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Link was sitting on his bed, anxiously awaiting a knock on the front door. His arms were wrapped tightly around his middle, as if he thought his insides might just plop right out onto the brown shag carpet if he didn't hold his ribs in place. He wasn't sure why he was so nervous. Rhett had slept over before, just a few weeks earlier. That first time, all Link felt was excitement at having a friend. Link had gone to Buies Creek Elementary all of Kindergarten, and had been in first grade for a few weeks already, but hadn't made any real friends, so that was his first sleepover. He and Rhett had fun that night, eating too may oatmeal cream pies and drinking too many Cokes, staying up too late giggling and telling jokes. He and the much taller blonde boy played together at recess almost every day after that, and Link really thought they'd become good friends- He'd go so far as to say that Rhett was his BEST friend.
But, Rhett had spent the night at a couple of other boys' houses after his sleepover with Link, so the small brunette didn't really think he was Rhett's best friend. He realized that most of the other boys in the class could run faster, were better at kickball, and were taller than Link, and he was sure Rhett had noticed, too. He couldn't think of any reason why Rhett would pick him as a best friend when there were so many other kids who were just... better.
This second sleepover seemed like a lot more pressure than the initial one. For some reason, Rhett had asked if he could stay over again this weekend, instead of pushing his sleepover agenda on some other kid whose fridge he hadn't scoped out yet. What if he realized, now that he'd stayed at the other houses, that Link's house wasn't as fun. Maybe the other kids' rooms were bigger, maybe they had better snacks, maybe their moms made better supper, maybe they thought up better games than Link could. Maybe he'd realize that Link wasn't as funny as Rhett'd remembered.
Link's mom, Sue, appeared in Link's doorway, and when she saw Link, she walked over, sat down on the bed, and put her arms around him. He released himself and returned the embrace. "What's wrong, Little Link? Aren't you excited that your friend is coming over? Y'all are gonna have so much fun."
"Yes, Mama. I'm excited," Link replied quietly, face buried in her shoulder, because he knew that's what she wanted him to say. He wasn't excited. He felt sick to his stomach.
"That's a good boy," Sue said, letting go of Link and standing up, running her hand through his dark hair. "He ain't gonna be here for another twenty minutes. Why don't you help Mama set up a pallet on the floor for Rhett while you wait?"
"Okay, Mama," he said, getting up off the bed.
After they'd set up the blankets and pillows next to Link's bed, where Rhett would sleep, Sue left the room to go start dinner; pork chops and garden peas, the meal she always made when they had guests. Left on his own, Link laid down on his bed, curled his knees to his chest and closed his eyes, secretly hoping the phone would ring and it'd be Rhett's mama saying she wasn't bringing him. That way Rhett wouldn't have the chance to realize he didn't like staying the night at Link's.
After a few minutes, Link heard the doorbell, followed by his mama's voice. "Well, hello there, Rhett. Nice to see ya' again. Link's in his room. You go on 'head in there and put your stuff down. He can't wait to see ya'!" Link's belly did a flip-flop when he heard footsteps bounding across the house, as his mom started talking to Rhett's parents.
"Hi, Link! Are ya' sleepin' already?" he heard Rhett's voice ask with a giggle, and when he opened his eyes, he saw knobby knees attached to bare stick-skinny legs.
Still wrapped into a ball, he looked up, way way up until his eyes met Rhett's grinning face.
Link couldn't help but give a small smile back, the pressure on his chest lifting slightly as he sat up on his bed and pretzeled his legs. "I wasn't sleepin'. I was just bored waitin' for ya', 'cause you took forever to get here."
"I know, man. I've been beggin' Mama to bring me since I got home from school, but she made me wait 'til Daddy got home," Rhett said, a frustrated look on his face.
"R-really? You were beggin' to come over?" Link asked, a giant, toothy smile now plastered between his chubby pink cheeks.
"Yeah!" Rhett said, then he dropped his voice to a low whisper, "I couldn't wait to show ya' this. Mama said I couldn't bring it, but I snuck it into my pocket right before we left," he said, throwing his Georgia Bulldogs duffle bag onto the floor. He reached into his red shorts and pulled something out.
"What's that?" Link asked, starting at the flat pink piece of rubber Rhett revealed. "A big balloon?"
"It's a whoopie cushion, Link! You blow it up, and when you sit on it, it makes fart noises!"
