Vacant Hearts [UNDER CONSTRUCTION]

Chapter 13 | What Could You Want From Me?

SONG FOR THE CHAPTER: Stick It by Soren Bryce

      The rest of the week trudged on. Assignments were due. Several awkward interactions between Julian and I occurred. Lia was pulling all-nighters almost every night because she was the epitome of laziness and left every single thing to the very last minute.

      "Did you just pour orange juice...into your coffee?" I eyed my best friend as I walked into the kitchen that morning. She was still wearing the same clothes I saw her wearing yesterday and her dark hair was in the kind of messy bun that wasn't considered cute.

      "What?" she said tiredly. A few seconds later, she spoke again after realising what she'd done. "Oh. Oh wow. What am I doing?"

      Lia placed the orange juice back in the fridge and glumly stared at her coffee. It didn't look much like coffee with orange juice in it, though. I doubted it would taste much like coffee, either.

      "I thought it was milk," she said with a sigh, leaning her elbows on the bench.

      I laughed, shaking my head. "You seriously need sleep."

      "I do," she agreed, nodding. "When I'm dead."

      I laughed again, feeling sorry for her. She was so exhausted and was on her way to burning herself out, but there wasn't much I could do. She had to get her assignments finished. It was as simple as that. I even tried helping her but she was too stubborn to properly let me. I ended up giving up and left her to her own devices. When this was all over, I'd let her sleep for a week straight without bothering her.

      "I'll make you a coffee," I offered, setting my bag down on the kitchen bench.

      Lia didn't argue and dropped down on one of the stalls by the bench.

      I wasn't a coffee drinker but I did know how to make it. So while I was making one for Lia, she somehow slipped into an existential crisis.

      "Why am I like this?" my best friend mumbled, slumping forward onto the bench. "Why am I here? What am I even doing with my life?"

      "You're studying to be the world's greatest doctor, remember?" I told her, smiling slightly. Lia was the kindest person I knew and she was passionate about helping people. She really would be the world's greatest doctor someday. If she didn't die of sleep deprivation, which was likely at the rate she was going. I momentarily considered slipping a sleeping pill into her food without her knowing, but dismissed the idea. She probably wouldn't appreciate that much.

      "Maybe I don't want to be a doctor anymore," she grumbled into her arm. "Maybe I want to quit college. Maybe none of this is even worth it."

      I poured some milk into the mug. "I know you might feel that way now, especially since you're under all this stress, but you've wanted to be a doctor since you were eight years old. Jason Wheeler falling off the monkey bars and breaking his arm in grade three inspired you, remember?"

      Lia and I had been best friends since the beginning of our schooling. I remembered the exact moment she told me she wanted to study medicine and how excited she was about it. She remembered the exact moment my parents told me I needed to study medicine and how much I objected to the idea.

      "Maybe," she replied. "But maybe college isn't for me."

      "You just need a better work ethic, my friend," I said as I placed her coffee down in front of her. "Drink up. You'll feel better once you have some caffeine in you."