The Domino Affect

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Today is the anniversary. It's been two years since it happened. Sometimes I can't believe that I haven't woken up from this intricate nightmare, but I know deep down that this is cold, hard, cruel reality. People have joked that we're cursed, but they have no grasp of the depth of our misfortune.

We were just a group of friends who thought that they were on top of the world. What delusional idiots we were. 

There were always doubts in my mind. Nothing could go this well forever, but I thought that if one of us were to undergo a catastrophe, it would be me, not her. 

Nova walked on the balls of her barefoot feet. Nova had strangers take Polaroid pictures of the five of us and she would paste every single one of them up on her wall. Despite this lofty surface, Nova worked past her time in the office. When given an assignment, she spent sleepless nights slaving over it. Perfection was her expectation, and that's what earned her the role of Chief Operating Officer.

Celia and I first realized something was wrong when she began to stop coming to the group activities she used to plan with Rory. She started wearing glasses after her eye doctor said screens were deteriorating her vision. I tried to tell her to let loose, to not work so much and start coming with me to the river like we used to, but she never listened.

I'm forever thankful that Sawyer went to the office to be with Nova until she left. It made Nova's hours in the office shorter. Sawyer would always walk home with Nova as they were neighbors. 

Eventually, her malnutrition and lack of sleep took their toll. She collapsed during a meeting at work and was promptly hospitalized. 

"I don't think that people realize what success does to people. It's like your life is under a magnifying glass, every little thing is seen as 100 times larger than it is in reality. All success, all failure, everything is magnified. Soon, your self worth becomes distorted and you're trapped under the magnifying glass." 

That's what her text to me read once she had woken up. Celia was worried beyond belief and, on the day of Nova's release, was at a bar rather than Nova's side with me, Rory, and Sawyer. 

After I saw Nova collapsed on the floor of her apartment the next day, everything changed. We took a break from our work and stayed together in Nova's hospital room.