I walked into that house and everything hit me at once. I started to think of middle school again and Anni. She was my best friend for years before everything fell apart. It all started in 8th grade when we were applying to high schools. She was going to be a scientist. She wanted to go to MIT after high school for humanities and science. I wanted to become a business owner.I was going to A&M to get a business degree. We applied to different high schools, and then she started acting weird around me. Like she was hiding something. She stopped hanging out over the weekends, and soon she started to avoid me. By the end of the year, when we did talk or hang out she was short and not interested. I tried to reach out to her over the summer, but she was 'taking a bath, washing her hair, and/or out of the country'. That one was a good one, but it hurt a little. About halfway into summer I stopped trying to get in touch with her. She eventually moved away to go to high school somewhere else, and I never heard from her again. It broke my heart, and I never really made any new friends. She was the one who was good at socializing, while I was the awkward one. Sure, I wasn't a complete loser, but I didn't have anyone who understood me like Anni did. I finished high school, went to college, then moved to get away from the town that reminded me of her. I got a cat to keep me company, but she reminded me of Anni. I couldn't get away from her. I wanted a new start, and I got one, but I couldn't forget Anni. So I named my cat after her. Big deal. As I snapped back into reality, I looked around the house. It was torn to shreds. Over turned furniture scattered across the room and clothes laying over said furniture. Papers thrown all over the place, and random bottles full of weird liquids on the table and any clear surface. I heard a shriek from upstairs and thought to myself, 'why do I get myself into these situations?' I took a breath and walked up the stairs. Of course, there were no lights on, and I was too scared to touch the walls to try to find a light switch. I got upstairs and was met with another screech. I walked towards the sound and followed it into a room. I pushed the door open. 'Oh boy, great, a screechy door and no light. Every girl's dream.', I thought to myself. I opened the door to find a woman staring at herself in the mirror, crying. She stood at the mirror crying, scribbling on a piece of paper. It looked like some advanced type of math I had never seen before with words I couldn't tell what language they were. I stepped in and tryed to calm her, but was slapped across the face. I stood in shock, but soon recovered to grab the girl and make her stop ripping her hair out. She was covered in some sort of material I had never seen before. Her face was covered in tears, makeup, and scratches. Her hair was ratty and knotted. She was screaming about her daughter and if she was ok. I assured her daughter was fine and where she was. I sat her down and tried to calm her down. I started humming a soft tune. I wasn't sure how it turned into 'Hakunah Matata', but it did. I was so much in the past it scared me. Lion King was me and Anni's favorite movie as kids. The woman stopped screaming and began humming along with me. I spoke to her in a soft tone, and telling her a story. My story. I was trying to calm her down, and myself. I began to tell her how we met. We had math class together. She sat in front of me in the front row. I sat behind her all the way to the left of the room. It was the perfect hiding spot. In front so I could see but behind the smartest person in class so I didn't get called on. We quickly became friends after we worked on an assignment together. We got each other, we clicked right away. She was the only one who made me feel safe in the world. My anxiety was a killer. I always felt like I never did anything right. She never made me feel that way. Like I was the most important person in the world. I told her of our weekend hangouts and how we would get ice cream. I told her of our plans for after college. We were going to move in with each other and we were both going to work together. She would help me start my business and I was going to get her a job with any company. We were going to be the perfect team. It was our dream. I told her of the nights we would stay up and make plans. We talked for hours about what to name my store and if she shoukd work for me or not. Then I told her about 8th grade. She started crying again as I spoke of the girl who was my other half who left me hanging. I rocked her back and forth as I told her why I thought it was my fault and I would change everything if she would come back to me. She looked up at me and whispered one word that I would've never thought she would say.
She spoke in a broken voice and shook as she whispered, "Halli".
I couldn't believe it, "Anni?".
