Finally the art!!!! I don't know if I can claim it as mine because I used an AI creator...But at least it's my idea!...Right?

Skipping was both the best and worst idea in my life. The worst because I got in trouble at school later on as well as an earful from Zhenya about scaring the living heck out of her. 

It was the best because I got to spend an entire day on the Boulevard with two of the coolest people I've ever met. Everyone else was in school, so we pretty much got the whole place to ourselves. Eli will pretty much go along with whatever Kana does, and Kana really knows his way around the Boulevard. We went bowling, which was hilarious because while Eli is practically a championship bowling person, Kana is the worst player in in history. We kept teasing him about putting the bumpers up because every single shot went straight into the gutter. After Kana's hand slipped and sent the bowling ball flying behind him, we were... excused from the Bowling Alley. We ate donuts by the lake, though most of them ended up going to the ducks instead of us. Now I've somehow been convinced to take a bus to the next city over to go to an amusement park. 

"This is, without a doubt, the strangest day of my life." I comment as we sway back and forth due to the bus careening at high speeds down a bumpy road. 

"Is that a good thing?" Eli asks quietly as he shoves a sleeping Kana's head off his shoulder. Kana's head clunks against the window and he continues to snore, which makes me giggle a little bit.

"It's the best thing." I reply, looking deeply into his dark eyes. I hesitate for a second. "Can I ask you something?"

Eli sighs loftily. "I don't know. Can you?"

"I hope so. Maybe this sounds strange, but... You and Kana are polar opposites, so why are you friends?" It's a typical question, I know, but I really want to get to know him better. 

"Ah... The age-old question. I saved his life."

The way he says it is so simple that it takes a minute for it to sink in. "What?!"

"He's such an innocent and friendly kid that the other kids in school tried to take advantage of it. They dared him to go into the sewers and find an alligator. A stupid thing, yeah, but we were in 6th grade then. He probably would have done it no matter what age he was though... Idiot." Eli looks over at Kana with a brotherly fondness in his eyes that makes me smile. A smile slides across Kana's sleeping face, too. 

"So...What happened exactly?" I prompt, because oh man am I curious now. 

"So he went down in the sewers. He didn't find an alligator, but he did slip and crack his head pretty bad. I found him and brought him back up to the street. I was kinda surprised he survived, honestly, it was a nasty fall. That was before I really knew him, though. He's a survivor."

"Wow..." I can't think of any other words. I look at the two boys beside me in a new light, considering the bond they share. 

"Hmmmm." Kana groans sleepily as he stretches. "Are we there? Oh heck yeah, we're here!!" 

We get off the bus. I feel so safe and so happy with these two beside me. Freer than I've ever felt. 

Everything is perfect until the Ferris Wheel.

Here's some bonus pictures of our boys!! //^_^//