Till The End

Chapter 1.

Aelia

Sitting here on the couch, watching Friends for the umpteenth time, I try to forget what happened earlier at home. Emelia, or Mia, as we call her, my best friend since as long as I can remember, comes back with the biggest ice cream pot she could find from her fridge and two spoons. She snuggles close to me, wraps her arm around my shoulders, and we eat our favorite ice cream, only breaking the silence to laugh at Joey and Chandler's jokes. Mia does not ask me about what happened earlier; she knows that I will open up to her as soon as I feel ready. This is why I love her. She has always been by my side, we always take care of each other. She is the sister I never had, and no one knows me better than she does.

I remember the day I first met Mia. We were both four at the time, she is only three months older than me. It was our first day at preschool. I was sitting alone on a bench watching everyone play together when Mia came and sat next to me without saying a word. Every other kid gave up trying to talk to me after a few days of school, but she never did. She sat with me at every lunch time, talked to me even if I gave no answer, and tried to include me in everything she did until I finally felt comfortable enough with her to start talking to her. She has been my best friend since then. We have always been in the same class, until high school. Even though in high school we did not choose the same subjects, we still spend most of our time together. Mia is the opposite of me. Some people say that our friendship is weird because we are too different, but in my opinion, there could not be a better pair. She likes to say that we are the yin and the yang, completely opposite but also complementary. I have always had difficulty communicating with others. It's difficult to make friends when you are not good at small talk or even talking at all, so I didn't have many friends growing up. It did get better the older I got, but I still freeze sometimes, so I prefer to avoid finding myself alone with someone. I also do my best to avoid gatherings, so I don't go to a lot of parties like my mother wants me to. On the other hand, Mia is the life of the party. She fits in every group, she loves going out and partying. She always makes everyone feel comfortable and gets along with everyone so easily. Everyone likes her, and they are right to do so; she is the kindest and most loving person I know.

We finished our second ice cream pot and were about to start digging into our favorite chocolate cake from Cupsie's that got delivered a few minutes ago when the front door opens and lets in the howling laughter of two people, probably laughing at a lame joke again. They have a questionable sense of humor.

"Hey girls, what's up?" Dylan's voice fills the living room as he walks in.

"Hi!" Mia and I say in unison. Dylan is Mia's next-door neighbor. He is one of the sweetest guys I know. He is also one of the few people I can have a normal conversation with, and I know I can trust him. I have known him for over ten years now; I met him at Mia's seventh birthday party. We did not talk much back then, but as we grew up and I started spending more time at Mia's place, we became closer. Dylan is three years older than us. He may be a pain in the ass sometimes, but he also always takes care of us, kind of like a big brother. Being a 6'3' wall of muscles, he may look intimidating to strangers, but in reality he is just a big teddy bear, always making people around him laugh, usually at how bad his jokes are rather than the joke itself, but still... He is also a genius, though he would rather cut off his right arm than admit it.

"Hey," Jake says, passing us without even a glance to go straight to his room. Mia's elder brother, Jake, is Dylan's best friend. He is a few inches taller than Dylan, with the body of a Greek god, thanks to the long hours they spend running and training. I hate the way his face is perfectly symmetrical. It's like they took their time to make each trait perfect. He looks disgustingly handsome, but I will never admit this out loud. He already has an ego as big as the moon thanks to all these girls drooling over him, he does not need me to add more to it. Jake and Dylan are both very good-looking men and may have some physical similarities even though they are not related at all, but they have completely different personalities. Jake does not just look intimidating; he is intimidating. He is also the grumpiest person I know, always frowning and scaring the poor people who dare to look him in the eyes. He doesn't talk much either—thank God, because most of the stuff that comes out of his mouth is so stupid it hurts. The only time he smiles is on the few occasions he has to work as a waiter or cashier at Pop's Restaurant, but these are fake smiles for the sole purpose of pleasing customers and being professional. Officially, he is a cook—he makes the best food ever, but I will also never admit this out loud—however, as he has been working there for pretty much his whole life, he masters every job available there. He only shows his real smile once in a blue moon. Even though we have known each other for almost as long as I've known Mia, we are not close. In fact, I don't think we are even friends. He doesn't like me. I still don't know why. Not that I like him either. While Dylan treats me like his little sister, Jake always makes sure that everyone knows that we are not related at all. One day, he almost kicked a friend of his for introducing me as his sister. I would lie if I said that I was not offended by the way he was repulsed by the idea of people thinking we were related. I will never say it though; I don't like it either.

"Hmm cake!" Dylan takes the cake from the coffee table in front of us and a spoon from the empty ice cream pot before squeezing his way in between Mia and I on the couch. "Ice cream, Friends, and chocolate cake?" he frowns at me before turning to Mia, "who's ass do I have to kick?"

"Yours! Now give the cake back and move," Mia replies. These two are always fighting.