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distinctly not giving him that kind of attention, Craig felt more alone than if he had actually been by himself.
    Not wanting to ruin what promised to be a good dinner, Craig pushed his thoughts from his mind once again, a skill he had become disturbingly good at over the past couple years. By the time they reached the restaurant, he had successfully shed his sour mood, ready to listen to Robert discuss his day.

    14

    D.H. Starr

    Meant For Each Other

Chapter Two
    Jeremy walked back to his classroom after the last of his second grade students had been picked up by their parents. The classroom was clean, due to his desire to instill a sense of responsibility in his students to pick up after themselves. Far too many kids believed some magic clean-up fairy materialized when they weren’t around and picked up after them. Jeremy was not playing into that fantasy.
    He sat down at his desk and began leafing through the pile of stories his students had written about a memorable experience with their families. Story structure was an important aspect of second grade writing and Jeremy was pleased many of the students were beginning to get the hang of it.
    He was looking for a clear beginning, middle, and ending and also wanted to ensure the children remained on-topic. The first few papers focused on topics typical of seven-year-old children. Neil had written about the Yankees game his father took him to see. Clarissa’s was about the time she went to the beauty salon with her mother and got her nails done. Joey wrote about the ski trip his family had taken during winter break.
    The topic of Seth’s paper caught Jeremy’s attention and he read the story all the way through, taking his time, ignoring the spelling errors.
    Two yeers ago, my mommy and daddy told me they were getting a davors.
    Jeremy was immediately intrigued. He knew what divorce was like. His parents had divorced shortly after they moved from Massachusetts to Arizona. His father had only gone with them out of obligation. Never adjusting to a new life and new location, his parents had decided to split a year later.
    My mommy and daddy told me to sit down because they had something inportan to tell me.
    They both lookd seerius.
    Jeremy thought about Seth. He was a quiet kid who rarely raised his hand in class.
    He had plenty of friends in class, but he seemed a bit older than the other kids. An old soul was the phrase his mom would have used.
    Jeremy could relate. He had become much more serious once they moved to Arizona. Losing his best friend, the one person he truly loved with all his heart, had taken a piece of his innocence from him. He had to acknowledge the world wasn’t perfect and fair. Sometimes bad things did happen. Then, when his parents had announced they were getting a divorce, he had become even more jaded. What ever happened to the dreams Craig and I had shared? They had evaporated the second his parents decided to move.
    That wasn’t entirely true. He had allowed their friendship to slip. Calling once a week had been hard, but when he started calling twice a month and then once a month, the distance between them grew. Calling less frequently, had backfired. He had hoped 15

    D.H. Starr

    Meant For Each Other
    Craig would call him more frequently. Instead, their conversations became more distant and strained.
    Jeremy shook his head as he always did when he allowed his thoughts to return to Craig. He continued reading Seth’s paper.
    Mommy told me that when mommys and daddys fall in luv, they get mareed. But somtims they don love eech othr anymore.
    The depth of Seth’s story pleased Jeremy.
    Daddy said even tho he and mommy didnt luv eech other, they stil love me. I seed both of them was crying.
    Jeremy couldn’t imagine what it must have been like for such a young child to have to cope with his parents’ getting a divorce. He’d had a hard enough time coping when he was sixteen.
    I got up and gav my mommy and my daddy a hug. They were sad.