"Do you think there would be a night like this again?" he asked as he ate the last scoop of his ice cream, crushing the paper cup into a ball,

"Honestly, I'm not sure," I said, crushing my paper cup as well. Just a few inches in front of us was the dustbin,

"Let's compete," he said,

"Didn't you just say it was tiring?" I raised my brow,

"It was tiring to do things we were told to, not those we wanted to,"

"Okay, what's the competition?"

"See the trash can?" he turned his head to face the front. I nodded,

"Whoever gets their paper cup inside, is the winner. And the loser has to grant one wish to the winner, it can be anything," he said,

"Oh, I like this. Okay, bring it on," I replied smirking,

We both stood beside each other and started to prepare for the launch of our crushed cups,

"You know I'm in Engineering, right? I can analyze better than you," I said proudly,

"Make it happen first, you can brag later," he rolled his eyes, half laughing,

"Wait, what if we both don't make it?"

"There's always a round two," he said slyly,

"Okay, let's throw together at three,"

He nodded, and we started counting simultaneously,

"1...2...3,"

Both of our cups landed in the bin at the same time. We just stood there comprehending this. Now what?

"So, who lost?" I asked,

"I guess we both won,"

"That means, we both get one wish each?"

He nodded, "What's your wish?" he asked,

"I'll save it for later. What's your wish?"

He was about to say something, but he stopped himself as if he was hesitating,

"What is it?" I asked again.

Sky's POV

Let's be friends, let's get to know each other more. This is my wish, but I'm too scared to share it with you, thinking I'll probably lose this moment forever,

I sighed, "I'll save it for later, too,"

There was still a little fear in me that if I told him my wish, he might make a joke out of it or entirely cut me out of the little part I held in his life. Maybe not being able to take risks makes me less of a man but not a single muscle in me wanted to ask him that.

I didn't know why I wanted to know him better. I didn't know why I was emphasizing us being friends this much. I couldn't make sense of it, so I couldn't explain it to him. Maybe I liked him...maybe I was just curious. Curious about what it would be to have Dew being nice to me.

"If you say so," he shrugged,

We continued walking around our neighborhood. It was silent and calming. I felt my facial muscles relaxing. None of us were bound to anything. Exactly like just-met-strangers, we walked beside each other for the sake of company.

While walking, there were times when the back of my hand would touch the back of his hand, or I had to shift towards him because of some pothole or crack on the roads and our torsos would touch sideways. He didn't seem to mind these things and that itself felt unconfining for some reason.

I liked how nothing bothered any of us, as if we were floating,

"Do you feel better now?" he asked breaking the silence.

"What?"

"I know you didn't just call me out for ice cream in the middle of the night. You wanted to clear your mind, so, are you feeling better now?"

"Was I too obvious?"

He chuckled and nodded, "I've known you for almost a decade now. "I observed these little things over time without realizing it,"

He noticed little things about me. Out of a sudden, I felt a lump in my stomach, and a flush over my face as if it was heating up.

"A couple of things in my head are still messed up, but overall, it's gotten better," I replied with a small smile,

"It's okay to be a mess, you know,"

"Says someone who is a mess himself," I said teasing him,

"And look, I'm doing great!" he said jumping in front of me with his hands on his waist and a boastful grin on his face,

I laughed a little too loudly. He looked so proud and natural that it was almost blinding to see him. His raw reactions were what separated him from the rest of the world, and now I was starting to enjoy those.

"There's nothing wrong with being a mess," he said as he came back and started walking beside me,

"Why?"

"Because you cannot be perfect all the time. Nobody is. Everybody has their own mess and at times, it solves itself out. You just need to give it time and hope,"

"What if it can't solve itself?"

"Then you jump in and solve it out. Who knows it might not be as difficult as you think it to be. You are more than you know,"

I laughed again, "You sound like one of those influencers,"

He laughed too, "At least I made you laugh," he said looking at me, beaming.

