It was a hot and steamy Saturday morning in the local neighborhood of Sunset Brooklyn. Dan lives on the block with his grandparents and mother. Today he had a few errands to run. As he leaves his house, he could hear all the young children laughing together while running in and out of the fire hydrant. Amongst the noise he remembered his own childhood, playing with friends from school and spending weekends together. Summers used to feel so long and were filled with so many joyful memories. He had one best friend growing up named Carlos. Him and Carlos used to do everything together from playing on the stoop to going away on family vacations. Their moms were friends growing up as well and had hoped for a friendship to grow between their sons. For years the boys had created memories on the block. 

But Dan vowed to himself to never speak to Carlos again because of a falling out they had. Carlos had been spreading false rumors about Dan’s personal problems and about his struggles with school. Carlos was the kind of person that would smile in your face but talk behind your back and it took Dan a while to realize that. It had been almost 5 years since everything happened and for some reason this day, Dan really started to miss his best friend of almost 18 years. Carlos still lived in the same neighborhood as Dan so Dan decided to just pass by his house to see what would happen. While passing by Carlos’s house, Dan saw his mom standing outside. She yelled “Dan! How are you?” With a huge grin on his face, Dan smiled and came up to her stoop. They started catching up and she told Dan that she missed him coming around like he used to. She really wanted Dan and Carlos to become friends again. Carlos mom had mentioned that he wasn’t home at the moment and he wouldn’t be for a few hours. Dan decided to leave and go to the store. While shopping around he heard someone say “Dan?” He looked up and it was Carlos. Feeling a bit awkward and certainly surprised, Dan didn’t know what to say. Carlos said “hey man, I know it’s been some time since we last spoke but I would like to clear the air with you.” Dan said “alright, lets talk.” 

For about an hour or so the guys talked first briefly catching each other up on the new things going on in their lives recently. Dan shared news about becoming an uncle and how he was planning to move out soon. Carlos talked about getting into college and all the goals he had set to start off his career as an architect. Dan wanted to cut to the chase and talk about what really needed to be said but Carlos never seemed to come around to the topic of the fallout, despite having mentioned it at the start of the conversation. He had been telling lies about Dan to the point that some neighbors started to believe that Dan was going to be the next dropout on the block. Looking back at what Carlos had done to him, Dan realized that somethings just can’t be fixed. He knew that he had no wrong doings in the situation and he had gone already 5 years without speaking to Carlos, nothing worse could happen but also nothing will ever really be the same again. With this mindset, Dan decided to end the conversation. “Hey man it was nice bumping into you, I got a few things to do so I’ll see you around.” On his way home Dan got to reminisce a little on the good times they had growing up, but he kept in mind that it’s better to keep things the way they’ve been.

But Dan vowed to himself to never speak to Carlos again because of a falling out they had. Carlos had been spreading false rumors about Dan’s personal problems and about his struggles with school. Carlos was the kind of person that would smile in your face but talk behind your back and it took Dan a while to realize that. It had been almost 5 years since everything happened and for some reason this day, Dan really started to miss his best friend of almost 18 years. Carlos still lived in the same neighborhood as Dan so Dan decided to just pass by his house to see what would happen. While passing by Carlos’s house, Dan saw his mom standing outside. She yelled “Dan! How are you?” With a huge grin on his face, Dan smiled and came up to her stoop. They started catching up and she told Dan that she missed him coming around like he used to. She really wanted Dan and Carlos to become friends again. Carlos mom had mentioned that he wasn’t home at the moment and he wouldn’t be for a few hours. Dan decided to leave and go to the store. While shopping around he heard someone say “Dan?” He looked up and it was Carlos. Feeling a bit awkward and certainly surprised, Dan didn’t know what to say. Carlos said “hey man, I know it’s been some time since we last spoke but I would like to clear the air with you.” Dan said “alright, lets talk.” 

For about an hour or so the guys talked first briefly catching each other up on the new things going on in their lives recently. Dan shared news about becoming an uncle and how he was planning to move out soon. Carlos talked about getting into college and all the goals he had set to start off his career as an architect. Dan wanted to cut to the chase and talk about what really needed to be said but Carlos never seemed to come around to the topic of the fallout, despite having mentioned it at the start of the conversation. He had been telling lies about Dan to the point that some neighbors started to believe that Dan was going to be the next dropout on the block. Looking back at what Carlos had done to him, Dan realized that somethings just can’t be fixed. He knew that he had no wrong doings in the situation and he had gone already 5 years without speaking to Carlos, nothing worse could happen but also nothing will ever really be the same again. With this mindset, Dan decided to end the conversation. “Hey man it was nice bumping into you, I got a few things to do so I’ll see you around.” On his way home Dan got to reminisce a little on the good times they had growing up, but he kept in mind that it’s better to keep things the way they’ve been.