At home later that evening, I sit on my bed, listening to deafening music that drowns out my thoughts. Rain drums on my window as if someone is knocking, asking to be let in. Closing my eyes I think of Elspeth. She stands outside in the dark and she she should be wet, but she isn't.
I open the window, and she sighs.
"This is my favourite type of weather, Grey," she whispers.
She turns around and starts to dance as the cold rain beats down on everything but her. Just like when we were little, she jumps in puddles and splashes me with freezing droplets. The street lights glow, until one by one they flicker off. I can't find her.
"Elspeth! Elspeth!" By now I am screaming, my eyes wide open as my dream has faded.
"She's gone, Grey." It's my mum. I push her away, but she grabs my hands, feeling how soaking they are. Her eyes shift up to where my my window is open.
"Grey!" She exclaims, closing the window.
I turn over and pull my duvet over me. I don't want Mum in here, but she sits next to me stroking my hair. I don't know how to respond so I just lie there completely ignoring her. Without warning she stands up.
"You know what Grey, I can't spend my whole life tiptoeing around you," she says and then she leaves.
Through the door I can hear her mutter four painful, little words to my father.
"She is not coping".
I grab the pillow and hit it over and over again, promising myself that 'of course I am coping'.
YOU ARE READING
Something that Makes me Smile
Teen FictionThe story of a young girl who escapes into her own little world to cope with the grief of losing her best friend. Grey was exactly that before Elspeth died. Grey. Boring. Normal. People didn't notice her, just Elspeth. Elspeth was special, everyone...
