One day, Addison glided in, wearing a teal dress and holding a book.
He thought she would walk right by him, maybe to return something or ask Mrs. Fletcher for a recommendation based off of the book she was holding.
Instead, she stopped at his table.
“Hi, Kirk. I’m Addison Varick.”
“I know,” he said quietly, peering over his book.
Addison pulled out a chair. “Can I read with you?”
Kirk blushed and nodded. She sat down with a bright smile, opened a thick volume, and started reading.
Anne of Green Gables.
She smiled in wonder as she flipped the pages, her mouth agape in parts, or covering her mouth in surprise. Addison made reading look like an adventure.
He asked his mom to drive him to Barnes & Noble the next day and was so embarrassed, he made his mom buy it. He read it under the covers and shoved it between his mattresses so Bailey wouldn’t make fun of him for reading a girl book.
Kirk still had his tattered copy in storage, along with all the other books he read because Addison read them.
From that day on, Addison read with him every lunch. At first, they didn’t say anything; they just read.
Slowly, they started talking. Then, she invited him to his first-ever birthday party. He gave her his favorite book, The Martian Chronicles by Ray Bradbury, as a present. When she opened it, her eyes softened and she held it to her chest like a treasure.
“It’s your favorite,” she whispered, and his heart glowed. Kirk liked to think she liked his present the best.
By being friends when her, he grew more comfortable talking to people, even trying theater and loving it, although he froze on stage. When he found his group of friends in high school, Addison stayed the best one. It was because of her quiet support that he found friends in New York, how he had the nerve to approach Kathryn when they shared a class at NYU.
Addison was the catalyst for everything good that had happened in his life.
Everyone always questioned him on why he never tried dating Addison.
The answer to him was always clear—he couldn’t lose her.
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