Friends

Lucas stared at the scaly, unmoving creature on the metal mesh of the catwalk. All of a sudden, Erin burst out laughing, trying to get a sentence out. “Ha Ha- Jess p-Ha Ha Ha-Jess-Haa Ha-put th-Ha-” Eventually, Erin just held up a finger to show Luke to just wait a minute as she doubled over laughing. Then Luke realized what had happened, ‘She tricked me!’ Luke thought to himself, anger building up inside of him, ‘Erin befriended me just to scare me out of my wit and laugh about it!’ Anger bubbled like a hot tub inside of Luke. It obviously showed because Erin stopped laughing.
“Sorry. I know what you’re thinking. But I’m not trying to trick you. It was-” Erin burst out laughing again. Now Luke wasn’t angry. He was depressed. ‘This was the closet I’ve gotten to a friend,’ he thought, ‘probably the closest I’ll ever get,’ Luke started walking towards the ladder, his head drooping. Erin stopped laughing again and started explaining, “Luke, sorry, it wasn’t me. It was my brother, Jess. He’s always playing pranks on me. See. The snake’s rubber,” Erin bent down and picked the snake up off the ground. It hung limp in her hands. Luke looked over his shoulder. She was right. It was a fake. Luke started calming down.
“It’s fine,” he replied after a while.
“C’mon,” Erin said, her face brightening at Luke’s acceptance of her apology, “Once you’re pranked by Jess, ya’ gotta meet him,” Erin jogged to the ladder, with the rubber snake in hand, and Luke in spirited pursuit.
They reached the bottom of the ladder in half the time it took them to get up, and part of this feat belonged to Luke’s feeling of happiness. He had made a friend. He was sure of it. He hadn’t had a friend since he could remember. No one at the orphanage was his friend. Especially no one at school. ‘Especially not Jacob, Andy, or Dave,’ Luke thought bitterly. Jacob, Andy and Dave. Luke actually had to thank them in his mind. If it weren’t for them, he would never have met Erin. He would never have met a friend.