Author's note: loosely based on a true story
All through my fairly uneventful life I had learnt a few things, the most important being trust. I always took precautionary measures with trusting someone and the people around me taught me to be extra cautious. Friends who had breakups told me that there was no such thing as 'true love' and well my divorced parents were a very good example. Even the people around me proved it....when a man and woman looked into each others eyes it was not always love since their pupils shone with lust and their breaths huffed with wanting. So love was never my kind of thing....something I would never get into.
Then there was friendship. That was a relationship I always admired though I did have my fair share of mishaps. But Amy stuck with me through all that. Our bond is as old as us...Best friends since kindergarten and even now when I think about it, I have this real goofy smile on my face. We were pretty similar, almost like clones, except for our looks. I had messy black hair, emerald eyes and she was a frizzy blonde with freckles and baby blue eyes. Kinda like Billy joe and Taylor swift....
Everything was fine 'cause she was there for me through thick and thin. Sometimes when you're a lonely kid with divorced parents, friends are the only family you've got and Amy was my mum,sis...everything.
Then high school started. My grade crazy parents put me in some nerd private school and I got to see Amy only during the weekends.
Even those visits had become sparse thanks to my school's heavy study schedule. In the days we met, Amy slowly changed. I had taken on the emo look; streaked my hair blue,pierced my ears, wore a lot of eye liner....It kinda fit me, though in reality I was really the crazy person who brought some colour into the dull classrooms of St.Mary's school for nerds and gossip queens. Amy straightened her nice frizzy hair and wore make up, it didn't quite suit her but who was I to judge? Her character changed a lot too... She took to discussing about boys and relationships. We usually just goofed around and talked about our feelings.
High school was over. Sleep overs were back. We were up at 2 am listening to Eminem on the high ledges of Amy's house's Balcony. She suddenly paused 'Till I collapse' midway and started fidgeting with the four leaf clover necklace I bought for her sixteenth birthday. Sh was pretty nervous. "Somethin' bothering you?" I asked a little worried. "I-I" she stuttered. Finally after a few minutes of intense breathing and soothing words she finally said " I think I like someone."
It was a Kenny Rowland from her dance class. He was the typical josh and well I didn't like him very much But who was I to judge? I just had to face the fact that the girl who kept swearing that she wouldn't be in a relationship wanted to be in one all of a sudden (?!). Anyway, days passed and he rejected her confession. I dried her tears and we watched Star Trek together.
It was time for college. I was into gadgets and had taken enginneering. Amy loved animals and wanted to be a vet. Her strict parents put her in the most prestigious medical schools of all.
three months of rigorous studies....we couldn't keep contact. Oneday the ringtone I had specially reserved for Amy rang. I picked it up at the second ring,
She was in a relationship. A relationship with a playboy,pill junky and well he was bad news. She told me in her half dazed voice about how much they loved each other.. Form then on she called every single day and we talked for hours....it was mostly her about Richard Garner, her boyfriend. Days passed...I wasn't really worried about their relationship...I thought she was mature enough.
It was a sunday, play assasin's creed day.
Amy called.
they had fucked.
On Richards birthday.
She was happy.
I wasn't..
I yelled.
My other buddies yelled.
She didn't listen.
Instead she said " I never liked school and I never did like you."
and I never saw Amy ever again.
That was the blow. I felt empty, I was lied to all the while, I was betrayed. Back stabbed. The trust I had all vanished.
I was nothing.
Cutting was always good. I did it during high school but Amy cried and told me to promise her not to do it. She was gone anyway.
My other buddies cried now......I took to art instead. Good stress reliever.
Five years passed. I got a good job in Bosch. I still never trusted anyone.
One fine day, ther was a rushed knock at the door. Pepsi, my fat little daschund trotted to the door, scratching at it with urgency. Chuck, listening to Aerosmith had to wait.
I opened the huge oak doors.
There stood Amy. alone with a baby.
It was brunette. Must be Richard's.
"Amy..." The name sounded wrong coming from my mouth.
Tears tumbled from her baby blues instantly.
He had dumped her. with a baby. and she hadn't completed her studies. Her parents disowned her. she was all alone.
She had just me.
I brought her in. Gave her some cocoa. We talked for hours and hours. Finally baby 'Artemis' was sleepy.
She had named the kid after me.
She stayed in the spare room near the kitchen....I made sure Mom and child were tucked in safely and turned to leave.
"Sorry,Arty." Amy whispered.
The tears soundlessly fell down my cheeks.
I looked down at my surprisingly clean hands. What was once Richard lay beneath me on thee damp grass, he wasnt mangled or anything, just a shot through the head. I carefully put the gun in the palms of one of his dead drunk friends and walked away.
"Man shot dead by Drunk friend." was one of the corner stories in the local newspaper. The police had advised about holding your alcohol. Amy was a little shocked but gradually got used to it.
She continued her studies thanks to my aid and Artemis got a new Nanny. Everything was going well.
It was a little past midnight. We had just finished watching Gravity. Amy let out a loud yawn and stood up. She looked at me and smiled "You're the only person I can trust Arty." she yawned again, wished a good sleep and retired to her bedroom.
I stared at the blank TV screen.
Everyhting was Okay.
She trusted me.
Fin~
