BY YOUR SIDE

BY YOUR SIDE

Chapter 1: Just Another Summer

Jamie found the trash in his desk drawer at 10:17 a.m.

Not actual trash. Well, technically, yeah. But that wasn't the point.

There was a strawberry ice pop wrapper, folded into a tiny square. A movie ticket with half the ink rubbed off. A blue bottle cap. And a stupid little receipt from the convenience store down the street.

Jamie stared at the collection.

Then he picked up the wrapper.

Then he put it down.

Then he picked it up again, like maybe it would magically become less embarrassing if he looked at it long enough.

“Dude,” he muttered to himself. “What is wrong with me?”

He was keeping garbage.

Garbage that, for some reason, he could remember the exact day he got.

The wrapper was from last summer. Leo had bought the strawberry ice pop because Jamie had dared him to try the blue one, and Leo had refused on the grounds that it looked like something a cartoon villain would drink.

The movie ticket was from a terrible action movie they'd both spent two hours making fun of.

The bottle cap?

Jamie had no idea. He just knew Leo had flicked it at his forehead, missed, and laughed so hard he nearly fell off the bench.

Jamie dropped everything back into the drawer.

Then he shut it.

Then he opened it again.

“Okay, that's actually pathetic.”

He shut it for good.

His phone buzzed on the bed.

Leo: you alive?

Jamie grabbed it so fast he nearly knocked his water bottle over.

Jamie: no. tell my mom i died doing something cool

Leo: like what

Jamie: mind your business

Leo: so nothing cool

Jamie grinned.

Jamie: shut up. park in ten?

Leo: it's literally 10 am

Jamie: wow. excellent observation. proud of you

Leo: give me a minute

Jamie: i'll give you five. i'm generous

Leo: you're annoying

Jamie: and yet you keep texting me

Leo sent a thumbs-up emoji.

Jamie stared at it.

“Wow. Heartbreaking.”

He tossed his phone onto the bed, changed out of his pajamas, and spent the next three minutes pretending he wasn't checking the time every twenty seconds.

It was the first day of summer break.

Their first-day-of-summer tradition had been going on for four years now. Same park. Same bench beneath the big old tree. Same convenience store on the corner.

And, most importantly, the same ice pops.

Blue for Jamie. Strawberry for Leo.

It wasn't some deep, emotional thing. At least, that's what Jamie told himself.

They'd just always done it.

When they were ten, they'd made a whole ceremony out of it. Leo had insisted they needed a proper summer tradition, because apparently doing the same thing every day wasn't enough. Jamie had called him a grandpa, Leo had called him an idiot, and somehow they'd ended up buying ice pops.

Four years later, they were still doing it.

Some things just stuck.

Jamie hoped this one would.

He didn't really know why that thought had shown up in his head. Summer had barely started. There were months ahead of them, a ridiculous amount of free time, and absolutely no reason to get weird about a stupid bench.

Still, this summer felt different.

Maybe because they'd be starting a new school year soon. Maybe because Leo had been talking about joining more clubs and getting busier. Maybe because everyone kept saying things like high school is gonna be different as if they were about to be launched into space.

Or maybe Jamie was just being dramatic.

Yeah. Probably that.

He grabbed his wallet, shoved his phone into his pocket, and headed downstairs.

His mom called after him, asking where he was going.

“Park!”

“With Leo?”

“Do I have other friends?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“Wow. Love you too!”

He heard her laugh as he slammed the door behind him.

Leo was already waiting outside his house when Jamie got there, one hand holding his phone and the other tucked into the pocket of his shorts.

Jamie slowed down.

“Okay, who are you and what did you do with Leo?”

Leo looked up. “What?”

“You're early. That's suspicious.”

“I was ready.”

“That's even more suspicious.”

“Should I go back inside and come out again?”

“Please. I need the full experience.”

Leo rolled his eyes, but he was smiling.

Jamie fell into step beside him.

Their shoulders bumped once. Then again, because Jamie made sure they did.

Leo glanced at him. “Can you walk normally?”

“I am walking normally.”

“You're literally walking into me.”

“Maybe you're in my way.”