Both boys fell into a laughing fit, hoping that their parents wouldn't come to investigate the outburst. They didn't.
The boys heard the door close as Rhett's parents, Jim and Diane, left a few minutes later. They both giggled as Rhett stuffed the whoopie cushion under Link's pillow upon hearing Sue approaching Link's room.
"What's so funny, you two?" Sue asked with a smile. Then, when she got no response other than red cheeks and laughs muffled by little hands covering their mouths, "Nevermind. I'm sure I don't even want to know what kinda trouble you boys have already gotten yourselves into. Dinner is in ten minutes. Make sure your hands and faces are washed before you come to the table."
"Yes, ma'am," the boys said in unison, trying to stifle their giggles.
Sue walked away shaking her head, a smile on her lips and her heart full to bursting that her shy baby boy had finally found a friend.
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When Sue came into Link's room to tell the boys it was lights out, she didn't immediately see them, but she followed the sound of laughter to discover Link's blanket draped between his bed and his desk chair, and saw them sitting next to each other underneath it, working together to draw a picture.
They didn't see her come in, they were so engrossed in their work, so she just watched for a minute or two. Link was usually so timid. Even with other kids, he rarely spoke up or shared his thoughts, afraid of being in the way or being rejected. Yet, here he was, sitting knee to pajama-clad knee with Rhett, laughing, instructing Rhett on how he wanted the picture drawn, leaning across his friend to grab a colored pencil, his whole face alight with joy. Sue nearly burst into tears at the image before her. She'd never seen her little boy look so unabashedly free and happy. She didn't know what it was about this tall, gangly blonde boy that brought this out in her Link, but she sure was glad for it.
"Okay, kiddos. Bedtime," she said once she'd sufficiently swallowed the lump in her throat.
"Aw, man, Mama. We ain't done drawin' yet. Just a little longer?"
"I'm glad you're havin' fun, and that picture you're colorin' is real pretty, but I already let you stay up an hour past bedtime. Rhett ain't leavin' until the afternoon tomorrow, so y'all can finish up your drawin' after breakfast."
"Yes ma'am," Rhett said, quickly starting to gather up the papers and pencils and putting them on Link's desk. Link slowly, reluctantly, followed suit.
Once the boys had cleaned up and were tucked in, Sue turned to shut off the bedroom light. "Link, do you want me to leave the hallway light on so it ain't so dark?"
Link looked at his mama, then down at Rhett, then back at Sue. She could see his eyebrows furrow, as he took a shaky breath. "No, mama. I ain't-a baby. I don't need no light on."
Rhett glanced up at his smaller friend, then looked at Sue. "If it's okay with you and Link, could you leave the light on? Just in case I wake up and forget where I'm at."
Link's blue eyes lit up. "Okay, mama. Leave it on if it'll make Rhett feel better."
Sue left the door open a bit. "The light is gonna shine right on ya' there on the floor, Rhett. Is that gonna keep you awake?"
"No, ma'am. It don't bother me."
"Okay, boys. Goodnight. Don't stay up too late talkin'," she said with a smile as she walked out of the room, knowing that was exactly what they were going to do.
Once she was gone, Rhett sat up and looked at Link. "It's okay to be a little scared. I'm scared'a lotsa things."
Link's blue eyes got wide. "Really? You get scared?"
"Sure I do," the older boy said with a shrug.
Link was scared of most things, if he was honest, so knowing that his older, taller friend was also scared sometimes made him feel a lot better.
The boys stayed up talking and joking for a while, but eventually, Link fell asleep, and Rhett wasn't too far behind.
Some time later, Link was awakened by a noise coming from beside his bed. He sat up, and to his horror, Rhett was upright, hallway light illuminating him perfectly, a bloody hand covering the bottom of his face, tears rolling down his cheeks, and the pillow to his side stained red.
One of the many things that terrified Link was blood, and this was the scariest thing he'd ever seen. "Mama Mama MamaMamaMamaMama Mama!" he started shrieking, scooting back on his bed until he hit the wall, in an effort to get as far away as he could from the scene unfolding in front of him.
"Link. Shhh. It's okay... Just a nosebleed. I'm okay. I ain't hurt," Rhett said, wiping his eyes with his clean hand.
Sue came running into the room, flipping on the overhead light. "Oh, my gosh, baby! What happened?!" She said in alarm, dropping to her knees next Rhett.
