Chapter 1

“Bye mom!” shouted twelve year old Daniel Bickley as he grabbed his backpack and headed for the door.

“Wait Beth! Why are you leaving so soon?” his mother called after him.

“Because the fellows are here and we don’t want to be late!” he yelled. “And I thought I told you not to call me Beth anymore.”

“Yes my little man!” she called. “Have a good first day at school!”

Daniel slammed the screen door behind him and jumped on his bike. He met “the fellows,” Forrest (Bubba) Regal and Pete Hanson, at the end of the driveway.

“Hey guys!” Danny said as he approached them.

“Did your mom just call you ‘Beth’?” Pete asked.

“Umm... well... no. She called me...umm... Ben... yeah that’s right, Ben,” he stuttered trying to get them off his back.

“Why did she call you Ben?” Bubba asked wide-eyed. “Your name is Daniel.”

“It’s a family thing. Hey are we still going to see Maim?” he said trying his best to change the subject.

“Yeah,” Bubba replied. He wasn’t the smartest kid in the world to know that Dan was fibbing. Daniel had had this battle ever since he could remember. If only it wasn’t for his mother.

You see, ever since Mrs. Bickley was little she had loved the book, Little Women. She vowed that one day she would have four cute daughters and name them after the girls in Little Women, Meg, Jo, Beth, and Amy. All went as planned until Mrs. Bickley’s third child was a boy. Mr. Bickley tried to tell her Elizabeth was no name for a boy, but Mrs. Bickley wouldn’t hear of it. So the poor boy was named Elizabeth Daniel Bickley.

Ever since he was born Daniel resented his name. He went by Daniel so he could minimize the teasing. Only his family knew the tragic truth. Not even his best friends, Pete and Bubba, knew. There was one person, however, who knew about his secret, Maimy. Maimy Joy Andrews. Maimy was Daniel’s extra special friend. No, they didn’t like each other like that. They just could confide in each other better. Daniel missed Maimy more than Pete and Bubba knew.

Unfortunately though, as good of friends Dan and Maim were, she was gone. She had drowned last summer right after school had ended. That was the worst summer ever for Dan. They had only known each other for two short years, but Daniel felt as if they knew each other for a lifetime.

The fellows peddled their bikes hard to the cemetery. It was tradition to visit Maimy on their way to school. Even though the boys normally hated girls, this was different. Maimy wasn’t like any other girl. She was as close to a guy as any girl could be without actually being one. She fit right in as one of the boys. Daniel sometimes wished they could switch lives and Maimy could be the third “Little Women,” but that was all lost now. She was gone.

They continued to ride threw the countryside of Virginia. The August air was crisp and cool.

The boys finally reached the cemetery and parked their bikes outside the gate and walked in. They waked through the rows of tombstones. This cemetery wasn’t spooky like most cemetery’s. It was bright, almost cheerful, like Maimy. The guys found Maim’s grave and knelt down.

“Hey Maim!” said Bubba as he put a bouquet of flowers on the tombstone that read, “Maimy Joy Andrews. Beloved daughter and friend.” Daniel almost felt tears coming to his eyes.

She was only eleven, he thought. Why so soon?

“Hey Maim,” Pete echoed in. “How ya been?”

Pete and Bubba continued to talk to the grave as Daniel just stood there. “Aren’t ya gonna say somthin?” Pete asked.

Daniel snapped out of it. “Oh, yeah. Hey Maim.”

“Alright,” Bubba said, “we gotta go, but we’ll be back tomorrow.” The boys got up and walked towards the gate. “What’s the matter Dan? Why ya so quiet?” Bubba asked.

Daniel looked around. “I don’t know. I guess I have a lot on my mind.”

“Another fight with your sisters?” Pete asked.

“No, surprisingly not.” Daniel replied as they all three climbed onto their bikes and headed for school. Dan thought about Maimy the rest of the way there and what school would be like without her this year. It defiantly wouldn’t be the same.