“It's a whole sidewalk, Jamie.”

“Yeah, and somehow you're still in my way.”

Leo laughed, and Jamie decided the morning was already going pretty well.

The convenience store was only a few minutes away. They'd walked this route so many times that neither of them needed to think about where they were going. Leo knew which cracks in the pavement Jamie always jumped over. Jamie knew Leo would stop at the corner to fix his shoelace even when it wasn't loose.

Today was no different.

Except Jamie noticed everything.

Leo's hair was a mess, sticking up at the back. There was a tiny crease on his shirt from where he'd probably slept on it. He hummed under his breath while waiting for the traffic light to change.

Jamie knew that song. Leo had been humming it for days.

He knew Leo's favorite ice pop, his favorite seat at the park, and the exact face he made when he was trying not to laugh.

He knew a ridiculous amount of stuff about one person.

Which was normal.

Obviously.

They'd been best friends forever.

“Strawberry,” Jamie said when they reached the freezer.

Leo opened the lid. “I know.”

“Just checking you haven't developed taste buds overnight.”

Leo grabbed a strawberry ice pop and held up a blue one with his other hand.

“Got yours.”

Jamie blinked.

“Oh.”

Leo frowned. “What?”

“Nothing.”

“You look weird.”

“That's just my face.”

“Tragic.”

Jamie snatched the blue ice pop from him. “You know what? Buy your own snacks next time.”

“You'd still buy mine.”

“Keep dreaming.”

Leo grinned like he'd already won the argument.

Which was annoying.

And, for reasons Jamie wasn't interested in examining, kind of nice.

They paid, walked to the park, and claimed their usual bench.

The old tree stretched over it, casting patches of shade across the wooden seat. Someone had carved a crooked little heart into one of the planks years ago. Jamie had tried to guess who'd done it. Leo had said it was probably a couple. Jamie had said it was probably two idiots with a pocketknife.

They'd argued about it for twenty minutes.

They still hadn't solved the mystery.

Leo sat down first and immediately stretched his legs out.

“Man, I'm not moving for the rest of the day.”

“Great. I'll tell the police you're a missing person.”

“Tell them I died peacefully.”

“Can I have your stuff?”

Leo turned to him. “You already steal my fries.”

“That's different. Those are community property.”

“That's not what community property means.”

“Sounds like something a thief would say.”

Leo laughed and took a bite of his ice pop.

Jamie watched him for half a second too long.

Then he looked away and focused very seriously on opening his own wrapper.

He'd done this a hundred times. Sat beside Leo, shared snacks, listened to him talk about absolutely nothing.

So why was he suddenly aware of how close their knees were?

Why did he notice when Leo leaned over to look at his phone?

Why did his brain apparently stop working whenever Leo smiled at him like that?

Jamie took a huge bite of his ice pop.

His teeth immediately regretted it.

“OW—cold, cold, cold.”

Leo burst out laughing.

“ARE YOU STUPID?”

“IT ATTACKED ME!”

“It's an ice pop!”

“Then why is it violent?”

Leo was laughing so hard he had to put his snack down.

Jamie watched him, still holding his own ice pop like it had personally betrayed him.

There it was again.

That stupid feeling.

Like he'd done something right just because Leo was laughing.

Jamie hated how much he liked it.

“Stop looking at me,” Leo said, catching him.

Jamie nearly dropped the ice pop.

“I'm not looking at you.”

“You literally are.”

“I'm looking at the tree behind you.”

Leo turned around.

There was nothing behind him except a tree.

He looked back at Jamie.

“Wow. Great tree.”

“Thank you. I picked it myself.”

Leo shook his head, still smiling, and leaned sideways until his head rested against Jamie's shoulder.

Just like that.

No warning. No asking. No big deal.

He'd done it a thousand times before.

Jamie went still.

One second.

Two.

Three.

Leo shifted a little, trying to get comfortable.

Jamie stared straight ahead.

Four seconds.

Five.

He could feel the weight of Leo's head against him. The warmth through his shirt. The way Leo seemed perfectly happy to sit there without saying anything.

Jamie had no idea what to do with his hands.

