“Sorry, hi.” Ashley waited while Skylar closed the door and turned to face her; Ashley, who never could remain standing completely still, was jumping up and down. “Guess what he said!”

“Your grandmother’s having bypass surgery?” Skylar guessed, crossing the room to her desk and dropping into her hardback chair.

“Not funny, and no. Guess again.”

Skylar swung around in her chair and started flipping pages in her Psych book. “Ash, as much as I love your guessing games, I’m sort of busy. I’m way behind in this class, and I have…what…a week or so to get ready before the final.”

“The finals aren’t for another two months,” Ashley reported, sitting down on Skylar’s bed. “Just guess. You’re gonna freak.”

She knew this game would never end unless she gave in, so she spun around in her chair and feigned interest. “There’s a family reunion next week?”

Ashley made a face. “Eurgh. No. Why would that be exciting? I’d have to see our cousin, Dexter. You know, the one with octopus hands who tried to feel me up?” She shivered at the mere thought. “Disgusting. We’re cousins.”

“Did Aaron graduate?”

“No, he’s only a Junior.”

Skylar raised her hands to the ceiling. “I give up, Ashley. Just tell me so I can get back to Sigmund Freud.”

Ashley’s eyes brightened. “He’s going to the World Championships in October!”

Skylar blinked. “And that’s exciting…why?”

“Because we’re going!”

Still, Skylar could not see where the enthusiasm was coming from. “You go to all his stuff, as he is your brother. So why is this any different?”

“WE are going,” Ashley stated, standing up excitedly. “Mom and Dad can’t go so she’s giving us their plane tickets AND the tickets to get into the thing.”

“Aren’t the Worlds in October?” Skylar asked, looking past her friend to the calendar on the wall (Lord of the Rings). “It’s October second already. I can’t go, I’ve got to study.”

“Sky-lar! This is a once in a lifetime opportunity. An all expenses paid trip.”

“Where are they this year?” Skylar questioned, picking up her day planner and flipping a few pages to the middle of October.

“Indiana,” Ashley answered, sitting back down on the bed. “You can come, and you will. You HAVE to.”

“I don’t have to,” Skylar replied, tapping her pen against the book. “Look at my busy schedule.” She passed the day planner over to Ashley.

Ashley looked up at her blankly. “These days are all empty except for classes.”

“Yes, but look in the little corners. See what they say, in red ink? STUDY.”

“You can study in Indiana,” Ashley said, handing the book back. “Easily.”

“I can’t go to my classes while I’m in Indiana,” Skylar pointed out, watching as Ashley chewed on her thumbnail, a habit she’d picked up from Skylar as something to do when she was nervous (this rarely occurred as Ashley was quite self-assured, but still, it happened once in a while).

“You know attending college classes isn’t mandatory.”

Skylar sighed, having had this conversation many times in the past year. “They are if you want to pass.”

Ashley pulled her honey-blond hair into a high ponytail. “Sky, will you at least think about it? The plane leaves on Monday, at six am. If you want to come, fantastic, if you don’t…” Ashley shrugged as she headed for the door. “…I can’t make you.”

At the door she turned around, flashing Skylar her best smile. “It’ll be fun, though. And Aaron said he’d love to see you, since he hasn’t. In, like, three years.”

“I saw him over the summer,” Skylar laughed, shaking her head. Ashley had a really lovely flare for the dramatic…and exaggerating, if it were a course at their school, would have been her best one.

“I’m going for a run, but I have my cell if you suddenly decide to come.” Ashley moved over as Skylar’s roommate, Reese, scooted into the room, clutching several books to her chest. While Skylar and Ashley had been friends for the better part of their lives (having met in middle school) they had decided to go to the same school, but hadn’t petitioned to have the same dorm room. It was better this way since Ashley’s college experience included lots of parties and even more guys, while Skylar’s was more about studying and trying to get into a good Post-Graduate school. As it happened, they lived on the same floor anyway.

“I’ll think about it,” Skylar promised, flicking on her desk lamp.

Ashley smiled, satisfied, and bounced out.

*

Reese and Skylar were sitting in the cafeteria eating lunch the following day when Ashley flounced up to them, flushed and looking completely crazed. Skylar had a book propped up against her soda and was highlighting with gusto; across the table, Reece was working through some difficult math problems and muttering to herself.

