❝i never knew how to, i never could
say goodbye without being hurt.❞
JUL 7,
two months and seven
days after the funeral
THE
next ten days had been punctuated by their laughter, late-night conversations that went on forever, games on their newfound game console, naps in arun's bed, dinners with their parents and a few hangouts with the girls. the next ten days had been punctuated by the desire to stay together forever, to never leave each other. but somewhere in birmingham airport, the eleventh day was coming up, sweeping all the smiles off their faces in a flash and leaving only a few dusty memories in a corner of their minds.
denise and rebecca were waving goodbye to each other, and nisha was standing in front of jude on nervous dancing feet. large suitcases surrounded him, preventing her from standing as close as she would have liked to the boy to greet him one last time before he boarded the plane. surely noticing it and offering her a reassuring smile, he pushed them with one of his hands before inviting his best friend into his arms. vigorous ones surrounded her in a breathtaking comfort and she closed her eyelids to forget herself in his embrace.
her cheek was pressed against the hollow of his neck, just above his collarbone, and she felt him tighten his muscles to hold her closer. as if it was possible, nisha melted all the more against his chest in disconcerting tranquillity. the boy's chin rested loosely against the girl's temple and making a few movements to find the most comfortable position possible, jude consequently caused their two skins to rub against each other. the softness of the girl's epidermis always left the boy confused at the sensation.
letting his left armrest around her neck, the player took the opportunity to drag his right arm towards her waist where a few fingers subtly came to trail just below her ribs. he pushed his other hand further into her fleshy hair and let a few rebellious locks obstruct his vision at the same time. so immersed in the veil of peace that surrounded them, as if nothing could reach them, nisha almost succeeded in forgetting that she would not be able to hug her best friend again for a few months.
even so, a wave of sadness finally came over her and she bit her trembling bottom lip with all her might, hoping that it would be enough to swallow her tears and prevent them from finding a taste in her cheeks. yet, only a few soft words from jude in her ear were just enough for her to feel the abyss on her feet, sensing that the void was near and that she would soon fall into it, irreparably.
'i'm going to miss you so much,' he had whispered with a sincerity that swept from every pore, his warm breath and his nose innocently caressing the top of her ear, like a sudden gust of wind from the feelings that nisha had just caught in her face. flickering her eyes, drops beading under her cloudy lashes, her irises filled with the storm and the thunder that threatened to erupt, nisha couldn't answer.
rubbing his hand frantically against her back to comfort his best friend, who he felt was vulnerable, the boy said, "we'll call each other every day anyway. you have no choice." a tear rolled down her cheek as her lips stopped being stretched, but jude wasn't aware of it; it was already drying against his shirt.
"don't have too much fun without me, please," her voice was unclear, muffled in a lost corner of the boy's neck, and he, who was about to finally let go of the girl, resolved to strengthen his embrace after hearing the bewitching sounds coming out of nisha's fleshy mouth. with a laughing groan, jude brought his arms around his best friend's shoulders to waltz her back and forth on her feet, eliciting a small chuckle from her in the process.
