- Café Latte -

- 2 - 'Iyla take you to Brooklyn'

"Iyla!" I turned around briskly as I heard my name being called. A large smile crossed my face when I saw Brooklyn running towards me, beaming with happiness.

"I've missed you so much girl!!!" She collided with me full force and enveloped me into a tight hug.

"You only saw me yesterday! But I missed you too" I laughed as I hugged her back.

Today was a Tuesday. Tuesdays aren't the greatest days but they're not the worst either. I have a lot of core subjects on a Tuesday. I have Maths first, then English, then Biology, then Geography, then English revision final period. I was looking forward to 3pm though, because I had arranged to meet with my friend Matt for coffee straight after school. I hadn't seen Matt since he moved schools in year 8 so I'm looking forward to this catch up.

I grabbed ahold of Brooklyn's arm as I dragged her down the corridor to the lockers, not speaking a word as she questioned me the whole way there. When I reached my locker, I unlocked it and pulled out a canvas. I turned it around and showed her; the happiness resonating from her face made my heart glow.

She took the canvas from me and turned it around to show me, as if I hadn't already seen it. Her eyes started to fill up with tears as her lipstick-stained lips trembled.

"Happy Birthday Brook!" I grinned widely as her eyes darted between the canvas and me at such a speed I thought she might damage her vision due to friction burn between her eyes and her eyelids.

For her 16th birthday I wanted to get her something special. Seeing as this was our last year at school, I wanted it to be something that reminded her of our friendship in the years to come. And, knowing her love of bold pop art, I had ordered a personalised canvas with a picture of the two of us, with bold blue and red patterns outlining our features. There were huge splashes of colours in the background, with intense yellows and oranges and pinks fading into one another. Across the bottom, written in chromatographic font, was the quote:

"Iyla take you to Brooklyn" which was a quote that Brook invented when we first met in Year 7. She said it was a fun play on words, but since then it has become more than simply fun; it gained a more genuine trademark meaning.

She carefully shifted the canvas into one hand and she hugged me hard with the other, smiling into my shoulder. When she stepped back from me she didn't say anything. Her tear glazed eyes were burning into mine.

I raised an eyebrow at her, and she replied in whisper.

"You have no idea how much this means to me..... I'm going to cry.... I love you so much.... Thank you...." She looked like she was on the verge of a breakdown, so this time it was my turn to initiate the hug.

She gently patted the tears from her eyes - her picture perfect eyeliner completely unaffected by the stream. She opened her locker and gently placed the canvas inside, moving all her books to one side, as if the canvas was royalty - so precious that the other items were barely worthy of being within a 5 mile radius.

The muscles in her face were working so hard to keep that smile up, I'm surprised it never faultered. As we made out way to the cafeteria for coffee, she filled me in on all the gossip about every Tom, Dick and Harry who has ever set foot in the school.

That was the main factor that separated Brook and I. She was very popular among the students and knew everybody inside and out. Even though the girls at the top of the social rankings would be more than willing to welcome her into their group, she still stuck with me which I was grateful for. She also had the undeniable beauty that made boys practically throw themselves at her. As much as she had every right to accept this attention, she still turned them down every time. She had it all but she wasn't going to be reduced to a slag.

Me on the other hand, well, I'm more... Limited. I stick to Brooklyn. I often think I'm more of a burden, but she always reassures me that I'm not. I do wish I could branch out a bit more though - it's hard not to look lonely when she's not there. It used to be easier when Matt was here... I wish he'd never left.

Because if I'm going to be truly honest... He made me feel special. He made me feel like I was the most important thing in the world to him. He laughed with me and cried with me and, I'll admit it...

I think I fell for him back then.

Maybe that's why every day I miss him more. Maybe what I'm looking for tonight is to see if I still feel the same. Too see how he has changed. Maybe he has a girlfriend now, maybe he has grown into a totally different person all together, maybe he has other friends much more important than me... But they were all things I was never going to find out if I didn't do this. Maybe I will still have feelings for him; maybe I will have moved on entirely; maybe he never even liked me in the first place and I just overthought everything. But at least tonight I'll finally be able to get answers to the questions I've dwelled on for the last 3 years... And there's one question in particular I need to know the answer to...

And I will not leave until I find out the truth -

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Thank you for reading xxx

Word Count: 985