Ashley plopped down beside Skylar, nearly toppling over her setup as she did so, but luckily Skylar was used to this, and grabbed at everything before it had a chance to move.

“Sorry, Sky. Hey, Reece, how are you?”

Reece smiled wanly. “Good, thanks,” she replied in a meek voice, “You?”

“Great!” Ashley exclaimed, turning to Skylar excitedly. “Have you decided?”

Skylar shook her head. “I don’t know about you, but I kind of like passing my classes. I don’t think I can do that if I go with you.”

“It’s only for a few days,” Ashley pouted (something she was very good at) and sighed. “I have just been informed of something that might change your mind.”

This seemed doubtful, in Skylar’s mind, but she turned to give her friend her full attention. “What’s that?”

“Ian Thorpe is going to be there.”

This statement, said in hushed tones, didn’t exactly get the response Ashley was expecting; she was expecting a loud gasp and a proclamation of “Of COURSE I’m going, how could I have been so silly!” but all she got was Reece raising an eyebrow and Skylar going back to her highlighter.

“You heard me, right?” Ashley asked, looking at Reece and then back again.

“Ian Thorpe is a great swimmer,” Reece said, then went back to her Calculus.

Ashley blinked several times. “Please tell me, Skylar, that you haven’t forgotten our pact.”

“Pact?” Skylar repeated, looking curious. “No, I don’t recall a pact.”

Exasperated, Ashley pushed her hair off her shoulders and looked intently at her friend. “Several years ago, when we went to the Skylar Olympics to see Aaron, the one person we didn’t get to meet that we really wanted to was Ian Thorpe. Since that day we have always said should an opportunity arise in which we could meet him, we would grab it. No matter what.”

Skylar vaguely remembered Ashley being infatuated beyond belief with Ian Thorpe, and she also remembered making the pact. It had been, after all, complete with a handshake.

Ashley could tell that Skylar was contemplating going, and she decided to go in for the kill. “You can’t go back on a pact, Sky.”

This was true. Pacts, at least to Ashley and Skylar, were sacred. Which is probably why an hour later Skylar was walking around her room in a trance trying to psyche herself up to agree to go. You wouldn’t think going to a swimming event for a couple days would carry such weight. But it did for her.

*

She answered the ringing phone robotically. “Hello?”

“Is Skylar there?”

The voice she didn’t recognize, but for some reason she felt a pang in the middle of her chest and she sunk onto her bed, unaware of why. “This is Skylar,” she managed, inhaling sharply, as if she couldn’t get enough breath.

“Skylar! Hey! It’s Aaron.”

She sputtered, twisting the phone cord around her finger and contemplating whether or not it would be too obvious if she slammed the phone down without another word. She decided it would be rude, and if anything, Skylar was not rude, so she drudged up some courage and pushed through.

“Hey, Aaron.”

“Don’t sound so enthusiastic,” he joked, as laughter came down the line and Skylar felt herself relax.

“Sorry. I---” She glanced around the room for inspiration. “I’m buried in books; it’s kind of distracting.”

“My sister mentioned something like that.”

“Ah,” Skylar replied, nodding and leaning back against her pillows. “She put you up to this.”

“Actually,” Aaron said, his voice hesitant. “She didn’t.”

“Lying to me must have been one of the rules.”

Aaron laughed again. “Nope. My sister would never, EVER put me up to lying to her best friend in the world.” His voice became serious. “She did call me, and she asked my advice on how to get you to go with her. I didn’t have any, and she was pretty upset. She says she doesn’t want to stalk Ian Thorpe on her own. Whatever that means.” He paused a moment. “Anyway. I was thinking if I called and asked what was stopping you from going with her, maybe I could help figure out a solution.”

Skylar considered this. “I think the only solution would be to move my classes to Indiana.”

“Done.”

“Aaron, I was kidding.”

“So was I.”

She smiled in spite of herself. When he spoke again, his voice was softer than she’d ever heard it.

“I think it’d be really cool if you came. It’d be fun.”

Skylar was biting her bottom lip, trying really hard to say no. It was, ultimately, impossible. “Okay. It is only for a couple of days. I’d only be missing a few classes. I can get Reece to take really good notes.”

“Awesome.” She could tell he meant it, which made her feel odd somehow. “I’ll see you in a couple weeks then.”

“Bye.” She hung up, feeling completely confused as to why she’d changed her mind for Aaron, when she hadn’t for her best friend in the entire world.