He settled for holding his ice pop very carefully.

This was fine.

Normal.

Best-friend stuff.

He was absolutely not counting the seconds.

“Your shoulder's bony,” Leo mumbled.

Jamie blinked. “Get off, then.”

“Nope.”

“Then stop complaining.”

“Make me.”

Jamie opened his mouth.

Nothing came out.

Leo had already closed his eyes, looking far too pleased with himself.

Jamie swallowed the comeback he'd been about to make.

More than five minutes, he thought suddenly.

He didn't even know why.

Leo had once joked that Jamie would miss him after five minutes apart. Jamie had laughed and called him full of himself.

But if Leo left right now, Jamie knew he'd look at the empty space beside him.

He'd probably check his phone, too.

Maybe send a stupid message just to get him talking again.

That was normal, right?

Right.

Across the street, a small moving truck was parked outside the empty house at the end of the block. Two men were unloading boxes. The front door stood open, and a woman was talking to someone inside.

Jamie glanced over.

“Someone's finally moving into that place,” he said.

Leo opened one eye. “Huh?”

“That house. It's been empty forever.”

“Oh.” Leo looked over, then shrugged. “Cool.”

“That's all you've got?”

“What do you want me to say? Welcome to the neighborhood?”

“Maybe prepare a speech. You're so good with people.”

“I'm amazing with people.”

“You once said 'you too' when the cashier told you to enjoy your meal.”

Leo lifted his head. “I was nine!”

“And yet, you'll never recover.”

Leo shoved Jamie's shoulder.

Jamie shoved him back, gently enough that Leo only laughed and leaned against him again.

The moving truck's back doors slammed shut.

Jamie looked away.

He didn't know why the sight of that house bothered him. Maybe because something about the neighborhood changing felt strange. The place had always been empty, just another building they passed without thinking.

Now someone was coming in.

People moved. Things changed.

That was how life worked.

Still, Jamie wished it would stop doing that for five minutes.

Leo sat up and checked his phone.

“I should probably head back soon.”

The words were ordinary.

Jamie hated them anyway.

“Already?” he asked, trying to sound annoyed instead of disappointed.

“It's almost noon.”

“So?”

“So my mom said we'd have lunch together.”

“Wow. Betrayed by your own family.”

Leo laughed. “I'll see you tomorrow, idiot.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Leo stood, brushed a few crumbs from his shorts, and grabbed his empty wrapper.

Jamie watched him walk toward the trash can.

The strawberry wrapper landed neatly inside.

Then Leo turned around and called, “You coming?”

“In a minute!”

Leo pointed at him. “Don't get kidnapped.”

“Don't get lost on the way home. It's a difficult route.”

“Shut up!”

Leo started walking backward for a few steps, still grinning, before turning around and heading down the path.

Jamie watched until he disappeared around the corner.

Then he looked at the trash can.

He looked back toward the path.

Then at the trash can again.

“Oh, come on,” he whispered to himself.

He stood up, walked over, and retrieved the strawberry wrapper.

It was stupid.

He knew it was stupid.

He folded it into a tiny square and slipped it into his pocket.

He'd throw it away later.

Probably.

Jamie returned to the bench and sat down alone.

The sun was bright. The park was quiet. His blue ice pop had melted enough to drip onto his fingers.

Four years of the same stupid tradition.

Four years of strawberry and blue, the same bench, the same jokes, the same person beside him.

Summer had only just begun.

So why did Jamie already feel like he was running out of time?

He pulled out his phone.

Jamie: home yet?

The message hadn't even delivered yet. Leo was still walking.

Jamie stared at the screen, then shoved the phone back into his pocket.

“Get a grip,” he muttered.

He leaned back against the bench and looked up through the tree branches.

Everything looked the same.

The bench. The park. The empty house at the end of the street.

And somewhere down the road, Leo was probably humming that same song again, completely unaware that Jamie had just stolen a piece of trash because throwing it away felt weirdly impossible.

Jamie closed his eyes.

Summer had barely started.

He had no idea how much he was going to wish he could keep this exact day.

He just knew he wasn't ready for it to change.