Marcus and Luna were best friends. They lived next to each other, in cream colored houses with colorful doors. Luna and Marcus saw each other every day, even as they grew older. The years didn’t change, but Luna and Marcus did.

Marcus became a stranger. He drifted here and there, a ghost of the sweet little boy he once was. Nothing was right in his life. His family was in shambles, with his depressed single mother and his drug addict brother. Marcus was torn.

Luna became widely known. She got the best grades, the best scholarships, and the best academic awards. She took all advanced classes. Teachers loved her. She was the smartest girl in the whole school. Luna felt off. She found herself drifting off more, back into the waves of the sea. Marcus had been her anchor.

Marcus thought about Luna. The girl he loved. He abandoned her when she needed him the most. When she struggled, he was there. Now he was not. The old Marcus would’ve shared jokes and laughed along with Luna. Not anymore.

Luna dreamed of Marcus. The day he told her he would leave her. The day he abandoned their friendship. The day he left her, when he’d promised he wouldn’t. She woke up, finding her pillow damp. She wiped the empty tears from her cheek. If Marcus was gone, she would let him go, for good. It didn’t matter how much she wanted him.

Marcus walked down the dimly lit street. He wanted Luna, wanted her comforting words, her happy aura, but she was gone, all because of him. He had broken a promise, one he shouldn’t have broken. Luna couldn’t possibly forgive him for that. If Luna was gone, he would let her go, for good. It didn’t matter how much he wanted her.

Luna had never felt more empty. She stared at her test, reading the empty questions. She paid no attention as she fished facts out of her brain and pooled them onto the paper. Luna knew she would get another A. She could get all the grades she wanted, but she couldn’t have the one thing she needed most.
Marcus watched students socialize all over campus. He spotted Luna, sitting by herself. He wanted to go over and say goodbye, tell her sorry, but his feet stayed glued to the cement. Marcus needed her now. But now was the only time she wasn’t there.

Luna thought of Marcus while she did her homework. Did he really mean to abandon her? Maybe. Did he really hate her? Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. Maybe. The word repeated itself in her head. Luna looked down to find the word scribbled all over her paper. Marcus would’ve laughed.

Marcus climbed to the roof. The skyscraper was intimidating, a tall, silent statue in the night. He pulled a slip of paper from his pocket and read it seven times. Seven times exactly. Seven was Luna’s lucky number. He clutched the paper in his fist and faced the edge of the skyscraper. He gazed at the tall buildings, how the light shined in the windows. The night was cool and a light breeze flew through his hair. He would jump, for Luna. To tell her he was sorry for abandoning her.

Luna saw him standing there. Her stomach lurched once she realized what he was going to do, so she ran. She ran and grabbed Marcus, yanking him away from the ledge. Luna fell to her knees, breathing heavily. She scooted to the edge of the building, her legs dangling off the side. Luna peered at the concrete sidewalk below her feet. Tears stung her eyes as she pictured Marcus lying there.

Marcus stared at Luna, sitting on the ledge. Luna had saved him. Luna, the girl he had left. He wanted to comfort her, yet he didn’t know how. When a sob escaped her lips, he padded silently to her side and wrapped his arms around her. She needed him, and this time, he would be there.

Luna trembled in Marcus’s arms. She took a deep breath and reminded herself that Marcus was safe. They were safe.

Marcus looked at Luna, huddled in his arms, her pale locks glimmering in the moonlight. He pulled her closer.
“Thank you,” he whispered. Luna let out a shaky breath.

“I love you.” She replied. Marcus frowned.

“I’ve been such an idiot. How could you love me?” Luna smiled softly and placed a finger under his chin, forcing him to meet her green eyes.

“You’re my best friend, Marcus.”