The choice

Chapter 1

July 2016
She retched until there was nothing left but bile. He held her hair up until the sun came up in a mix of beautiful orange and pinks. She held his arm to support herself and he held her close reminding her that he would always care for her. She cried and he stayed silent. Then he cried and she stayed silent. All they could do was hold each other and try to exist, desperately trying to forget, every time remembering what they were trying to forget and it kept going on and on so they were left with nothing but shattered minds and each other's company.They were left with each other and their nightmares. They had made their choices and nothing they could do could alter them.
July 2015
Sylvia
At about 7am I was awoken by my best friend Libby calling me frantically about her date with Theo later that night. I had known Libby for fourteen years and for 7 of those years she had been desperately in love with Theo Borin. He was 6ft3 which Libby appreciated as she was 6ft and convinced that at 18 she still hadn't stopped growing. He was what society would call a 'skater boy'. Looking back I think this was the reason Libby was so desperately in love with him, she was excited by his high risk lifestyle. The drugs, the alcohol and the sex that Theo seemed to be frequently involved with contrasted with Libby's studious and angelical lifestyle. Anyway, Libby was incredibly excited about this date and as she pointed out, I was her best friend, I should be excited for her 'newly found love' . Reluctantly I listened to her ramble for about half an hour about what she was going to wear and say and what bra would make her boobs look best until I eventually lost it. The conversation ended when she demanded that I face time her to help with the incredibly difficult decision between what looked like in my eyes, two identical shades of nail polish. I told her that my Dad was calling me to come and empty the dishwasher, this was a lie as my dad would be asleep until around midday. Libby knew this but sourly let me
off the hook and continued panicking alone. As soon as I was off the phone I opened my window and unleashed the warm summer breeze. I had been of school for a month and a half with 47 days to go until I began university. The holidays had been lazy, I had spent most of my time in bed or with Libby or sometimes in bed with Libby as we practically lived at each other's houses and had sleepovers for nights on end. My Dad couldn't really care less, he loved me and I loved him but we were never very good at telling each other things. My Mum left us when I was 2 and I only vaguely remember her. I grew up believing she was dead until two years ago when I was 16, my dad told me she was very much alive and trying to get in contact with me. I decided not to see her and although I was very upset with my dad for keeping that secret from me, I forgave him within weeks and things went back to normal. We don't speak about her but sometimes I wonder why she left and if she loves me.

I spent the rest of that day doing pretty much nothing. I have a summer job working in a chip shop but my manger had announced he was ill and that everyone was allowed a day off. I rewatched a few episodes of How I Met Your Mother, reread Pride and Prejudice for the hundredth Time and looked over my university lists. Libby called me again 2 hours before her date demanding I came over. Since I had nothing else to do, I left a note for my dad and took the 10 minute bus ride over to Libby's. When she got the door I began screaming with laughter. Earlier that day Libby had gone to the hairdressers and decided to go with something risky almost to prove to herself she had enough in common to get along with Theo. However, that's the thing with a risk. They don't always go your way. Libby's originally sleek wavy brown hair was now bleached blonde and cut into a bob. This would have been alright if her hairdresser hadn't been either drunk or stupid as it was very blatantly shorter on one side than the other. She slapped me round the head with her pillow she had brought down to shield the outside world form this tragedy and began to laugh as well as she dragged me inside and upstairs to her room. Libby had a huge house; her Dad was a divorce lawyer and her Mum was the UK's 'top phycologist'. I didn't know exactly how much she made but according to my Dad she earned more in a month than he ever would if he never spent another penny. My Dad taught art at our local comprehensive school, where I was intended to go. However I received an art scholarship to the private school in the area and my Dad said it was an opportunity I had to take.

Libby's house was incredible. It was six floors and Libby's room consisted of two of them. She had a floor with her own kitchen, bathroom living area and a spiralling staircase directly in the middle of the room leading up to her bedroom. In her bedroom was a king sized bed with a balcony to the left delivering the most breathtaking view. Her bedroom floor stuck out half way over her living quarters below and the bedroom had no walls meaning the whole thing had a very pleasant acoustic. Libby's parents wanted her to continue living with them so had designed her what was basically her own apartment. However Libby was desperate to escape her parents protective grasp and make something of herself. She was already halfway there as she had secured herself a place at Oxford studying English. Her parents were paying for everything so she would never have a student loan, and was getting her own apartment and regular cheques so she would never want for anything in the world. I also received a place at oxford alongside Libby which made my life a lot easier because I could live with her and she said she would be willing to share everything with me. However I wouldn't be studying in the same college or doing the same course. I was planning to get a degree in art and become a painter. Arts the only thing I've ever been good at and rather than taking a secure teachers degree like my father had, I was taking a risk to try and make it as a painter. I wasn't sure what I was going to do after Oxford but considering I had three years to make up my mind, I would probably be okay.

I grabbed Libby's arm to try and control my laughter. Libby's a good sport and thankfully laughed along with me before seriously asking me for help.
'Sylvia help me I can't go to see Theo like this'. Trying to contain my laughter I offered to cut the longer side of her mop so it matched the shorter side and then I would run out to by some brown hair dye. Libby sighed with relief and gave me a big hug. I sort of fixed her hair; in any case it was a lot better than before. Then I went out to the local store and resisted temptation to buy a completely different shade of brown to what Libby had had before and it passed by fairly uneventfully. We had a lot of fun dying her hair back, Libby forced me to dye a strand of my hair so I now have blonde hair with a streak of 'Libby' as she called it. It was 6pm and Libby had to leave in half an hour. I calmly applied her make up as she was too shaky to do it, double checked her outfit choice and walked her to the tube. She waved goodbye to me on the train like she would never see me again. I laughed and waved back, already dreading all the analysis we would have to do of Libby's performance when she inevitably rang me after the date. I had nothing to do so decided to go on a walk around town. It was about 7pm at this point and was still very light and warm. I was wearing a skirt and a t-shirt with my hair pulled back into a bun on the top of my head. I enjoyed looking into all the shop windows and all the restaurants with young couples side by side with older ones and family's and friends. It interested me that each one of those people had their own stories and opinions and that they each had people that they cared about or cared about them. I decided to walk home when I found a charming little pub that I had never seen before. I regretfully turned away until I remember I was 18 now (as of 3 weeks) and could legally buy a drink. To celebrate this conclusion I walked inside and ordered a beer.

Sitting alone In a public place is more dramatic than you might think. I got a lot of odd looks probably because I don't in anyway look 18 let alone 16. I was just finishing the last swig of my beer when a young girl around my age approached me.
'Hey' she said.
'I'm Maxine'.