"Are you free this weekend?" Dan texted me.

It struck me how odd this question was. None of us would like to say that we are free, that we have no value. And yet, how many of us pause to think that by saying yes to the above question, we are basically saying, "Yes, use me!!! After all, I was created for your entertainment, your enjoyment, your timepass. I'm like disposable plastic, use once and then throw away."?

I picked up the phone and typed, "Yes, I am free".

I wasn't normally such a pessimist. But Dan texting me could only mean one thing, he was alone. Again. And it was all probably his fault, the same way it had been his fault that day when he had yelled at me. He had pushed me away. And now, since he was alone, he wanted me back.

I couldn't believe I was actually giving in to him. But the truth was, I would always do it. Always.

Dan was standing in the driveway. He wore a simple gray shirt, acid wash jeans, and a black hoodie. His dark, intense eyes seemed hollow. 
"Hi" he said.

"Hi" I said.

He fiddled for a moment with the Rolex watch strapped to his wrist, then looked up.

"You wanna go grab lunch together?" He said, almost nervously.

"Sure" I said. 
"How about the new pizza place down the corner?" He asked.
I didn't have the faintest idea which place this was, but I nodded anyway.

"Okay" I said.

A few minutes later, we were sitting opposite each other at a side table. I twiddled my fingers in my lap as Dan flipped through the menu.

"What do you want?" He asked.

What did I want? There were so many answers to that one question. I wanted him to stop this nonsense already. I wanted him to say that he regretted shouting at me. I wanted everything to be just like old times, when I could be myself with Dan and Anna. When I believed nothing could ever separate the three of us.

"I would like a chicken pizza with extra spicy cheese toppings, plus a chocolate milkshake." I answered.
"Really?" He asked, raising an eyebrow. "You used to not like spicy stuff."

I didn't reply. The truth was, he had caught me off guard. I hadn't even thought he would remember that.

A couple of minutes later, our orders arrived. We didn't talk much as we ate. There wasn't much to talk. The awkward tension that hung between us was an excellent silencer. Nobody looking at us would have believed that we were people who had known each since they were 5 years old. 
When we were done, I stood up.

" Well, I suppose I should get going." I said. 
"Yup, me too." Dan replied.

He stood up too. We both walked out together. He adjusted the watch on his wrist again.

Dan cleared his throat. " I need to tell you something."

"Yeah?" I said.

"Anna died a week ago. The lung cancer she had finally took her life."

Something inside me collapsed. The last bits of restraint around me vanished. Images flashed in my mind. Anna, Dan and me riding the Ferris wheel in the Annual Fair. Anna making friendship bracelets for the two of us. The friendship bracelets she had insisted we wear, as a mark of everlasting friendship. But then, few things are everlasting. Anna wasn't.

I slipped my hand out of my pocket, the friendship bracelet still on it.  Because, a promise is everlasting.

Dan slipped his hand out too. It was only then I noticed the alternate red and yellow beads glinting in the afternoon sunlight. A friendship bracelet. 
Shock coursed through me like nothing else.

"You still wear it?" I asked, my voice quivering as it had never done before.

His eyes swam with tears, tears precariously balanced on the delicate edges of his eyelids.

"I never took it off."