Sam

She looked into Sam’s eyes with the same searching expression she used on everyone she met, although behind the calm there was concern, a concern that surfaced rarely.  Out of all the friends she had made at this school, Sam was the one that she loved, and felt a fierce need to protect her and hold her close.  It was not in her nature, this loving demeanor, and she did not even think that there was anyone else in the school that could have commanded it from her.  She was not even sure why Sam was the one to whom she went, who she looked to when not sure how to handle the ignorance that fogged up the hallways. It was sophomore year when she had noticed when her emotions became more focused around Sam’s well being and tried to pull away, fearing complication.  Instead of breaking all ties between them, as she would have done, Sam simply went along with her tide of warmth and goodness and she was pulled with her, in her slipstream. 

The concern for Sam was veiled, and as she spoke she pulled back, knowing the careless look on her face belayed the apathetic, ridiculous, cynical girl she wanted the world to see.   But as she straightened and turned away she placed her hand upon Sam’s thin shoulder, watching the wavy brown ponytail bounce as Sam turned towards the field.  As Sam pulled away into a light jog, she caught up, easily, listening to the breathing of her friend and laughing into her light brown eyes.  To love someone as good as Sam – that was a privilege.