They had met in third grade after Ethan accidentally knocked over her science project. She had spent weeks growing bean sprouts in a plastic cup, and he had knocked the entire thing off a desk while trying to catch a football someone had thrown across the classroom.
He had apologized so many times that Lily finally told him to stop before she started charging him for every apology.
They had been inseparable ever since.
They traded snacks, argued over video games, and competed to see who could get the worst score on a spelling test without actually failing.
One summer, they tried to build a treehouse with cardboard, rope, and a collection of wooden boards Ethan had found in our garage.
The result lasted approximately twenty minutes before collapsing into a pile of splinters.
Lily blamed Ethan.
Ethan blamed gravity.
They spent the rest of the afternoon arguing about which of them had the better explanation.
