my angel wears kneesocks

When people tell the story of meeting their best friend, I find it erratically amusing that their stories are, telling of how they met in the most ridiculous of situations. Though I just might be biased by my own story.

When I first met Holly, I was sitting in my usual spot in the coffee shop down the street, my nose in my computer, going over cases. I was a police officer and a detective-in-training. I was around seventeen at the time, and my job was to read over cases the chief gave to me. By then I was the youngest person ever to work in the force, so I was very happy when the chief gave me these.

I was waiting for my coffee when a teenage girl, maybe thirteen or fourteen, came over with my coffee, and I couldn't help but stare.

Her hair smokey and choppy, falling to brush her shoulders. Her cheekbones were very highlighted, giving her an older look. Her eyes were bottle-green, very startling. Her face was covered with russet-colored freckles.

She was very attractive but in her own way. She held out my coffee with a shy smile.

" Here you go, Mr. Christopher." she nodded, her hair bobbing rhythmically. I stopped her by gently grabbing her arm.

" How did you know my name....' I looked at her nametag. " Holly?" The name rolled pleasantly off my tongue. She glowed pink as she noticed something behind me.

" Um, sir could you excuse me one moment?" she said, detecting a trace of fear in her voice. She scurried away, and at that precise moment, a group of teenagers walked in, laughing.

I wondered if they had anything to do with her leaving.

"Hey, lady!" One blonde boy barked, at the lady behind the counter. " Is Holly here?"

The lady looked pitifully at the door leading to the staff room.

"No, Anthony. She hasn't come yet." The boys groaned, then left, laughing obnoxiously. once the door slammed, it was as if the whole restaurant sighed in pitiful relief.

Holly came back out just as quickly as she left, and gave me the creamer for my coffee in a small copper saucer. I stopped her again and was intrigued by her fascination with my computer screen.

" Oh, you're a detective?" she asked happily, then blushed. " I'm sorry for being nosy sir, I'll leave..." I pulled open the chair next to me. "No you can stay. Maybe you could help me." She looked to the lady behind the counter for approval. She hid a smile and nodded. She sat down, her face etching into a smile.

" Okay, the case I'm working on." I offered her some of my coffee in a cup. " A man was murdered on Sunday morning, and his wife called the police, who questioned the wife and household staff."

She read aloud the alibis. " The wife was sleeping, the gardener was mowing the lawn, the cook was preparing the food for breakfast, the maid was getting the post, and the butler was helping the man's daughter with folding the laundry."

" Who did it?" I asked, waiting intently on what she'd say.

" Easy, it was the maid," she said confidently. " There's no post on Sunday." My mind whirled. How did she figure it out that quickly?

" You could be a detective too," I nudged her shoulder teasingly. She grinned. " You think so?"

***

a few weeks later...

One day, Holly welcomed me, her kneesocks the same opal-green as her sweater. I noticed a bandaids on her fingers but brushed it off as a kitchen accident.

" What do you have for us today?" She asked impatiently, I fondly ruffled her hair, opening my computer.

" Alright, alright, might want to bring some coffee, this is a big one." She almost ran to the kitchen, making me laugh. The lady I learned, was Holly's aunt, waved at me, me becoming Holly's regular.

I scrolled through my emails and showed one to Holly, who sped back with the coffees. She screamed in delight and bounced up and down, causing startled glances from the people in the cafe.

I had convinced the chief to let me bring Holly to a crime scene, granted she'd stay in the car. She pulled off her apron and quickly changed out of her uniform into a cardigan that matched her eyes, denim shorts, and camo sneakers.

She was in awe of the police car. I drove, her eyes staring everywhere. She was delighted when the radio crackled, causing me to make a detour. I turned on the siren, speeding towards the intersection. It just got very dangerous for Holly.

" Holly, there's an amber alert nearby, so you need to stay in the car if I get to them, m'kay?" I told her sternly, my training kicking in. She bounced in her seat and agreed.

***

As we begin following the directions, Holly pointed to a lone street.

" There! Its a shortcut!" she yelled, and soon, we had begun following the commands of Holly, as she called out directions in the radio mic to everyone else. I spotted the car, a black sedan. I sped, following it as Holly helped me load my gun.

I was somewhat in disbelief. How did she know all these things?

And then she had another idea.

" Do you trust me, Chris?" she asked loudly. I nodded, stupified that she'd ask something like that. We've been friends for around three months now.

As the other police cars gained on us, next to or behind us, she yelled something to the other car I couldn't hear. An exchange was made, and she was holding a huge Febreeze can. She grabbed the radio, and yelled in the mic over the chorus of sirens.

"We need to corner the car to a street without other cars!" the others were so stupefied that a fifteen-year-old was commanding them that they gave in. She grabbed some masking tape from her bag and a zip tie in my compartment. I knew what she was doing. It was risky and dangerous, but I had no other ideas,

" Do you guys have a long Extention cord?" I rummaged with one hand on the wheel to pull to a long blue one. She finished, resulting in a huge Febreze bomb.

She climbed out, sticking her body out of the window.

I drove next to the car, the others circling it until we were on the empty lot. I handed my speaker to her. I could always buy a new one. She threw it at the window, shattering it. We heard cussing and a child screaming, then she threw the bomb, the hissing of it fogging up all the windows momentarily and blinding the driver, who collided against a stop sign.

The police arrested the captor, and Holly ran to the child, who was apparently in shock. The rain seemed to calm her down, and Holly handed the child to an officer, waving at the child, who smiled, her front teeth missing.

When I climbed out, I joined her sitting on the street, the now-empty Febreze can in her hands. I gently grabbed her shoulder. She looked up, and smiled shyly.

"Did I do good?" she asked, her hair fanning her face, so I kneeled down, the rain hitting both of us, but at the moment we were oblivious.

" Holly, you did great." I pulled her up, and we walked back to the chief. We talked, Chief Roberts enchanted by Holly, and nudged me when she was out of earshot.

" She's something isn't she?"

"What do you mean, Chief?" I wasn't understanding.

" I mean, boy, until you were with her today I'd never seen you smile like that." He winked, and walked away, leaving me to my thoughts.

***

I was walking that day to meet up with Holly at a lunch spot she suggested. Then I saw Holly talking with a group of teenagers. The ones she had been avoiding.

As I got closer, she said something, and the boy pushed her roughly, and all of them laughed as she tumbled to the floor, and lay there, not moving. When I ran over there, uniform on and hand on my gun holster, they paled and ran away.

" Holly, what happened?" Her face had a bruise, and her knees were scraped.

"Umm.....I tripped?" she tried. I scowled.

I brought her to her house, the lunch plans on a halt. I cleaned her scrapes, angry that she didn't tell me anything. Once done, she was crying, tears smudging her bottle-green irises like glasses in the rain. We were sitting side-by-side on her porch, the rain falling down.

" I didn't tell you because I didn't want you to worry," she explained, hugging her knees, her kneesocks smudged with dirt.

I felt an emotion I didn't know I had for Holly at that exact moment. It showed when I hugged her to my chest, when she cried, her hands squeezing my elbows, the rain hitting our backs, not caring because it was more important. This one moment, where my best friend was so much more.

Holly was my angel with kneesocks.