𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫,𝐲𝐨𝐮//𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞

𝓢𝓪𝓿𝓮 𝓶𝓮

I arrived at Robin's house. After three years, all the thoughts came back to me again. It kind of turned my stomach.

I took a slow breath and knocked on the door. After a few seconds, someone finally opened the door for me.

"Nancy? Oh my god, you've grown up; come on in."

"Good evening, Mrs. Buckley."

Robin probably never told her about the day we stopped talking. I'm not even surprised. It was the worst day of my life.

"Robin! Nancy's here!" her mom yelled, and I just watched as Robin ran out of the room in a t-shirt and shorts.

Their house was not big, had no stairs, and had two floors. Her parents had some financial problems. Still, they were nice people, at least as far as I can remember.

"Oh my god, Robin, you could have dressed a little nicer," her mom said, running into the kitchen.

"Nance, I didn't think you would actually come," she said, ignoring her mother. I caught a soft smile on her face.

"We have a project, right? Emily Dickinson?"

Robin nodded, still looking into my eyes. I wanted to stop it, but I couldn't.

"Have you had your dinner, honey? Aren't you hungry?" Robin's mom interrupted, and I was grateful for that.

"I will, please, if possible," I said. She took her bag off her shoulder and sat on a chair.

"I'll take your bag to my room," she said.
Robin, as she has already disappeared with my bag.

"Richard!" Mrs. Buckley shouted at her husband.

We all sit together at a small square table.
I was led by Mrs. Buckley; Robin sat across from me and was led by her father.

"Nancy, why did you stop visiting us? You and Robin were such good friends."
I was waiting for this question. Well, I didn't have time to prepare for an answer.

Robin avoided the question as well. Her eyes were fixed on the plate, even though she had almost nothing on it. I know the answer to that question hurts her too.

"Robin and I started to have different interests and hobbies" came out of me after a few seconds of silence.

Robin's mother nodded, and it was quiet again.

"Okay, mom, thanks for the dinner; let's go now."

"That was great, Mrs. Buckley; thank you.

"Anytime Nancy"

When I entered Robin's room, I had to smile. Nothing has changed here since then. Her room was not big. But it was full of little things that immediately made everything shine. Posters were torn from magazines. Bubble gum stickers were pasted on the mirror. Colors and furniture that didn't match at all, but at the same time, it looked like something from a catalog.

"Nostalgia," I said, still looking around.

"Yeah, I thought about repainting it here, but I'm sorry for the drawn walls I painted when I was four."

She made me laugh again; it was a bad start.

"Okay, so where do we start?" I asked to quickly start some kind of consultation.

"After the library, I stopped at the stationery store and got this huge piece of paper; it was quite expensive, so we have only one try," Robin said, pulling out a large rectangular drawing.

"Okay, cool, let's start with the inscription; for example, do you write well?"

"You know very well that I don't."