Laura didn't have all the silly hang-ups that other girls had, and I liked that, we could talk about anything; the only problem was sometimes she even took me by surprise.
• "Oh?" Terry said then sat and listened to me explaining about Laura blurting out that she had just started taking her period. I explained that I didn't mind talking to Laura about stuff, but there were certain things that even at sixteen I didn't want to discuss.
• Laura sat and laughed "Craig, I can just picture your face when she told you" Terry hissed with laughter.
• "You know that's the problem with being friends with a girl, sometimes you have to listen to things that you would much rather not hear" Terry added then stopped giving me a strange look.
• "Craig, can you promise me one thing?" Terry said as I watched the seriousness form on Terry's face.
• "Sure what?" I asked then sat in shock listening to Terry explain that Laura was now at an age where she would start taking an interest in boys.
• "I know how persuasive Laura can be, please promise me that she won't learn about boys from you" Terry added giving me a cold look.
• Terry had fired a warning shot across my bow, and I knew it, I sat re-iterating that Laura was like a little sister and that I had no ambitions that way at all.
• Terry just nodded and then asked me to try and be honest with Laura without going into any great detail.