Chapter Text
The two kids laughed and smiled at each other. They were already close at the young age of four, sharing toys in the sandbox and building towers out of blocks inside the classroom. They always sat next to each other during lunch, even shared snacks with each other, despite the “No Sharing” rule at school. The others stared jealously at them, wishing for a friend like that. Each preschool day was a blur of each other beginning with a, “Hello, Will,” and ending with a, “Bye bye Jem.”
Their childhood friendship was built on lunch pails and sand buckets, giant crayons and colored paper, wooden blocks and toy people. But people were starting to get a bit worried at how close they were with each other.
“They’re awfully close for friends.”
“If one of them was a girl, I would think they were in love.”
“No, they’re too young. They are just children after all.”
“Are you trying to imply my Will is a fag?”
“I’ll try to separate them. But it’s healthy for kids to form bonds.”
“Thank you, and I don’t care. My son is supposed to be perfect.”
But, no one really had to intervene really. By the luck of God or a deal with the Devil, they split up. It didn’t happen right away, it was more like someone spilling honey. But a group of boys started talking to Will. Just Will. Soon they would be playing hide and seek and ask, “Hey Will, do you want to join?” Will would hesitate, unsure of what to do, until they awkwardly added, “And I guess you too James.”
Will fit right in with the group, becoming a seamless addition and quite a leader, while James tagged along, an afterthought to the rest. Soon, this became a motif, them playing with the group while James just wanted to be with just Will. Back when it was the two of them against the pre-k. Will didn’t seem to notice, awash in the attention and togetherness of a group of friends. Eventually, it grew harder to integrate James into the group, and he crumbled away like sand. Slowly he started to spend less and less time with Will and the group, and more and more time alone, reading picture books. James was oil and the group was water. By the time he was fully gone, Will didn’t notice and the group was remarkably pleased that the strange Asian boy was gone.
Bye bye, Jem.