“Where you go, I go,” he said with a confidence I wasn’t feeling.

“Are you sure?” I asked, a twinge of nervousness swirling in my belly.

He nodded again. “Positive. Now, let’s do this before I chicken out.”

I laughed, and as we started strolling to the shore, the tide surged and rushed over our toes. The emerald water was warm, just like a bathtub.

We held hands for the next hour as we played in the surf. Tiny fish nipped at our toes, causing me to squeal and Jeremy to laugh. As the minutes passed, I completely forgot about my fears and enjoyed my spending time with my new best friend.

Until I saw the fin.

The slippery, gray object bobbed up and down in the water not too far away from us. I screeched and jumped up onto Jeremy’s back as the fear settled in. Even at eight, Jeremy was already a few inches taller than I was, and he had no problem carrying me around. I loved it, even if I wasn’t sure why.

“I think I saw a shark!” I shrieked in his ear, which caused him to wince. Without hesitation, I wrapped my legs around his waist and he ran with me in a piggyback position.

As soon as we were out of the water, he turned us around so we could gaze out at the gulf. Both of us were breathing heavily, and I was elated to be back on the shore. I didn’t mind facing my fears, but a girl could only be so brave, no matter how much she trusted the boy holding her hand.

“Where, Sierra?” he asked, trying to catch his breath.

I shielded my eyes from the sun and pointed in the fin’s direction. Sure enough, it rose again, and I braced my hands on his shoulders, my fingers digging into his warm skin. But he didn’t freak out along with me. Instead, his shoulders started shaking from laughter. I frowned and tilted my head to see his face.

Yep, he was laughing at me.

I slid off his back and placed my hands on my hips. “What’s so funny, mister?”

“I… That’s… Oh my gosh…” he said between fits of giggles. He even had the nerve to double over, clutching his stomach as if it hurt from laughing too hard.

I wrinkled my brow, my irritation growing the longer he carried on.

“Sierra, that’s not a shark. That’s a dolphin!”

My cheeks warmed and probably reddened from blushing. “Oh,” I said. “I knew that.”

When his laughter died down, he smiled at me. “It’s okay, Sierra. Better safe than sorry, ya know?”

I adored how easily he went from laughing at me to trying to make me feel better for having been such a chicken.

“True,” I agreed. “And hey, we just spent a lot of time in the water, too! It was fun, don’t you think?”

“It was fun,” he echoed. “Maybe we can do it again soon.”

“I know you were scared. And I was scared, too, but I’m glad we faced our fears together. Thanks for doing this, Jeremy. I don’t think I could have done it without you here with me,” I admitted.

“I told you. Where you go, I go,” he said.

“Always?” I asked.

He grabbed my hand, squeezing tight. “Always, Sierra. You’re my best friend.”

I squeezed back. “You’ll always be my best friend, Copper,” I told him, thinking of my favorite Disney movie.

He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes at me. “Hey, why do you get to be Tod? I want to be the fox!” he exclaimed, pretending to be offended.

A smile crossed my lips as I studied his features. “Because your hair. And your eyes,” I admitted, hoping I didn’t sound too much like a girl. “It’s the shade of brown. It’s copper, like a penny. So you’re Copper.”

His head remained half-cocked as he mulled it over. I emitted a sigh of relief when he smiled.

“Oh, okay. That makes sense. And, just so you know, you’re mine, too, Tod.”

Warmth seeped into my bones as if the rays of the sun were penetrating my skin and settling in. Except it wasn’t the sun. It was Jeremy.

I spat on my hand and held it out, just like we’d done the day we’d met. “We’ll always be friends forever?”

He didn’t even hesitate. He hawked a big one in his hand and slapped his palm to mine. “Yeah. Forever.”

Neither of us knew it at the time, but it truly was the beginning of a beautiful friendship. A lifelong one.

The foundation of our futures was laid out right there, and we had no clue that the coming years would only strengthen our bond. Little did we know how much we’d come to rely on that strength in our future. We'd need each other more than we'd ever know, and it still it might not be enough. Only time could tell.

1998

NEITHER ONE OF US made an effort to walk inside the expansive brick building before us. Students were milling about, chattering with their friends, even though most of them had spent the summer together on the beach. A buzz of both excitement and discontent filled the air. Excitement of a new school year; discontent for the same reason. Most of us were still in beach mode. Still, nerves attacked my belly. This was finally it.

High school.

Jeremy shoulder-checked me, nearly knocking me off-balance. I gave him a mock scowl, but he laughed as he brushed the messy hair out of his eyes. I reached over and did it for him, my fingers not missing how soft it felt beneath my fingertips. I swallowed hard and tried to forget that thought. Over the summer, I’d started noticing Jeremy in a different light, and I wasn’t sure how I felt about it. He’d gone through a growth spurt and decided he wanted to make the football team, so he’d trained hard. In just a few months’ time, he had gone from my tall, lanky, goofy best friend to a taller, muscular, hot guy.

Hot.

I’d actually referred to Jeremy Banks as hot. The guy with whom I’d made many a spit pacts and spent hours pretending we were characters from The Mighty Ducks. I wasn’t sure how to process the way he’d begun giving me butterflies. The way I studied his features and wondered how his lips would feel pressed against mine. Would I be able to tell that his lower lip was much fuller than the top one, or would it even matter? Would his eyes light up as we kissed, or would he close them, savoring the taste of me? Would his large hands fist my hair with passion, or would he hold my hips firmly in place?

He snapped his finger in front of my face, breaking my trance. My cheeks heated as I hoped he hadn’t caught me ogling him. That’s just what I needed—him reading my thoughts and running screaming in the opposite direction. When my eyes reached his, he was watching me with concern.

“You ready for this, Tod?” he asked, not acting the least bit weirded out. It was more like he was worried I wasn’t ready.

That was Jeremy. So freaking sweet.

I let out a sigh of relief even though I was still reeling from the visions I’d had of Jeremy kissing me. Like that’d ever happen.

“Tod? Hello?” he repeated, eliciting a sheepish grin from me.

Get it together, Sierra.

A comfortable wave of contentment poured out of Jeremy and flowed over me. For a moment, I was transported back six years to the first day of third grade. It had been my first time ever in a new school, and I’d been so nervous. Jeremy had held my hand (not literally—GROSS. Or, at least, it would’ve been at the time) every step of the way, putting me at ease. And, now, he was doing the same thing, even if he didn’t realize it. I peeked back up at him and found his copper eyes dancing playfully yet still watching me with traces of concern.

“I think so,” I told him as I tucked a strand of hair behind my ear, feeling a little self-conscious because of the older girls coming from the student parking lot. I waited for Jeremy’s eyes to roam as he checked them out, but they never left mine. “I’m just really glad our schedules match.”