“You know there’s nothing more important to me than doing my job well.” He didn’t add anything more than that, because it would only lead to an argument.
It was only a minute or two later that Vernon ended the call.
“Sounds like he hasn’t changed much,” Noah said. Coop didn’t reply because he didn’t need to. They both knew what his friend said was true. It was this odd relationship with all of them. Even as kids, Noah had liked Cooper’s uncle too. He’d loved when Vernon took them all camping or fishing, and Noah had stayed at his house any night he could, but then Noah always got pissed when Vernon and Cooper got into it.
“Don’t let him make you feel like shit, man. He’s always done that. You’re good at what you do and there’s never been anything wrong with the way you grieved your parents,” Noah added.
Smoke. That’s all he could see was smoke all around him. And it was so hot. So, so hot it felt like his skin was melting off him.
“Go! You need to go, Cooper.”
“No!” He shook his head. “Not without you.”
Mom was on the floor, a beam holding her down. Fire was all around him, smoke so thick it was difficult to see her clearly. There was a pop, and a hiss from behind her, so loud that Cooper heard it over everything else around them.
“Baby…go. I need you to go. Run as fast as you can. Do what I say, Cooper, now!”
Another pop. A wall on the other side of the room crashed down.
“Go! Now, Cooper. Get out of here, right now!”
And he did. Cooper ran, screaming and crying the whole way.
Something grabbed a hold of his arm.
“Coop! Wake up. You’re dreaming.”
Cooper jerked out of sleep at the sound of Noah’s voice. Nausea crawled up his throat. He couldn’t believe he had the dream in front of Noah. It was their very first sleepover, and now he’d think Coop was a baby.
“You were screaming,” Noah said, as the bedroom door opened and the light turned on.
“What in the hell is going on in here?” Uncle Vernon opened the door.
Coop froze. He didn’t want to tell his uncle he had the dream again. Didn’t want him to say he was being ridiculous, and make Noah think him a baby even more.
“Cooper? Noah?” Vernon asked. “What are you guys doing? We told you it was time to settle down and go to bed.”
Still Coop couldn’t make his voice work.
“It was me,” Noah said.
Coop’s eyes flashed toward his friend.
“I couldn’t sleep and was playing a trick on Coop. I didn’t mean to be so loud.” Noah’s lie sounded so true, even Coop would have believed him if he didn’t know better.
“If you can’t listen to my rules, kid, you won’t be allowed to stay here.”
“Yes, sir.” Noah looked toward the ground.
“Now get to bed. You nearly gave us a heart attack.” Uncle Vernon turned off the light and closed the door.
It took Coop forever to talk. “Bet you think I’m a wuss now.”
“No.”
The nausea started to melt away. He should have known Noah wouldn’t make him feel stupid. “Thanks…for covering… He doesn’t get it.”
“Was it about your parents?” Noah asked.
“Yeah.”
A pause. “I get it.”
And, Coop somehow knew his friend did. Even though he still had his mom and dad, he got it.
“Do you think he won’t let me come over no more?” Noah asked.
“No…it’s all talk.” He believed that. Yeah, Uncle Vernon was tough, but he wouldn’t take away Coop’s best friend. “If he tried, I wouldn’t let ’em.”
Noah was quiet for a minute. “I bet I’d have dreams too…if that happened to me.”
And for the first time, Coop didn’t feel like such a baby because of the nightmares. If Noah said he would have them too, it must be normal to not be able to forget.
“Thanks, Noah.” Into the darkness, Coop smiled. He had the coolest best friend in the world. His smile stretched even bigger, when Noah’s hand touched his shoulder.
A warm hand came down on Cooper’s shoulder, and snapped him out of the memory. Turning, he took in the sight of his friend, as Noah let his hand fall away. It was like the years had wiped away some of those memories. He’d been devastated when Noah left—when he didn’t hear a word from him, but over the years, those feelings faded. He’d been young and lived a whole lot of life since then. But having him back now made those feelings flare to life again. Had he ever had a friend he felt as close with, as he did Noah? Someone he trusted with everything inside him, and who would always be there for him?