Soh hadn't meant to bring up any sadness in Harper, and she watched his face with a bit of a worried expression. She'd just wanted to know more about her best friend - about who he was before he'd met her, before he'd aged up, before everything that had happened to make him who he was now. But Harper only started to talk, describing an easy baby, a polite and carefree child, a boy who'd grown up too much too fast.
Soh took the bowl, giving it one more stir to make sure the chocolate chips were distributed to her liking, and fired up the stove, listening as she found a griddle to use to cook the pancakes. Jude was her best friend, and she adored him the way he was, so hearing about him being anyone else was difficult for her to parse through.
And she wasn't sure what to say, really; what could she possibly offer to make Harper feel better, to take away the pain that was clear as day on his face? "Thank you for telling me," she said finally, setting the pancake mix aside while the griddle heated. She hesitated. "I know it's not helpful, but I'm glad that things turned out the way they did," she offered. "I wouldn't be here, otherwise." She wouldn't have her best friend, she wouldn't have Harper, she wouldn't have a home away from home. And those were all things that she couldn't imagine her life without. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is that even though it was hard, and even though Jude might have changed, I think he's wonderful the way he is now, and I'm lucky to know you both."
Soh took the bowl, giving it one more stir to make sure the chocolate chips were distributed to her liking, and fired up the stove, listening as she found a griddle to use to cook the pancakes. Jude was her best friend, and she adored him the way he was, so hearing about him being anyone else was difficult for her to parse through.
And she wasn't sure what to say, really; what could she possibly offer to make Harper feel better, to take away the pain that was clear as day on his face? "Thank you for telling me," she said finally, setting the pancake mix aside while the griddle heated. She hesitated. "I know it's not helpful, but I'm glad that things turned out the way they did," she offered. "I wouldn't be here, otherwise." She wouldn't have her best friend, she wouldn't have Harper, she wouldn't have a home away from home. And those were all things that she couldn't imagine her life without. "I guess, what I'm trying to say is that even though it was hard, and even though Jude might have changed, I think he's wonderful the way he is now, and I'm lucky to know you both."
