Sarah was sitting under the shade of a huge oak tree, an ice-cream cone in her hand, with the ice-cream melting on her fingers from the burning summer sun. She felt sweat drip from her forehead, so she wiped it with the back of her hand. She let out a bored sigh as she looked towards the park’s gate, waiting to see the familiar face she was waiting for. Sarah’s best friend, Lily, wanted to meet her at the park that day so they could spend some time together and play around.

 It’d been a good while since they had last seen each other since Lily and her family went to Miami. The last time they had seen each other was at Lily’s house, where Lily’s mom cooked them dinner, and both Lily and Sarah spent that day watching a series of Disney Princesses movies and playing Marco-Polo at Lily’s outdoors swimming pool. It was one of Sarah’s favorite days she had ever spent with Lily.

 Sarah was running out of patience as she finished her ice-cream, and she thought that her friend wouldn’t show up for their playtime date. But then her eyes caught Lily standing far away from her. Lily spotted Sarah under the tree, and she started running towards her. Sarah had to squint her eyes and cover them from the piercing sun with her hand to see a clear image of Lily; her wild black curls were jumping around with her movement, and she was wearing a blue sundress that Sarah didn’t recognize.

 Sarah stood up and grinned, opening her arms widely for Lily when she reached her. They both hugged warmly and tightly.

 “I missed you so much!” Sarah said in a whiny voice, pulling away from her friend’s embrace. “What took you that long? I thought you weren’t going to show up, and I was about to leave.”
 

“I’m sorry, but before I left I spilled juice on my clothes and I had to get changed, so I ran late,” Lily explained with guilt showing clearly in her voice. Sarah nodded and seemed to understand, and they both sat criss-crossed on the grass. Sarah didn’t want to waste any time talking about why Lily was late. She wanted to seize every moment she shared with her best friend. Who knew how much time it would take them to see each other again.

 Lily started talking enthusiastically about the new doll her mom bought her, and how it came along with multiple dresses and shoes, and how long and silky the Barbie doll’s blonde hair was. Sarah couldn’t help but smile and nod along as her friend spoke happily and described her gift, trying hard not to show the sadness she was feeling.

 But then Lily stopped in the middle of her sentence when she saw a hint of hurt flicker in Sarah’s brown eyes.

 “How is everything going?” Lily asked softly, trying not to place pressure on the sensitive subject she’d just opened. She knew that Sarah was trying her best to hide her emotions, but Lily’s concern over her friend couldn’t stop her from asking.

 “Same as always…” Sarah’s voice trailed off, and sorrow was beginning to take over her feelings. Sarah slowly started to roll up her shirt’s sleeve, and soon enough, Lily’s eyes landed on a big blue-purple bruise, covering some of Sarah’s pale skin, right above her elbow.

 Lily wasn’t shocked or surprised; she was used to this sight. But the feeling of sadness over her friend never left her. And even if this bruise was no different than the other ones she had seen on Sarah’s body, she still felt like someone had punched her right in her stomach.

 The thing is, Sarah’s life was the total opposite of Lily’s; Lily had a loving mother and two brothers who were protective of her, and she could get whatever she wanted. Her mother never told her no, and she was extremely careful of what her daughter felt.

 On the other hand, Sarah’s life was a complete misery and un-fair for a nine year-old child. She was an only child living with her divorced mother. She had to wake up at the crack of dawn to help her mother clean up the house before she headed to school. And when she came back home, she’d find no food to eat since her mother would be out at work. And when her mother arrived, she’d lie on the couch and fall into a deep sleep, not asking her daughter how she was doing or how her day went.
 

 But that wasn’t the worst part; what really made Sarah hurt was the fact that her mother would rage out at her if she was upset, no matter the reason. And if Sarah tried to protest or say what she thought, her mother would slap her and shout at her for being such a brat, or she’d go on a full beat-up session, leaving heart-wrecking marks on her child’s body.

 Lily’s thumb moved to touch Sarah’s bruise, and slowly, she started to caress it. Sarah winced in pain at her friend’s gentle touch, so Lily immediately pulled her hand away. She moved her gaze to meet Sarah’s, and she asked in a low voice, “What was it this time?”

