My Best Friends
Short Story
Brian, David, and Luke were my best friends.
It seemed like Brian was always talking to girls since kindergarten. He got his first girlfriend in 2nd grade, who he still says he’s in love with. She moved to Ohio in 3rd grade, after they had already broken up. I had a crush on Anna Young in 6th grade, and Brian, David, and Luke all knew. I finally got the guts to ask her to be my girlfriend after 4th period, but in 3rd period I found out she became Brian’s girlfriend during 2nd period. I wasn’t too mad at him. Brian liked girls, David liked Planet of the Apes, Luke liked football, and I liked Brian, David, and Luke.
David watched a lot of movies. He said they were modern legends, whatever that means. He would show Brian and I all of his foreign artsy films, and then ask if we understood them. In 7th grade his dad got him a Super 8mm camera. He would just film all the random things we did, and not try to make stories. He said he was developing his “cinematographer’s eye,” which Brian and I again had no idea what he meant. Brian liked girls, David liked Planet of the Apes, Luke liked football, and I liked Brian, David, and Luke.
Luke hated his television. He said the picture was fuzzier than mine, and he couldn’t see what was going on during games. I couldn’t see the difference. Brian made fun of Luke for talking about football so much but not actually playing it. Luke got a limp in 8th grade from something he never talked about, so that was probably why. His favorite team was the Packers for some reason. Brian liked girls, David liked Planet of the Apes, Luke liked football, and I liked Brian, David, and Luke.
After Brian joined the baseball team he didn’t hangout with us a lot. When we did actually see each other it would be after he got high with his other friends. We would go back to his house and sit in the basement listening to music. Luke, David, and I would leave earlier than we used to. Brian didn’t say bye all the time, but I think that was just because he wasn’t paying attention. Brian liked sitting in his basement, David liked Planet of the Apes, Luke liked football, and I liked Brian, David, and Luke.
When David’s dad left he started watching a lot more movies. He said he wasn’t sad. David started saying that movies made men too manly and that it was inaccurate. He thought Charleton Heston was the guiltiest of feeding into the cliché. I really liked Charleton Heston, and we all used to say that he looked like David’s dad. I can still picture every poster on David’s wall. Brian liked sitting in his basement, David didn’t like Planet of the Apes, Luke liked football, and I liked Brian, David, and Luke.
Luke was always good at predicting who would win football games. I think it’s because he knew all the stats so well. A lot of times, he would save newspaper articles so he could refer back to them. Him and other kids at school would bet on the game that night, and Luke usually won. One semester he made $300. Another semester he lost $200. Brian liked sitting in his basement, David didn’t like Planet of the Apes, Luke liked gambling, and I liked Brian, David, and Luke.
Brian, David, and Luke were my best friends.
more by TYLER CLIFTON
photograph by Danist Soh
