"Hey yo Bri, look at that girl over there. Pretty huh?" Nick pointed out as they stopped during their break from a hard days work of basketball.

"Um, Nick, I don't see a girl anywhere."

"Right there, watching us. C'mon, you have to see her. She's in white, brown hair. Right there!" Nick kept pointing straight at her.

"No, sorry, there isn't anyone there." Nick shook his head, but then looked back. Nobody was there.

"I must be crazy."

"So...how are you holding up. You know since a few months ago. I haven't seen much of you lately."

"I've just been doing a lot of thinking. She was my best friend for 20 years, and her birthday is coming up. Its going to be hard."

"We're here for you buddy."

"I know. Ms. Sue is going to stay with me for a while. I think it helps her being around me. I don't know why, but yeah..." Nick looked across the field. There was that girl again, "Okay, Bri, right there. There she is."

"Nick, your seeing things."

"Do you think...? Nevermind," Nick shook his head and got up and began to dribble the ball.

"Nick, lets head home. You don't look like you're feeling so good."

"Yeah, lets go."

Nick sat outside Ali's old house she grew up in. Ms. Sue had moved out. Too many memories haunted her. The house was now up for sale and it was a daily thing for Nick to drive up there and just stare. He heard the pounding of footsteps. A child's footsteps and laughter.

"You'll never catch me Nickolas Carter!" Ali's voice echoed in his mind. Nick's head shot back in the direction he heard it. There was just air. Nick's eyes filled with tears and he hid his face with embarrassment.

"Excuse me, why are you crying?" a soft voice asked Nick through his window.

"What?" Nick wiped his eyes and looked up.

"I started to run up towards your car, because I know who you are and you started crying after you looked at me. I'm sorry. What did I do?" Nick looked the figure over. Dressed in white again. Dark brown hair and beautiful green eyes.

"Oh, no. It wasn't you. Sorry. I have to go."

"Wait, please." The girl pleaded, "Why do you come here everyday? I see you stare at my house everyday. Why?"

"Ali?" he asked quietly unsure of himself.

"Who's Ali?" she asked looking around.

"Um, she's passed...she's my girlfriend. I really have to go."

"Do you want to look inside my house? I can tell your aching to get in," she smiled slightly.

"Could I? Just for a minute?"

"Yeah, c'mon in. This house is so big for me to be living in it all alone."

"You live alone?"

"Yeah." Nick unbuckled his seatbelt and jumped out of the car.

"My bestfriend used to live here."

"Is that Ali? The girl who use to live here?"

"Yes. How did you know?"

"Her initials are carved behind the mantel with another one...but I can't figure it out. Its NGC. Wait...I just figured it out. It was you, right?"

"Yeah."

"The Realtor told me it would be hard to top the family that use to live here and told me all about Ali. She wasn't the model, was she?"

"Yeah."

"You know you're really quiet."

"Sorry." They stepped infront of the door.

"Ready?"

"As I'll ever be." Nick walked through the house with near tears in his eyes. It had almost been a year since he was last in the house.

"You want a drink?"

"Oh, no thanks." Nick headed over to the mantel. He felt for the initials. His fingers carressed the old wood and emotion took over him.

"Are you okay?"

"I have to go."

"Nick, please stop by anytime. This house loves you."

"I love the person that used to live in this house."

>>>>> 

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