Chapter Forty-Three

When Agnes was out of view, Nina turned to me.

“Even a child thinks you don’t deserve to get hurt,” she said with a smile. “And I think you’re starting to believe it too.” I looked away, trying not to agree with her. Nina laughed and held my hand again. “It will happen. You’ll see. I’ll make sure of it.” Hearing those words brought up a question I had forgotten about while we were with Agnes.

“Nina,” I said, looking up. Nina jumped a little, hearing her name. “Talk to others. Incredible. Not many people. Learned, how?” Nina looked at me, as if she was waiting for this question.

“What did you think I did every time I woke up before we met?” she said. “I would go out and see if I could find another person. I knew that if I went and found a house in a settlement that I’d see and talk to a lot of people, but that’s not what I wanted. I wanted to see and talk to the people that might not ever see another person. Because those were the people that needed someone, and I wanted to be that person. Sure, not everyone was going to be a good person. Even I knew that. That’s what these are for.” She pointed to her crossbow and knife, forgetting it wasn’t there anymore. “Well, one of those things. But for the ones who were lost, afraid, or just wanted to see a person that wouldn’t hurt them, they need someone like me. That’s what I think.”

“Nina, good person,” I said as I went to hug. “Care for others. Want to do good. Be like her.”

“Where is all this coming from? All I did was answer your question.” Her face was becoming red as she tried to laugh it off.

“Did a lot. More than a lot. Friend. Best friend.” It was my face’s turn to brighten into that shade of red. I felt my heartbeat rise, trying to escape my chest. I turned to Nina, listening as her heartbeat began to match mine.

“Best friend,” she said looking down with a smile. “That sounds really good to say out loud.”

“Never had one,” I said. “No friends. Back then. Now. Not afraid to say. Warm feeling. Look at you. Say best friend. Heart explodes.” Nina let out a loud laugh, causing her to cover her mouth with her hand.

“All of that happens when you say those two words together?”

“Try it.” I stopped and stared at Nina. Though her words tried to lie to me about what she felt, her face told me the truth. She struggled to keep eye contact with me, and she fidgeted every which way. “Face. Tomato.” Those words caused her to cover her face.

“Don’t start teasing me! This was a lot more difficult than I thought it was going to be!” she said. “But I’m going to do this!” She turned back to me and looked me straight in the eyes. “You. Are. My. Best. Friend!” After the last word, she looked to the sky and screamed. I lost count of the number of beats my heart skipped before joining in with Nina’s jumping. It was a type of happiness I had never felt. I wanted to do everything, right then and there, just to share it with the rest of the world. Nina took my head and held it close to her chest, squeezing with all the strength she could muster. I screamed with joy, wanting to match everything she did. When my body started to move, Nina took off. She ran as fast as she could to her place and looked back to make sure my body couldn’t catch her. At that moment, we didn’t care who or what saw us. We knew that nothing would be able to stop us, and we knew they wouldn’t even try. We were happy, and nobody would be able to take that away from us.