"I just... I just get nosebleeds a lot. It's okay. I think it's almost stopped now. But... um... umm..." he said, then burst into a fresh batch of tears. "I wet the bed," he sobbed. "I'm so sorry, I ruined your pillows and blankets. I'll call my mama to come get me. I'm so sorry Miss Sue," he babbled, chest heaving.
"Oh, honey. Don't fret. You didn't ruin nothin'. That'll all come right out in the washin' machine. No need to be sorry. Let's get you cleaned up and into some dry clothes, sugar."
"I... only brought jeans and a t-shirt. I ain't got no more pajamas."
"Link's got some stuff he hasn't quite grown into yet. I'm sure we can find you something, sweetie. Link doesn't mind. Do you, honey?" she asked, glancing at Link, who was still scrunched up in the corner, a look of terror on his face.
Link shook his head no.
"Everything's okay, Little Link. Rhett's gonna be okay. Don't worry."
Link just nodded, still not able to speak, a sick feeling in his stomach, his head spinning a bit.
"Go into the bathroom, Rhett, and start washing your face and hands. I'll bring you somethin' to wear."
"Okay," Rhett said, standing up, glancing at Link for a moment, then dropping his head, embarrassed, as he shuffled out of the room toward the bathroom.
Sue sat on the bed next to the little boy. "Baby. Are you alright? I know that was really scary," she said, reaching out and pulling him into an embrace, kissing the top of his head.
"I'm... I'm okay. Are you mad at him for messin' up the bed?"
"No, baby. I'm not mad. Poor baby says he gets nosebleeds all the time."
"Yeah, but he pee-peed the bed. Are you gonna call his mama and make him go home?"
"No! Of course not! He's welcome to stay unless he really wants to go home. It wasn't his fault. Accidents happen. But, I think he may be feelin' a little bad when he comes back in, so make sure you're nice to him and let him know that he didn't do nothin' to be upset about. Can you do that for me, Link?"
"Yeah, Mama. He didn't do nothin' wrong."
"Now let me find something for him to wear, and see if I can dig up some more pillows and blankets so he can have a clean place to sleep."
"He can share my bed, Mama. I got plenty of room."
"Aww, that's sweet of you, baby boy. We'll see if that's okay with him."
Sue found Link's too-big pajamas in the back of his closet, gathered up the bedding on the floor, and left to help Rhett get cleaned up.
Link sat on his bed, taking deep breaths, trying to quell the lingering sick, dizzy feeling left over from seeing his friend covered in blood.
A few minutes later, Rhett came back into Link's room, head still down, not meeting Link's eye. Link's pajamas fit him around the waist, but the sleeves and legs were way too short. Link thought it was funny, but he didn't laugh. His mama said Rhett was feelin' bad, and he didn't want to make him feel worse.
Sue was right behind him. "Rhett says he wants to stay, Link. That's wonderful, don't you think?"
"Yeah! That's awesome, Rhett! We still gotta finish our picture tomorrow!"
"Rhett also said he don't mind sleepin' in your bed, as long as that's okay with you."
"Of course it's okay! My bed's plenty big enough for us both!"
Rhett finally looked up at Link and grinned. Then he ran over and hopped into the bed. Link scooted back to give him room, and both boys settled in under the covers. '
"Goodnight, boys," Sue said, shutting off the light, leaving the door ajar.
They laid next to each other in silence for a couple of minutes, Rhett laying on his back, Link on his side, back against the wall, facing Rhett.
"I'm sorry I scared ya'."
"I really hate blood. It makes me feel sick."
"I'm glad it don't make me sick. I wake up with nosebleeds all the time."
"Sounds awful," Link said, voice shaking a bit.
"It can be a lotta blood, but it don't hurt or nothin'."
"Oh. Well, I'm glad you ain't hurt."
Then Rhett rolled over toward Link. "Um, Link? Can I ask you something?"
"Sure. What?"
"Do... do you ever wet the bed?"
"Uh-uh. No, I don't. But, it's okay that you did, Rhett. Accidents happen."
"You don't think I'm a baby?"
"No way! No baby's as tall as you!" Link said with a giggle.
Rhett giggled back, then got serious again. "Are... are you gonna tell everyone at school?"
"No. I won't. I promise."
Rhett was silent for a long time. Link was starting to fall asleep when Rhett spoke up. "Thanks, Link," he said, scooting closer to the smaller boy until their knees were touching. "You're my best friend."