Our eyes locked at each other for a few seconds as the smiles slowly faded away. As if they understood that we can't smile at each other like that. I was at a sudden loss of words. Suddenly my sister's words floated in my head, 'Hasn't he gotten more handsome?' I noticed how he had gotten a new mole on his chin,

"Is there something on my face?" he asked, waking me up from my mind trail,

Get a grip, Skylar, oh my God. I didn't realize I was staring a little too long,

"Oh, it's just ugliness," I said sticking my tongue out,

"Not a chance, I'm too hot to be ugly,"

I laughed, "I wish I had your confidence,"

"Shouldn't we head home, now?" he asked looking at his wristwatch,

"I wanted to stay out here more,"

"I think we've had enough, youngster. Let's head back now,"

I sighed, "Alright,"

He smiled, moved closer, and ruffled my hair. I was taken aback, "Good boy," he said,

"What am I, your dog?" I swatted his hand away,

"Puppy sounds cuter for you," he shoved his tongue out and started running,

"Get back here!" I said running after him.

Soon, we reached our houses. We stood again at the entrances, facing each other, and to our backs were our houses.

"Thanks for keeping me company," I said smiling softly,

"I was craving ice cream anyway," he replied smiling back,

"We're still rivals?" I asked,

"Absolutely. I will still compete with you in almost everything,"

"And have late-night ice-creams being strangers?"

He nodded like a child, making us both laugh. This is nice, I thought, having to laugh with him, like genuine friends,

"It feels like one of those intense fiction plots. Rivals in the day, lovers in the night types," I said laughing,

He laughed too, not acknowledging the fact that I mentioned the word 'lovers'. Maybe he didn't hear it, there's no way he wouldn't react to that, I reassured myself,

"Well, I guess it is how it is," he said shrugging,

I nodded, I like how it is,

"Let's go home, buddy," he said tapping my shoulder and turned around,

"Wait, did you just call me buddy?" my curiosity asked as my eyes widened,

He turned around and nodded smiling,

"Why? Should I drop it?" he asked,

Don't,

"Do whatever you like," I tried to make it sound as normal as I could,

"Then I'm keeping it. Good night, buddy," he winked.

Dew's POV

Climbing up the pole, I entered my room hoping that I didn't make any type of sound. I was about to sleep when I saw his room lights turn on. Subconsciously, I looked out of my window.

He walked towards his window and looked back at me, then turned to his phone.

Sky: missing me already? ;)

I chuckled shaking my head,

Me: 🤮

After he closed his curtains, I drew mine too. Before sleeping, I opened his contact and changed his name from, 'headache' to 'buddy'.

Sky's POV

I held my phone above as I was lying on my bed. My fingers slid across the icons, opening the contact names. We had to exchange numbers to text anything important regarding the fest, so I had to save his number. I clicked on 'edit the contact' and changed his name from, 'jackass' to 'just a buddy', not knowing I had an unfamiliar flushing heatwave spreading over my face.

Dew's POV

I didn't know this side of Sky existed. It was a surprise to me to discover that he is such a friendly, funny, and annoyingly attractive person. Lately, I have been noticing more things about him, and it's starting to bother me more than it should,

I didn't realize he was left-handed until I saw him eating his ice cream, I didn't notice his little crooked nose bridge, nor did his freckles seem more prominent. His jet-black half-curled-up hair uplifted his hairline and made every little detail about him a total surprise to me.

Skylar was attractive.

He seemed like a different person today. His bruised lip was already healing better and the scar on his cheek faded immensely. Whenever he laughed, two small, curved ridges would form below the ends of his lips on either side. Once you see them, it's hard not to notice them every time he would laugh.

Whatever confusion that dwelled in me about him and us seemed to be nothing at this moment. I was lying in my bed, eyes closed, thinking of us walking around with crushed paper cups, laughing at nonsense.

Tonight is when I realized how much I missed our old bond.

Just walking next to him as a stranger felt relatively easier. Maybe because I had known him for so long, I subconsciously became comfortable around him. I don't know what friendship with Sky feels like, but whatever the air held today between us, was relaxing enough.

I wonder what caused our families to become rivals. Whatever it was, I want to know. Mistakes are meant to happen, but they can also be corrected.

Technically speaking, Sky and I had very little in common. Even our favorite ice cream flavors were vastly different. Yet, there was a certain aroma that surrounded us.

'Buddy', is as simple as a word could be. Yet, the amount of serotonin that it boosted was incomparable. He didn't deny it, neither did he argue back. In fact, today was the only time we walked among laughs instead of competitions. That is what the word 'buddy' can do; it indeed is powerful.

~ ~ ~