Chasing Waves

Chapter 2

[Joanna]

‘Girl, you are in deep shit.’

Was what the tall raven-haired girl said when she saw me

Coming her way

At a slow and cautious pace.

Joanna was my friend too

My friend from elementary school

But Syria was closer to me

But now, I had a feeling she was closer to Joanna

And I just might be right.

‘She is so mad at you.’

I did not have to open my mouth

The truth just came out after that sentence.

‘She said you called her bad stuff.

And that you stole her friends away.

And that you hate her

So now she will hate you.’

I died.

I totally died.

Not on the outside though,

I didn’t want anyone to see.

[What I Did Not Do]

I was home,

In my bedroom,

Crying.

Crying buckets of tears.

Who said I called my best friend bad things?

I would never do that.

Who said I hated my best friend?

I would never do that either.

I threw my pillows in distress

Feathers flew around

And

Floated

Down

Onto

The

Ground

And they stayed there, motionless.

Just like how Syria would be if she knew I was this upset.

Motionless.

She wouldn’t feel anything at all.

Nothing,

Nothing at all.

And I cried even more when I thought that.

[Syria]

She was so pretty

She loved to laugh

She loved chocolates

She always listened

She had a beautiful voice

Everyone loved listening to her sing

She wanted to travel the world with me

She and I had a tiny scar on our index finger

To represent our friendship that would last forever

I guess forever

Is

Over.

[When The Feathers Were All On The Ground]

When I finally stopped wallowing in self-pity,

I grabbed my bike and started cycling

Really

Really

Fast.

I wanted to feel the wind in my face

And forget every single thing that happened

Soon,

I could smell the salty air

I could taste it on my tongue

I smiled a little

I did love the beach

And that was how I ended up by the sea.

Drawing circles in the sand

Thinking back on those good old days

Thinking back when I felt at ease.

[Just… Thinking]

A few days ago,

I brought Syria here for fun

She never went to the beach for some reason

‘It’d be fun, you’ll see!’

I kept telling her

Because I loved the sea

And I knew she would too

But when we arrived,

She got scared

Really scared

I didn’t know why

Maybe it was the waves

Or maybe it was the strong wind that was blowing at that time

Or maybe it was the sand

But she freaked

She got mad

And she screamed at me for being insensitive

And she turned and cycled away.

I was left all alone.

But I didn’t mind.

It was okay if she didn’t like the sea.

But I was confused.

How was I being insensitive?

The next few days, we did talk,

But she seemed distant and quieter

She had lesser to talk about

And there was a lot of awkward silences in our conversations

She would not look me in the eye and

She always found an excuse to go away.

But I always

Brushed

It

Away.

Until now.

Something happened.

And I

Don’t

Know

What.

[Someone]

I heard it,

Soft footsteps on the sand

I didn’t turn

I could be someone just passing by

But the footsteps stopped behind me

‘Hello.’