Occupant

Studying together became our pretext for spending time together outside of class. While other students participated in clubs, we hung out in the cafeteria and reviewed our subjects together. Before we even started calling each other friends aloud, we had told each other of our intentions to graduate high school one year earlier than what was customary back then in Ontario. It seemed that during our time apart, we had come to the same conclusion: four years of high school was more than plenty. Our province’s educational policy was slow to update, but we were fast on our feet. United by our common desire to grow up and go into the real world, we became closer. We were soon spending every school day joined at the hip, and in time began meeting during the weekend — ostensibly to study, but really to chat and occasionally find excuses to touch each other’s hands. She once gave me a palm reading, and marveled at the difference in the lengths of our fingers.