BH

Burning Hearts: One

 One

Sapphire

Huge tears streamed down her face, with periodic sobs in between little sniffles into the tissues I kept giving her. I had never seen Raie that sad, not when her dog, Macy died, or even when her first boyfriend broke up with her, and she was not an emotional person. It was during that tearful goodbye that I realized just how hard it was going to be for Raie.

She was moving to France, only for a year, but being away from a best friend for that long can be hard, not that I realized that until our final moments in which we were hugging and crying and promising to email, text and call everyday. Raie wasn't leaving for another week, but her parents had strict rules about packing and the next week would be used entirely for that, since they had so much stuff. 

 Raie had begged and begged not to go, but her Mother, Jules and her Father, Tony, were set on it. My mother had even tried to talk to Jules, and as her best friend we all thought it might work, but sadly, it didn't even produce a second thought in Jules's mind.

On the other side of the room, Libby, Raie's sister and Tash, my sister were saying their own goodbyes, but on a happier note, with Tash giving Libby a beret she had found at the thrift store and Libby giving Tash her most prized possession, Tibbles, her lizard. Seeing this made me laugh, despite the situation, but also reminded me that for at least a year I would never laugh about something weird Libby and Tash did, or at Raie's jokes that were so terrible they were actually funny.

Hearing the parents come in, I broke the bear hug I was giving Raie and turned to face them, giving them a pleading look. Jules gave my Mother a quick hug (they weren't touchy-feely women) and took Libby's hand and they all left. Feeling miserable, I went up to my brother's room, where at least he would comfort me with some brotherly words, like 'get over it' or 'you're such a loser'. 

I knocked on his door, and was surprised to find a packed suitcase on his bed. Following the shuffling noise and frustrated grunts, I found him in his wardrobe trying to pull down his Encyclopedia collection, all 25 volumes that he got for Christmas after begging and begging. I was feeling very confused so I went and sat on his bed to wait for him, whilst also having a little peek through his suitcase. In it were some unfamiliar uniforms, a whole load of college textbooks, some other clothes and the rest of his book collection.

A little while later he came back in, dragging the book box behind him. When he saw me, he hesitantly asked, "What are you doing in here, squirt?"

I quickly pulled my hand out of his case and asked the question that by then I was itching to know the answer to, "Where are you going?"

Annoyed, he answered, "College, Brawley Falls, which you would know if you weren’t so busy brooding about Raie leaving".

Stubbornly, I said, "I’m not brooding!"

Loving a good argument he said, "Yes, you are."

So of course I argued, "No, I’m not."

"Are," He pushed.

"Aren’t," I shot back at him, and this continued for an unnecessary amount of time before I finally admitted I was.