When it came to childhood friends, Claire really only had one.
She remembered back when she was six, her parents came to her and told her that she was going to have a sibling soon. Claire was delighted! She did not have a lot of friends back then. Most of her short life had been spent home schooled, and the apartments they lived in did not have many children, especially those her age.
She really only became friends with one boy back then. His name was Samuel. He was a year older than her and in hindsight was a bit of a bully, but she loved having someone to play with.
His family moved into her apartment complex when she was four. She was far too young to really care about what they did, but she remembered hearing that they had only moved in there temporarily.
Samuel was a bit of a bratty crybaby. He would act like his parents owned the place (which, granted, was true as they usually played in Sam's house), and would start crying whenever something did not go his way.
She cherished that friendship. The two of them would often play with lego blocks or plushies and would just run around and cause a whole bunch of mayhem.
More importantly, his friendship let her roam around a lot more. Her parents were constantly busy. Her father had to make frequent trips out of town for business purposes. He acted as a sales agent for some bigshot MNC which rarely gave him a rest. Her mother had to take care of the household and also worry about her own job. She was a tutor. She would homeschool Claire in the morning and teach students internationally over the internet during the evening. Regrettably, none could spend a whole lot of time looking after her. They tried their best to make time for her, but their hands were tied too.
They wouldn't let her go outside without supervision. But they were rarely able to get time to be said supervision.
It might be a bit selfish of her to think this way, and Claire will admit to it, but she mostly enjoyed Sam's company because of his parents. They would look after them whenever they went outside to play. They would also offer to take her with them whenever they decided to take Sam out for a trip. They were also the ones that taught Claire how to ride a bike!
In hindsight, maybe his parents were the ones she considered to be more her friends. But that doesn't matter much, for her companionship with that family did not last long. They moved out when she was just about to turn six.
Hence, when she heard about the possibility of a new sibling a couple of months after her friend moved away, she was really excited! She would finally have someone to play with again! Someone who she'd always keep by her side!
Unfortunately, fate had different plans. Her mother underwent a misscariage just a month from delivery. A traffic accident while her parents were out in the market.
Claire, in all her childishness, threw a bunch of tantrums following that. She accused her parents of lying. She demanded a sibling. Her parents spent a long time trying to console her. They didn't let their sadness show for the sake of their living daughter. They never lashed out at her. They always tried to get her to understand.
Not listening to her parents back then. Not understanding that they were likely devastated by the turn of the events. That entire part of her life was the biggest regret Claire had. Yes, she was young and she didn't understand - couldn't have understood how her actions were hurting her parents. But every dark part of your past, no matter how justifiable it may be, still weighs down on you, just like this part weighed down on her.
But this was the part of her life that inspired her most. This was what drove her to be less selfish. She wanted to never hurt anyone she loved like this ever again. She wanted to never make them feel the need to hide their vulnerabilities from them. She wanted to be kind and helpful to everyone around her.
Her tantrums did one thing though. They made her parents think that Claire needed more company from her fellow peers. They made her parents send her to an actual school.
Since then she'd moved cities once and schools twice. She never got to spend enough time with anyone to actually consider them a close childhood friend. Well, with one exception.
He was the one she considered her true childhood friend. He had always been there at her lowest points to cheer her up. Always there at her happiest moments to share them with her. She positively loved him.
Claire gobbled up her lunch as quickly as she could.
"Slow down!", Her mother chuckled, placing a glass of cold milk in front of her. "He's not going anywhere, you'll choke on your food at this rate."
Claire disregarded the warnings and lobbed up another forkful of spaghetti. Big bites and slurps. She did not have much time before Jerry arrived.
"Okay, that's enough young lady.", her mother grabbed Claire's hand, stopping the overwhelmingly big ball of spaghetti from reaching her face.
"Noooo---", Claire protested. "I'll be late!"
"Late for what, exactly?", her mother asked, grinning.
Claire moved her head forward towards the fork. If the fork couldn't move, her mouth would.
"Ow-", Claire's mother pulled the fork away and smacked her on the head lightly.
"Do I need to repeat my question?", Her mother said, twirling the stolen fork between her fingers.
Claire let out a small whine. "Jerry's coming over! My best friend will meet my childhood friend today! I'm getting laaaate please can I have the fork back?", She extended her hand out and gave her mother a pleading look. For a moment she considered just using her hands to continue eating, but that would have just landed her into trouble.
Her mother laughed. She emptied the fork in the plate, then twirled up a smaller portion of the spaghetti and raised it to Claire's mouth. "No. I'm feeding you today."
"Wha-", Claire was surprised. "But I'll get late! Jerry would have to wait!"
Her mother grinned. "I'm sure Jerry won't mind a little bit of waiting. Now say aaah!"
"But I mind waiting!", Claire crossed her arms and pouted. "And I'm not a baby! Ow-"
Her mother hit her on the head again.
"Well, if you're going to act like a baby, I'm going to treat you like one!", Her mother cheerfully declared. She moved to rest her head on the knuckles of one hand and held the fork with the other, which she again moved towards Claire's face. "Say aaah!", she insisted,
Claire knew she wouldn't win this argument. It took some serious guts to convince her mother to change her mind on something, and the guts in Claire's possession were still too meek for the job.
"Fiiine..", She grumbled, but opened her mouth. "Aah-"
Her mother fed her a forkful. "Nice girl!"
===
Claire rushed out her front door as soon as she got finished with her food. Jerry was already in front of her house and had been waiting for her. Fortunately, the wait hadn't been too long.
Claire couldn't wait any more. "JERRY!", She yelled out the name of her friend. She ignored the driveway, and ignored the stone path of her front yard and just straight up cut a way through the green grass of her front yard.
Jerry turned her head towards the shout and a smile appeared on her face. "Claire!" She started to move towards Claire and opened her arms as if for a hug.
Much to her surprise however, Claire ducked under the hug and kept jogging past her.
"Come on!", Claire called back to Jerry. "I want you two to meet as soon as possible!"
===
A minute later, Claire and Jerry found themselves at the front door of the house that was two doors to the right of Claire's.
Jerry stood there confused. Claire had called her to her house, but had given no real reason why. And the moment she had got there, Claire dragged her away to her neighbors and was incessantly ringing the doorbell.
"I'm opening the door, just wait a second, jeez-", A gruff voice resounded from the other side of the heavy wooden door.
Claire stopped ringing the bell, but Jerry could still see her impatience in the way she fidgeted about.
"Who are we even meeting up with?", Jerry finally asked.
The door opened. Behind it stood a burly giant of a man. He had a scraggly beard, hair that resembled a mop that had been put through a meat grinder, and surprisingly nicely kept clothing.
The man looked down at the two. "Oh, it's Claire!", he exclaimed, then promptly stepped to the side.
"Hi Mr. Johnson!", Claire waved with a grin. "Is-"
Claire's sentence was cut short as a big white blur jumped into her, knocking her onto the grass of the front yard.
Jerry hopped back, startled.
"Arf-!", The mass barked. Upon further inspection, Jerry saw Claire pinned down by a big white Samoyed who was busy licking her face.
Claire couldn't help but laugh. She ran her hands through the fur of the big dog. "Hey there, big guy!".
She then turned to look at Jerry, grinning and still on the ground.
"Jerry, meet my childhood friend, Borris!"