“I got a scholarship!” she said.

“Oh please tell me it is not for your awful artwork. Okay I’ll admit it isn’t terrible, it has risen up to bottom 11%, but that’s not scholarship worthy.”

“Jerk. And no. It is for a volleyball scholarship.”

“Well that’s good. And you are the jerk!”

“Thank you Azimia,” she said.

“...you are welcome Angela,” I said. I reached out my hand to shake hers.

“Oh no, you get a hug,” she said and hugged me. I’m ancient. I’m evil. I’m…enjoying this hug.

“So does this mean I’m out of my contract?” I said.

“Nope! Lifetime friend means lifetime friend!” she laughed. “You can go back now. I’ll call you if I need you, as always. ♪ Thank you for being a friend… ♪ she said.

“NO. NO GOLDEN GIRLS,” I shouted as I warped back to my realm.

The following year, she called me only twice. Once to show me her new dorm room. And the second when she was about to debut on her team. She was nervous and was afraid of letting her mom down. I told her to just aim for the tallest girl’s face and she’ll do fine.

Two years went by without a call.

Then, in the middle of the night, I heard my name.

“What is it child. Why have you summoned me,” I said.

She was crying. She was sitting in the corner and crying.

I looked at her. Her face was bruised. Her lip was bleeding.

“...who did this to you?” I said.

“I…”

“WHO?” I again demanded to know.

Silence for about 15 minutes.

“…can you just sit here and be my friend?” her voice was trembling. “I need a friend. I don’t need anything else right now. Just a friend.”

I sat on the foot of her bed.

She told me she found him cheating on her. And when she confronted him, he hit her twice. And his friends just stood there laughing.

“I know you want to go there and scare them and maybe even hurt them,” she said. “But I didn’t let you do it when Kaitlyn and Meghan bullied me. I’ll talk to the police tomorrow. I just want to feel safe tonight.”

Angela called me once again, this time, when she graduated. We discussed her plans for the future. She said she won’t need me for a while.

The next time, it was her wedding day. She looked radiant.

“I don’t think I’ll need you anymore,” she said.

“A lifetime is a lifetime,” I said.

“Fair enough.”Years went by. I was given longer contracts to deal with. I apologized to the secretary for my behavior and we briefly dated. And by briefly I mean dated for 15 years. In demon years, that’s a blink of an eye.Then, a familiar feeling hit me one night. I was transported back to Angela.She was lying on a hospital bed. Her long blonde hair was now short and white. She had a lot of tubes hooked up to her. Her once youthful face was covered in wrinkles. She lived a lifetime without me.

“Azimia, it looks like your contract will soon be over,” she said and gave out a small laugh, followed by a cough.

“Hrmph,” I said. I looked at her chart. Stage 4 cancer.

“Oh, don’t look at that. My time is up. I’ve lived a great life. I have a wonderful husband. Three children. Seven grandchildren. And a lifetime friend,” she said. “Thank you.”

I put my hand over my chest and gave her a slight bow.

“Will I see you? You know, down there? Since I sold my soul” she said.

“Excuse me,” I said. “Your contract said a lifetime friend. I’m still alive and you are sitting here dying? That’s not a lifetime friend.”

I took out the contract and a pen. She looked at me confused.“Let’s see, you never asked how I was. You never invited me for dinner. You never complimented my hair style or shoes or anything. That doesn’t sound like you were a friend to me,” I snapped.

“What are you saying?” she said. She looked hurt.

“I’m saying you voided the contract. I’m sorry Angela. Your soul is yours again,” I said and tore up the contract.

She started to cry. She mouthed “thank you” as the monitors started beeping and buzzing.

My bosses weren’t happy with my decision. I caught heat for it for a few months. Then they finally called me into their office. “You want a job? Here’s one I know you’ll enjoy. Since you loved the last one so much,” they said, laughing at me. “Hannah, age 6, she wants a lifetime friend,” they said.

I sighed. I knew this would happen

Hannah called me the next day. I appeared in her room, she held my hand.

“My nana told me about you,” she said. I was confused. She handed me a picture. “That’s her, Nana Angie holding me when I was a baby. She got sick and died. She’s in Heaven now. That’s what mommy told me. Will you be my friend?”