Memories on Strings

Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

I cried that night. I cried a lot. Cried over the memories. Cried over my best friend. But the tears didn't do anything but make it seem more real and create more pain.

When something like this happens in life, we try to deny it, even though we know it is real. And we say we will accept it, even though we won't. and that was me fighting reality to retain that glimmer of hope that fantasy will replace reality and that my friend will remain with me forever. Not just in my memories, but in my life as well.

But with every tear that ran down my face for the next weeks or even months, another glimmer of hope went with it, down the drain. And every time I cried over it, I know that Mallory cried even more. She was not losing one friend, but all of them, almost her whole life. Her friends, her school, her house, her life. She had to pick up the shattered pieces of her life and start over. In a new state, new house, with new people, and a new life. For every tear I shed, my best friend shed a hundred.

I never cried when others were around. Just by myself, to weep in my own misery and to hide my pain from others. In fact, my family didn't find out she was moving until a week later. They would ask if I was sad about it or how I felt. I would just weakly nod, unable to speak about it without letting my emotions take over. Without crying even more when I promised myself I had to be strong, for myself and for Mallory.

I told myself I had to stop wallowing in misery and savor these last months I had with Mallory. Make every day count and memories that would last forever. I told myself that we could make this work, even if it times I didn't fully believe that we could. I tried to think of ways to keep our friendship infinite. To stay close even if we were farther apart than ever.

She was moving to Virginia and I visit Virginia a few times each year. We could see each other, right? Maybe. She could visit when both of our schools were on break, right? Maybe. We could FaceTime every day, right? Maybe.

It would be hard, but I believed we could do it. Make our friendship stretch across hundreds of miles and remain damaged, but not broken. Never broken. I never wanted her to become a stranger or a mere dwindling memory of the past. I wanted her to be the present and future as a friend.

But even if somehow our bond was truly stretched to far to last any longer, I would never forget the memories we shared.