Remembering Sunday // Jack Barakat

Chapter 5

I found her.

Jack had read the text that he had received from Officer Ramsay about an hour ago, trying to grasp the fact that after five years, his best friend was returning to him. Although he was relieved, he was also very worried of what he was going to be faced with upon her arrival. The drive from New York to Baltimore was around three hours, so the period of waiting for the skunk-haired boy made the situation all more stressful. He was in the process of clearing his room, which had clothes and random objects strewn across the room, knowing that the confrontation would take  place in there.

He had told his parents about what was going on shortly after having read the text for the first time, and they were completely against having the girl over at first, but they quickly change their minds, seeing as they decided that it was probably the best thing for Jack at this point - rather than the worst. It was obvious that they were concerned for their sons mental well-being, and prayed that Heather’s return would change that around completely.

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Jack had moved himself from his room down into the living room, settling down on the couch. He began to grow restless; his leg bouncing up and down due to the apparent nerves that lingered in his stomach. When he heard a soft knock on the front door, he drew in a sharp breath and immediately jumped up to his feet and ran to the door before anyone else could, yanking it open.

His first reaction to seeing her face was nothing short of shock and disappointment, as the face of the girl that was staring back at him, was not the girl that he knew. He should’ve been expecting this, but he forced that down and wished that she would be everything that he had remembered her to be.

Her once vibrant red hair was dyed a dull brown-black color, and appeared to be lifeless - just like her eyes. The stench of stale smoke and alcohol literally radiated off the girls body It was obvious that she had lost weight - she was wearing a shirt that Jack remembered her wearing a few years back. It had once fitted her perfectly, but now it hung loose on her frame, and looked as if it could fall off her at any given moment. He frowned slightly and resisted the urge to go and wrap his arms around her, knowing like her body, she was in a fragile state.

“Let’s go upstairs.” He said finally; not saying hello or anything, he just didn’t see the point - all he wanted was to talk to her, so he cut to the chase.

The two walked up the stairs leading to his room, Heather slowly and reluctantly making her way behind him. He could tell that she was just as nervous as he was. Understandable, to say the least. Jack sat down on his bed and inhaled a deep breath, while his friend stood awkwardly in the corner, avoiding contact with the skunk-haired male.

The tension between them could literally be cut with a knife.

Heather was the one to break the silence between the two; “So.. How are you?” She asked, her voice a mere whisper. Jack narrowed his eyes and folded his arms across his chest, glaring at his friend.

“Five years apart, and all you have to say is how are you? How do you think I am, Heather! I’ve been worried sick this entire time, and it didn’t even look like you seemed to care! You were all doing what was best for yourself, not thinking once on how it would affect the people around you, let alone your best friend!” Jack shot back, his voice gradually getting louder.

Heather seemed to have the same amount of anger in her eyes as she listened to him talk. When he shut his mouth, she stormed over to him and promptly slapped him across the face a few times, as if hurting him would get her annoyance out. “Thats... Not... Why... I... Didn’t... Come... Back.” She hissed, slapping him again with every pause.  When she finally moved away from him, Jack started to rub his cheek as it began to grow red.

“I deserved that. That was really uncalled for.. I’m sorry.” He murmured softly.

His friend shrugged, “I know you deserved it.” She seethed, trying to get her anger under control, “That’s why I did it.”

After that, a silence fell between the two, but it was yet again broken by Heather when soft sobs filled the air. The taller got to his feet quickly and enveloped the girl into a bone-crushing hug, trying to soothe her by whispering small reassurance phrases into her ear

Jack buried his face in her hair; normally he hated the smell of smoke, but in this situation, it was almost comforting - it reminded him that this was real, and his best friend was actually standing in front of her. Keeping her locked in his embrace, they remained silent for a good five minutes, before Jack spoke up again. “I missed you, Heather.” He whispered into her hair, shutting his eyes for a moment before pulling away from her, a look of seriousness in his eyes.

“You are going to stay here now, right?” He asked.

Heather sighed softly and shrugged, “I mean, I’d have to go back to New York for a bit, and wait for my lease to end at the end of the month. It’s a couple days to, so if I leave now I’ll be able to get all my stuff together by then…” She trailed off, biting her lip.

Jack raised an eyebrow at her expression, “Is there something wrong?” He asked, tilting his head slightly, causing his hair to flip over to the side.

She shrugged and shook her head, “I’m fine, just.. I think it’ll take a while for me to adjust back into Baltimore living.” She chuckled under her breath, rocking back and forth on her heels.

Jack laughed as well and nodded, “Understandable, but as long as you have me around, I’ll help you.”

The girl let out a small sigh of contentedness and nodded, “I’ll stick around, I guess.” She murmured, grabbing his arm and pulling him down onto the bed as she sat down next to him. He wrapped his arms around her again, holding onto her as if at any given moment, she would disappear into thin air, like last time.

It was as if she caught on, because she looked up at him and sighed again softly, “You know, Jack. I’m not leaving you again.” She murmured, squeezing his hand gently. “You have nothing to worry about.”

A small smile managed to find it’s way onto his face as he nodded, “Do you promise?” He asked, his voice matching a whisper.

“I promise.”