Have you ever stopped to look at the cracks in the sidewalk? There’s so many of them, some bigger than others. Most of the time you don’t even realize you're walking over them, unless it’s bent the concrete. Maybe some people only notice those ones. 

            “Hey, Ben, over here!” I looked up from the ground to see Andrew, a friend of mine, waving at me from across the street. He was wearing a stained red t-shirt and some worn cargo pants. His backpack was still on too, barely, one of the straps was half broken. 

            “Hey, Andy.” I waved back. “Long time no see.” 

            I stood up from the sidewalk, looked both ways, and jogged across the road. Even the road has cracks in it too, it's just harder to see sometimes. Those get paved over more often though. 

            “What’s up?” I asked, putting out my hand.

            “I’ve been… good. Thanks for asking.”

            “It’s been so long since you’ve talked to me, I thought you were mad.” 

            “What? It hasn’t been that long.” Andy was staring at me confused.

            “This is the first time you’ve initiated a conversation in the past month.”

            “No way.”

            “Yes way.”

            “Whatever, it doesn't matter. Why were you just crouched on the sidewalk? You looked like a psychopath.” 

            “I…” I hesitated. “I don’t know.”

            “You don’t know?”

            “Yeah, I don’t know.”

            “Okay, if you say so.” Andy looked at me even more confused. “Anyways, before I forget, I wanted you to have this.” 

            Andrew placed his backpack on the ground and started rummaging through it. 

            “Here you go,” he said, stretching out his hand.

            “Your chess trophy? Why are you giving me this?”

            “I just wanted you to have it.”

            “Andy, I thought this was like your prized possession. You were so happy when you won that tournament.” 

            “Yeah, and now I want you to have it.”

            “I can’t take this from you.”

            “Yeah you can.”

            “No I can’t.”

            “Yeah, you, can.”

            “Are you just going to say that until I take it from you?”

            “Yep.”

            “Alright, fine. I’ll take your trophy.”

            “Thank you.” 

            He stared at me for a bit, his arm still outstretched, but his palms empty. I looked behind me to see if there was something there, but there wasn't.

            “Um, Andy?”

            “Huh, oh, yeah, I’m ok.”

            “So, what have you been up to,” I said, an attempt to start the conversation back up.

            “Nothing much. Just the usual.”

            “Have you lost weight?” I asked, maybe a bit out of the blue. “You're looking a lot thinner than normal. Not to be rude or anything.”

            “Um, maybe. I haven’t really been keeping track of what I’ve been eating.”

            A black truck sped by us, splashing some water on the road up into the air. I’m glad I wasn't standing there. 

            “Well, I’m glad you seem to be doing better,” I said.

            “Thanks. I’ve been planning something big recently.” Andy stared at me, again. It was like his eyes were looking through me, like he was waiting for me to say something.

            “Oh, ok. What have you been working on?”

            Andrew looked like he was about to say something, but changed his mind last second.

            “You know what, never mind. It would ruin the surprise,” said Andy. 

            “If you say so.” I shrugged.

            “Anyways, I should be heading home now, I’m so tired. I haven’t been getting much sleep lately.” He stared at me, again. It was getting kind of creepy. 

            “See you tomorrow then,” I called out as he walked away.

            He didn’t respond to me.