Chapter 2: That day we met

"buzz buzz,buzz buzz" the alarm clock rang as it vibrated and fell to the ground. Lola laid in bed with her eyes wide open,looking drained. she couldn't get any sleep because she spent the night vomiting due to her hangover.

"Never again" she whispered to herself as she got off the bed.

Lola lived in a spacious apartment. It had a big bedroom,big kitchen,the bathroom and toilet were of decent size as well.

Sluggishly she walked to her bathroom,she wore the same clothes she had on the previous day because she was too drunk to take them off. She took up her toothbrush and applied toothpaste on it, shortly after brushing she had her shower, then proceeded to have breakfast. While sitting on her couch eating cereal and watching TV,her eyes wandered to a framed picture beside the TV.

The frame had a picture of Bart and Lola,they had on college graduation gowns. Lola stared at it for a while and smiled

"It feels just like i met him yesterday"

She was deep in reminiscing about the first time she met her best friend.

- It was a sunny Wednesday morning and the 4th year pupils of eastern elementary were all gathered in the gym. The pupils practiced karate every sports day  because martial arts was added to the school's P.E curriculum.

A teacher arrived at the gym some minutes after the students. She was a tall and beautiful woman, she always had a warm smile on her face. The students referred to her as "Miss nice teacher" because she was always friendly with people around her, only other teachers knew her actual name.

Miss nice teacher arranged the pupils in pairs of two based on their genders and body build. After the arrangement there were two kids left,a boy and a girl. There was nothing else to do than pair them together.

Bartholomew, usually called "bat" by the bullies in his class,was a frail looking boy with glasses and braces. He was really short compared to other kids his age.

Bartholomew was paired with Lola. Lola was known all around the school as a trouble maker. she had the most detentions and principal visits in class 4.

Lola was 9 years old,same age as Bartholomew,she had short curly hair and a tomboyish appearance.

Both Bartholomew and Lola got on the mat and the teacher instructed them to begin with a hand gesture. Lola smirked and took her stance. She swiftly ran towards Bartholomew who was frozen with fear. Bartholomew let out a high pitched scream and covered his eyes with both hands. When Lola closed in on him and swept his feet off the ground with her right leg,he fell to the mat, flat on his back. He passed out as a result of hitting his head on the mat so he was taken to the school nurse.

The very next day at school, Bartholomew was being taunted by Jamie and Sandra,the bullies in his class. On getting to school,Lola witnessed the scene and got upset for some reason. She walked up to Jamie and smacked his mouth, this resulted in another visit to the principal's office for her.

School was closed for the day and Lola was allowed to go home after being given a strong warning from the principal.She didn't live very far from school so she usually walked home because her mother was always to occupied with work to pick her up.

While walking home,she noticed Bartholomew sitting on a swing. She stared at him for a bit then proceeded with walking.

"wait,wait!"

Bartholomew called out as he stood up and followed her.

"what do you want?"

she asked without even looking back.

"I..um,i just wanted to thank you,thank you for standing up for me."

"Idiot,i got in trouble again because I was trying to stand up for your sorry butt."

"I'm... really sorry i got you in trouble,you don't have to help me."

he looked down at the ground with a sad looked on his face. Lola stopped and turned to look at him.

"Why do you let them treat you like that?, they always treat you like trash."

"well,i have no friends and nobody to talk to, I'm an only child. I know they're bullies but when they taunt me,i feel like I'm being talked to."

His voice was shaky.

"You stupid or something?,i don't have friends or siblings but you don't see me killing myself about it."

Lola started to sound angrier than usual.

"Look Bartholomew, you can't let people treat you like that,if you want friends then you should make some real ones. I.. could be your friend if you want, it's not like i need friends, I'm doing you a favor."

Bart raised his head.

"You'd be... friends with me?"

"Yup!,that way I'll always be able to save your sorry butt from bullies"

"But.. I'll just get you in trouble again."

"Doesn't matter,if i get detention again you'd just have to wait for me like you did today. So.. wanna be friends?"

Lola smiled, before now Bartholomew had never seen her smile genuinely before.

"Yes..yes let's be friends"

Bartholomew was confused and happy at the same time.

"Great!"

she went closer to him and gestured for a handshake.

"Bffs?"

"What's a...Bff?"

Bartholomew asked her.

"It means best friends for ever, anywhere i go,you go, and anywhere you go i go, forever."

"Oh..yes, let's be Bffs."

He shook her hand happily.

"We're Bffs now Bart, I'll call you Bart from now on, your name is kinda hard to pronounce."

They both laughed and continue walking home.

"Sure,i don't mind,Lola.".-

Lola smiled on the couch as she reminisced, however the sound of her ringing phone snapped her out of it. Bart was the one calling,she picked up the phone call.

*Helloooo Sleepy head.*

"Hey Bart."

*Slept well?*

"No,no i did not,last night was hell. Why'd you let me drink again?!"

Lola lamented.

*I'm sorry I'm sorry,i tried to warn you but you never listen.*

Bart laughed while talking.

"You at home?, We should binge watch something together since we're basically jobless now."

*Err, I'm a bit occupied at the moment, you should go, I'll meet you at home, there's pasta in the fridge but don't eat all of it!*

"Yes yes sir."

The call disconnected.

"I wonder where he could be, did he get a new job so quickly?"

"I'll just ask him later i guess."

She stood up and kept her bowl of cereal on the table as she prepared to go over to Bart's house.