 Sarah closed her eyes briefly and huffed, biting her bottom lip as the memory flooded back into her mind. “The school was collecting money for charity and asked us to bring some in order to help, and I had no money in my piggybank, so I had to ask my mom to give me. But that didn’t end up well,” Sarah managed to say, feeling a lump form in her throat.
Lily’s eyebrows were so furrowed that they almost met, and a small crease was formed on her forehead. She didn’t want to ruin Sarah’s mood anymore, so she smiled brightly and said in an excited voice, “Look what I got you from Miami.”
Sarah slightly jumped in her place, suddenly forgetting about her problems, and looked eagerly at Lily, who was searching through her pockets for something. After a short while, Lily grinned and held something in her hand, then showed it to Sarah. There was a bracelet made of shells resting on Lily’s palm, and Sarah gaped at it.

 “It’s so beautiful!” Sarah shrieked and snatched the bracelet, immediately wearing it on her right wrist. She started to fiddle with it with her fingers, still not believing how pretty it actually was.
 

 “And you know what the best part is?” Lily said and wiggled her eyebrows. She turned one of the shells so the back of it was showing. “I got something carved on it!”
Sarah looked closely, and indeed, S+L= B.F.F’s was carved messily on the shell. Sarah smiled and hugged Lily tightly; appreciating the gift she got from her only friend. She thanked her and told her again how beautiful it was.

 They both got up and started to play with the swings, then they ran off to the sand box in an attempt to build a sand castle, but then ended up throwing sand at each other, and their last stop was the seesaw.

 They were chocking with laughter, and Sarah was cherishing every minute- every second, actually, she got to spend with Lily. She didn’t want this day to end, because as soon as it did, she’d go back to the miserable life she had.

 It’s said that good things don’t last, and they never really do; Sarah suddenly heard her mother’s voice calling for her.

 “Sarah! Get here right now or else!” Her mother shrieked, and Sarah’s eyes widened in horror. Lily knew that it was time for Sarah to go, and unfortunately, she couldn’t do anything about it.

 “No, no, no, I don’t want to leave,” Sarah whispered to herself, closing her eyes. She was shaking her head as if to kick her mother’s voice away, but it was only getting closer and closer.

 “Sarah, I told you to get here right now or I swear I will go up there and give you a lesson you will never forget!” Her mother shouted again.
 

 Lily gave Sarah a sympathetic smile and said, “You should leave now; you don’t want to get her angrier.”
Sarah shook her head. “No! I don’t want to go; I want to stay here with you,” Sarah protested, almost chocking on her own tears.

 “Me too, but you have to,” Lily said, somehow keeping her voice level low.

 Sarah’s vision started to blur, and the scene in front of her was slowly fading away. She knew that there was no turning back now; there was no hope in fighting anymore. “Don’t forget to come back!” she heard Lily shout. Suddenly, instead of sitting on the seesaw in the huge park, Sarah was back in her small room, sitting on her mattress.

 She looked down at the notebook in her hands and saw the two stick figures she drew after she came back from school. Sarah and Lily were written on top of each figure. Sarah felt a rush of disappointment from losing connection with her friend, Lily, who was the only person she could rely on, the only one who would talk to her and not make fun of her like the other students at her school would.

 She looked down at her wrist, and there was no bracelet. Of course there wouldn’t be! There was no one called Lily in Sarah’s life, let alone a shell bracelet. Lily was only made of Sarah’s imagination; she was her only escape route from the harsh reality. You can say that Lily’s life was the life Sarah wished she had.

 Sarah stared at the two figures that were smiling and holding hands together, and she wished that Lily did exist. Maybe things would’ve been different. Maybe her life wouldn’t be so horrible.

Sarah got up from her mattress and closed her notebook, staring at the title with a small smile on her lips: The Adventures of S&L. She hid the notebook under her pillow and went to see her mother. Even if she had to go back to her miserable life, deep down, Sarah knew that her adventures with Lily weren’t over; they would never be.