But at the same time, my heart feels like it's bleeding inside my chest. But he's been adopted and I'm so happy for him to finally have a family because it's so rare for that to happen to teens.

We met in the first foster care home each of us were sent to and he's my best friend in the world, the boy I've grown to love intensely, the boy who makes me want to stay awake because reality is finally better than my dreams. But he's moving across the country, and there's nothing we can do. I don't ever want to stop being near him. I don't ever want to stop looking at him. He's skinny and scrappy and shaggy haired, and he's the most beautiful boy I've ever seen. 'Because I like your face,' he says, grinning bigger now, showing me that gap again, and delivering his own line perfectly. His expression doesn't change for a minute and then a slow smile spreads over his face. It was the first thing I ever said to him. 'Why are you looking at me?' I ask, using a line I know he'll understand. He looks over at me again and we look into each other's eyes once more. How can I comfort him when I feel the exact same way? It works.īut then the smile disappears and he scrubs a hand down his face. I bump my shoulder on his, 'That's a little dramatic, don't you think, Leo?' I say, trying to tease a smile out of him. 'I don't think I'm going to survive without you, Evie,' he says, sounding like he's holding back tears.

I sway towards him and we sit forehead to forehead for several minutes, staring into each other's eyes before he sighs and sits up straight. He smiles big as he sits up next to me, showing me that small gap that I love so much between his front teeth. My heart squeezes painfully at the thought but I school my expression as he makes it over the ledge and crawls towards me, all gangly limbs and shaggy dark blond hair. One more pound, and that dilapidated thing won't hold him. I grin as I hear him begin the climb up the ramshackle trellis on the side of the house. Suddenly, a small stone lands on the roof next to me and then slides back down the slight incline to the ground. I pull the ratty pink blanket more tightly around myself and rest my head on my knees, tucked tightly to my chest. I'm sitting on the roof outside my bedroom window, staring up at the dark night sky, watching my breath plume in the cold November air.

Leo by Mia Sheridan