Short stories and scrapped ideas [1]

Prompt 4

"So," she blew the steam from her coffee, "I saw you got married."

Mary glanced up for a second before looking back down and nodding. "Yes, his name is Jacob." Her thumbs circle her coffee mug as she thinks of a question, "how has life been treating you at college?"

"I dropped out, there wasn't anything I hadn't already learned," Kris says, sipping from her cup. The chatter of others at the café was loud but the silence between them was deafening.

"Right, I'm sorry to hear that," Mary said looking out the window at the passersby.

"Why did you stay here?" The cup hit the table making Mary flinch and look back to Kris.

"What?" her face was plastered with confusion as she asked for clarification.

"I asked why you stayed? I thought we were going to go off to college together and when we were done we'd move in together. Maybe start a band or small business together," her hands gripped her coffee cup.

"Those were just silly ideas we had as kids, I thought we knew we'd never actually do those, y'know?"

"I know?" Kris laughs before glaring at Mary, "was it funny to you when I fell down the stairs and left me?"

"Kris, I-"

"Was it funny to you that I lost everything I'd worked so hard for? Everything you took?" The sound of a glass crack slips out.

"I didn't mean to-" Mary looks Kris face to face.

"You were always jealous of me. You saw a chance to take everything you wanted to have," she takes a sip of her coffee again, droplets drip onto her palm.

"That's not true. I admired you, I'd never intentionally hurt you!"

"I fell down those stairs and you were behind me," Kris sighed out. Taking a quick breath she continued, "you were the reason I fell weren't you? You pushed me didn't you?"

"Kris, I'd never..." Mary paused before clenching her cup. She chokes back tears before slamming her fists into the table. Her cup spills over as she abruptly gets up, "You never cared about me! You never hung out with me or did anything with me. I was a side friend, someone you never cared about. You don't even know my favorite color!" Kris looks up at Mary before setting down her cup neatly and getting up.

She adjusts her cuffs while speaking, "you like red, your favorite animal is a parrot, you're scared of dogs and you like watching the sunset." She pauses before looking Mary in the eyes, "you also don't drink coffee, you can't stand the taste of it. It makes you sick."