Forever Everly

Luna - Chapter One

Bailey was crying, staring through the large front window at the tail lights of Everly's car. Serenity was trying to cheer her up by kneeling dramatically beside the front door of Everly's house - Everly's old house - and screaming "NOOOOOOOOO!" like an actress in a movie. We should really be gone by now, so that some people we don't know can buy the house our best friend grew up in. We practically grew up here too. But Everly's parents had been our ride here, and it was pouring rain. Besides, I don't think Bailey wants to leave. Ever.

 Serenity looked up at me, tired of screaming. She might as well stop. Bailey wasn't cheering up at all.

 "Luna, please help me" whispered Serenity. "I can't make the crying stop".

 I sat down beside poor Bailey and leaned my head on her shoulder. Serenity sat beside us and Bailey buried her face in her long brown hair. Serenity can be so calm sometimes. Usually she is an absolutely hilarious person, and almost as outgoing as I usually am.

 Eventually Bailey's crying stopped. A hiccupy "Th-Th-thanks" came from the direction of Serenity's hair and Bailey emerged from her locks. "Wha-Wheres Ravine?" Oh god. Serenity and I shared a look of panic. We lost Ravine. When did she slip away? Where is she? As if Serenity could read my mind, she muttered "Ev's room" and the three of us ran up the twirling stairs towards Everly's old bedroom.

 Ravine was in the corner, reading a book. We stood in the doorway for a good five minutes before she finally looked up at us. I placed my hand on my hip. "Ravine?" I said. "What are you doing?" Serenity and Bailey started laughing while Ravine's face turned cross. "I'm reading," she stated coldly. "Jane Austen."

 "Did you at least say goodbye to Everly?" asked Bailey fiercely.

 "Of course I did." Said Ravine, her face relaxing into a smile. "I would never let her leave without saying goodbye. I came up here about a quarter hour ago."

We sat beside her and she finally closed the book, looked up at us. Bailey spoke. "Sorry I said that. Losing my best friend is... it's like a volcano erupted in my heart and washed everything happy out of me." Bailey's drama lifted some tension between us, which was good. The last thing we need today was to grow further apart, when one of our best friend moves away. We need to stay ourselves. So it's nice to see Bailey being her overly intense, dramatic self.

 Most people think she's just a pretty face, and she is pretty, with a small figure, soft features dotted with freckles, blond hair and the best blue eyes, but she can be extremely well-spoken and has a lovely singing voice. Serenity on the other hand could never stop being funny, it's her personality. She seemed plain (Brown hair, brown eyes, average height, thin) but she could make anybody laugh, anywhere. Ravine, well, is, was and forever will be, Ravine. Behind her blue eyes is a brilliant mind that made up for her natural face and for her dark hair being forever messy. Everly's hair was the same shade as Ravine's, but cut short to be given to cancer in one of the great acts of kindness she was famous for. Her grades were close to - but not quite as good as - Ravine's as well, but her similarity's to Ravine end there. She was almost as pretty Bailey, almost as funny as Serenity, and outgoing and good at sports like me. Everly was the only thing we had in common. And now she's gone.

 "Who says quarter hour anyway?" I chimed in, which made Ravine's face go red and let the rest of us to begin to tease her. We were about to go downstairs to leave when Ravine fell. Directly into the closet. We all laughed (Even Ravine herself) and she was getting up when from the closet we heard a little "Ouch" followed by a much louder "WHOA. Come in here, now." Serenity, Bailey and I looked at each other, shrugged, then crouched down in the closet beside our friend. She had a large, wooden box on her lap. We recognised it as one Everly had made in shop class. Painted on the wood in maroon letters was the special name: Everly Willow Waters in fancy script. We talked for a while about what could be in the box, for no other reason then that we were afraid to open it. Eventually Bailey got bored of me guessing stupid things like "A spaceship!" and Ravine guessing things like "A lion...that can talk" which none of us understood and simply opened the box. There were no talking lions, no spaceships. There were a pile of letters, sealed in scarlet envelopes.

 Ravine counted nine of them altogether. Nine packages of paper, written by the hand of our now unreachable friend.

 Nine more pieces of Everly.

 We sort through the envelopes. They each have a wax seal with an E in the same fancy lettering that was on the box. Written in a circle around every seal were words. The first one on the pile read "To Open Only When Luna Finds The One". Another "To Open Only When Something Good Happens With Adam". Ah, Adam. Jerk De Soleil. A blue eyed monster of a boy who stole Bailey's heart and refuses to give it back. Everly was wrong about this one. Nothing good will come of him.

 We lay all nine letters on the floor in front of us. The rest of the letters are:

 To Open Only When Someting Bad Happens With Adam

 To Open Only When A Loved One Passes Away

 To Open Only When A Family Is Broken Apart

 To Open Only When Popularity Strikes

 To Open Only When A Pet Passes Away

 To Open Only When Ravine And Bailey Have Their Stage Debut.

 We sit, staring at the letters, and the truth sinks in. We have these letters from Everly, but we can't open them yet. Not until something horrible or something amazing happens. That was when Serenity found the last letter.

 "Open Only When I've left." She read aloud "Well, I guess we do get to read one now"

So we ripped open the lovely red envelope barbarically and finally got a message from our Everly, who we already missed after half an hour of being without her. Ravine read it out loud to us as we sat in a circle, eager to hear what Everly had to say.

To the best friends a girl could ever have,

I can just picture all of you, sitting in a room with Ravine's voice reading out this letter. I know it's Ravine reading it because who else would it be? The future writer-to-be of the group? Oh wait, that's Ravine. See what I mean?

Let me guess. Somebody probably hurt themselves or something close to that when you guys found the box. I mean, it was a proved fact that I hurt myself once per day, right? So the energy of the universe is connecting everything together into wise words: You must be hurt to find the hurt one.

Back to business. You are all probably wondering why would I leave a box full of mysterious letters that you can only open at certain times. Well, you guys would always say that I was there for you 24/7, that I had the best advice and knew just what to do at the worst situations. And I can't take that away from you. I always want to be there for my friends, even if I'm miles away in a different town. So these letters, treat them carefully, because in a matter of speaking, they're "me" for now on. They'll be your guide for the rocky times I know will come.

Another question I know you're all asking yourself: Why did I leave letters when you could just call me up on the phone? Here's the hard part. For a few weeks, possibly months, I will be unreachable. I don't want to leave you hanging, it's the last thing I want to do, but it's for the best. But don't worry, your questions will be eventually answered.

I want you girls to always remember in your heart that you will always be a part of mine, and nobody in the world can replace you. This is going to sound cliche, but don't lose hope. Don't give up. You are all beautiful and smart in your own special way, and I can't be there to remind you that anymore. Tell yourself how wonderful you are everyday. Figure out who you are and who you want to be. Because if any of you girls bring yourself or each other down, you all know that I will find out somehow and come back to knock or slap some sense into you. Not kidding.

Lastly, never forget what I always say: Your outlook on life is a direct reflection of how much you like yourself.

Forever,

Everly