Patience - By AMDelaney

04

I am almost alone in the room, few people left. Most people either left jumping for joy, or have just lost hope. I'm loosing hope too, and fast. Sitting here alone is mentally torture. The large glass doors slide open, filling the air with a icy chill.

A young girl, older than me walks in with her mother, both look very alike. The same brown hair, the colour of caramel with streaks of a lighter shade, as though there were rays of sunshine beaming down on a river. They have the same face, small and round, but came to a point at the chin. The older woman looks calm, yet worried at the same time. She is wearing blue jeans, folded up at the bottom and a laced white top with frills along her thin shoulders. The older girl is wearing a school uniform, just the same as mine. Navy skirt, grey jumper, a pale blue short with its collar tucked in on one side, and sticking out on the other. She is carrying two backpacks, one of them I'm belongs to me. I turn back around in my seat, hoping she doesn't see me, I glance back over in her direction and see the girl coming towards me. I pretend to be occupied, but there is nothing interesting for me to do, so I watch her place herself in the empty seat next to me.

"Hey Em." She says slowly, "You doing okay." I look up at her, blue eyes full of compassion and empathy and her silky hair pulled back into a high ponytail that fell down to her sides. "How do things look to you?" I sigh sarcastically, "Anyway where is Eabha?" She shurgs. "All I know is that she is out, dancing I think." I realise that's where I am supposed to be, but I'm not going now, I have no way to get there, so I say nothing.

She glances down at the two backpacks. "I found these at your front garden. I tried the door and no one was there." I shake my head, confused. "And you thought the first place you should look for us was the hospital?" I laugh quietly, "Well after hearing what happened, it seemed quite obvious. Is Alexa okay?" I shrug and hang my head, staring at the polished floor beneath my ripped navy shoes which won't last anymore then a week.

"I haven't seen her, or mum." I begin, welling up and getting hot, probably bright red. "I don't know what to do. It's awful sitting here alone Soph, it really is." Her warm arms wrap around me and I lean on her shoulder, just like I did to Alexa. I push away, folding my arms in front of me, "You can go home, I'll be fine." She seems shocked, but then smiles and looks me right in the eyes. "No way, you can stay the night at ours if you want. I'm sure I have a spare pair pjs to do you the night." I sigh, I don't want to go to Sophie's house, I want to go home, and see mum and Alexa all waiting for me in the living room, with bowls of ice cream and the lion king ready to press play, like we always do, it won't happen any time soon. I don't know how long I'm going to be waiting here, but I will wait for as long as it takes.

"Soph, I'm waiting here, you can go home, honest." Sophie laughs and her soft lips stretched into a smile. "Don't try your "honesty" on me. If you're not leaving, neither am I, besides I don't want to leave until I know that my best friend is okay."

I sat in silence hoping everything would turn out alright, it hadn't really so far and knowing my luck, things weren't going to get any better.

I've never really been the lucky type of person, except for my friends and family. With them I could say I have won the lottery, almost. I wish I had an older brother, like Connor, Eabha's oldest brother. She says I can take him if I want, but I know that she would miss him, even though we are only separated by a wooden fence and a few hedges. We really are like family, the eleven of us. I know it's a lot of people but it works well. I really am the luckiest person in the world to have the next door.

***
Summer was always the highlight of the year, we would spent the whole day outside, pastey white sun cream smeared all over us. In and out from one house to another, all of us always welcome in each. I love the Brady's house, it's so lively. She would say it's hell, she always rants about how awful it is to have so many siblings, I'm envious but she tells me not to be. Connor, Zoey, Sophie, Eoin, Cian, Jess and her, it really is a mad house, with Maura running the place with an iron fist, after James left, never came back. They were in bits for weeks, Eabha and Soph mainly flooded our house with tears. I didn't really know him to well, he was always gone places with work. Connor has taken his place to be honest, his is like the brother I have always wanted, we are the perfect family I have always wanted. It's as if we are family though, we can tell each other everything, we go everywhere together.

Last Easter we went on a camping trip together, just the six of us, Connor and Zoey didn't come. We went to an old field Eabha's parents owned nearby and set up camp there. One tent for Eabha and I, another for Alexa and Sophie and a third for Eoin and Cian. The boys went off to collect fire wood nearby, so the rest of us lay in the damp grass and laughed our worries away. We set up a campfire and had smores that night, my first time and I loved it. The sun had disappeared behind the mountains and the sky was coal black, with the stars like gems glistening inside a stone. It was beautiful Eabha had told me, and she was right, there were no other words to describe it. We all sat together on in the field making wishes on shooting stars. Sophie showed us all the constellations, though I didn't really get it. She lifted my small hand by my dainty wrist and tried to point out and help me see them. It didn't make anymore sense than before, but I felt safe with Sophie, and the Brady's. I had never felt so happy.

***
Sophie grabs my hand now and tells me everything is going be okay. I had heard that phrase enough by now, it was a lie and for the first time, I don't believe her, I don't feel safe, I feel like nobody in the world understands me at all, even me.