Her Wish

Her Wish [Chapter 13]

Although she should have returned directly home after spending the afternoon hanging out with Alex and Danny, Jennie decided against it, concluding that her homework could wait once again. Even though meeting the mysterious boy had become a nightly routine, her grades in school hadn’t dropped a single percentage point and therefore she found nothing wrong with continuing to do so.

The skies were dark. The sun had long since set and the familiar frigid breeze of nighttime could be felt all around, but Jennie didn’t mind. She rushed towards her secluded spot, hopes high and excitement building within her at the prospect of meeting again with a person who actually cared.

But looking out into the vast grassy fields with trees lining the primacies, Jennie found her surroundings surprisingly empty. It’d been so long since she had the place all to herself that she had forgotten what it felt like to be completely alone.

Deciding that he would arrive soon enough, Jennie walked towards the center of the clearing and lay peacefully onto her back, hands resting atop her stomach as she gazed wistfully at the shining stars above.

When was the last time she had made a wish?

It seemed like forever although she knew it had been sooner than that. From time to time she would still wish whilst sitting adjacent to the boy, momentarily blocking out his presence and continuing with her once daily vespers. But she’d be fooling only herself if she claimed that her habits and life in general hadn’t changed since he decided to become a part of her life.

Happiness.

Her goal still had yet to be achieved though as the days passed by more quickly and she seemed to be creeping closer but never fully achieve such a thing, Jennie began to question if such a pure emotion was really attainable at all.

No matter how hard she tried or no matter how close she seemed to be, there was always one thing or another in her life that brought all those false hopes of her sole wish finally being granted crashing down. Everything that brought merriment to Jennie’s life always seemed to have a bitter twist attached to it.

George continued to talk to her, but half the time or perhaps more the topic revolved around Elie. People like Elie, Hanna, and other various classmates were friends, but they were friends who she never conversed with on a personal level. She hadn’t seen her father’s new girlfriend since that time she returned home, but then again she hadn’t been seeing much of her father either.

And now?

She had met a boy whom she had begun to believe she could depend on, but now even he wasn’t there.

Then again, hadn’t this been what she wanted? Just like the old days, Jennie had her secret haven all to herself with no interruptions.

She laughed sardonically at the thought, though she wasn’t sure why.

No, he would show. For weeks now they had been meeting on a nightly basis as though it were a tacit pact made between the two. She didn’t know who he was but she had given up trying to pry it out of him. Every question she directed towards his identity only resulted in a step taken backwards by him in revealing it to her.

It was almost like the same way Danny took two steps back from Elie every time she attempted to advance one further.

With these unavailing thoughts progressing through her mind, Jennie began to bid her time away, frittering time while waiting for the boy to show. An hour, two hours had passed, yet she still paid no notice.

The moon was illuminated brightly above her, almost taunting her by radiating light that Jennie could never seem to capture within her own life. The stars suited her more nicely. Scattered across the sky, they were distant hopes of happiness, coming in only parts and all eventually replaced after dying away.