It was mid year, maybe second semester or the end of first.
Rein, who had always been so ready to talk and have fun with, suddenly disappeared.
We werent in exactly the same classes but we could no longer find her even in the larger lectures that we all attended.
For a few days we were quiet.
Maybe she was sick.
But our messages were going through unanswered, and no sign of her was to be seen anywhere.
Elmo and I grew worried.
More weeks pass, before finally, we decide to message one of her close friends and ask if she had heard of seen Rein in the past few weeks.
She replies back that she hasn't, and asked if Rein was coming to class, which we said she wasn't.
She then calls Rein's sister and we eventually find out that Rein had been skipping school, but getting up in the morning and acting as if she was going to school but just going to the library instead.
Following this, Rein is diagnosed with depression and stopped coming to school, sans her final exams. Rein's mum asks me to talk to her professors, which I do.
Messages remain largely unanswered, well into the summertime.
Persistent, and stubborn, I message anyways, telling her about my day, inviting her out, asking if she's feeling better - all to little avail.
Till one day, she responds back.
From then on, things start improving. She'd come out occasionally and we'd laugh together and have fun together.
Second year, Rein comes back to school, and it is marvellous.
YOU ARE READING
Lilac Dreaming
Non-Fiction|Nonfiction/Journalling/Memoir| A tale of friendship, love, heartbreak, and coming of age for Milkee as she enters college and begins to find her way through life.
