I moved my brush slowly but firmly through my long blond hair and threw it up into a ponytail before washing my face. I stepped out of the bathroom into my bedroom and the first thing I laid eyes on was the picture that always sat on my nightstand.
The frame was silver with little jewels imbedded in the sides in the colors of the rainbow. The picture had the smiling pictures of my three best friends.
There was my friend Alyssa on the end, her long black hair was curly as always and tied to the side with a ponytail. Her eyes were baby blue, and she wore a light blue headband to match them.
Then there was my friend Blake. He had short brown hair, and a smile that lot up his whole face. You could tell he was laughing when this picture was taken.
Finally, there was my mom. Her arms around their shoulders, as her green eyes shone like emeralds.
They had given the picture to me as a birthday present two years ago, and I had looked at it hundreds of times since, and every time it reminded me of a different memory.
In the picture they were sitting in a swing in the park with the lake in the background. I would spend hours on end sitting at that same swing set talking to Alyssa about everything from school to guys and our plans for the weekend. Sometimes Blake would come and we would just sit there quietly until the sunset and we would silently walk home.
My best friends meant the world to me. We had known each other since kindergarten, but we became close at the beginning of middle school. We sat together in home room, and me and Alyssa had art together.
Now the three of us were juniors in high school, or at least we all should have been. It was last fall at a sleepover when Alyssa told me, she had to go to the hospital for testing the next week.
It scared the crap out of me. I had never known someone who had to go to the hospital other than for a baby. The hospital wasn't a place for crazy high school kids, it was a place for the sick and the dying, and as far as I knew, Alyssa wasn't sick.
I tried to forget about it and enjoy the rest of the sleep over, but I couldn't. Her words haunted me until that Monday morning when her mom picked her up from school. I hugged her tight and told her I'd call her tonight.
The rest of the day went by slowly without Alyssa to keep me entertained, but finally when the day was over I ran off of the bus and through the front door of my house and pulled my cell phone out of my pocket.
I dialed her number as I dumped my bag on the floor and went to sit on the couch.
"Hey Caitlyn," she said in a tired voice.
"Hey Alyssa, how'd the testing go?" I asked quickly.
I heard her sigh on the other end of the phone. "It was exhausting. I don't even know how many tests they did. I was asleep for part of it though."
"Oh, when do you get the results?" I asked eagerly.
"They should be in by the end of next week," she said solemnly. After that I told her how my day was and we talk about a few more things. We hung up just before dinner.
I tried my best not to think about the tests and the next two weeks flew by fast, and it was Friday. The day that Alyssa would get the results of her tests back.
I rode the bus to school, and when I got there I couldn't find her anywhere. I sent her a text asking her where she was.
She replied saying she was sick and that she wanted to meet me at the swing set when school let out.
I thought it was weird that she wanted to meet at the swings if she was sick, but I didn't have time to think about it.
When the end of the day came I walked to the swings with Blake. We turned around the last corner and spotted her sitting by herself with her head in one hand and a thick yellow envelope in her other hand.
***
Authors note:
What do you think? Am i moving the story to fast? Comment please!
