The Girl With Freckles - Wattys2020

1. Decisions

'A life without love is vain - just bland boring', Sydney Hayes always reckoned. She wanted to feel the adrenaline rush, heart thumping hard and each silly thing a person experiences in love. But her dream of true love came tumbling down when she saw that blonde on her boyfriend's lap.

It had been an year since she last saw him. His black eyes were a shade darker that dreadful night. No matter how much she pleaded him not to leave her, he left with the most heart piercing words without an ounce of remorse - "I don't want to be with someone like you, anymore."

Later that night Sydney cried all night long , feeling insulted and rejected. She didn't know where it went wrong or what his notion of 'someone like you' meant.

The memories of that pitiful night were still vivid in her brain and clawing her soul. Even after an year it manages to make her breathless with immense pain whenever the damaging flashbacks resurface.

The person seated on the swirling chair waved her manicured hand in front of Sydney. This was the first time she closely noticed the doctor. Dr Morris, her therapist was a thirty years old lady, approximately 5 feet 5 inches tall with pale skin that was shining in the bright light emitting from the lamp beside her table.

"Sydney, I can't help you if you are unwilling to share your feelings", the doctor tried to persuade her. No matter how much she tried in the past year, Sydney never uttered a word to describe how she felt. According to her, these sessions can't heal her bleeding heart. And talking about it will not make it hurt less.

Noticing Sydney's eyebrows twitching which indicated that she was listening, the doctor continued, "When are you leaving for Hanford University ?"

"Friday evening", Sydney replied with a bored expression. It had become her habit to answer the doctor in minimum words. She never understood the need to share details with anyone. It was just not her thing.

The screeching sound of the bell indicated that her time was up. It was her final session as she would be soon moving to Hanford.

It was her mother's idea to attend these sessions. But, to Sydney it was a waste of time. Instead she would prefer sitting near the window of her room and draw. Drawing was the only thing that made her feel at peace, even if it was for limited period. The feeling itself was enough for her to last a day.

Finally standing up Sydney bid her final goodbye to the doctor.

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The way to her house seemed longer than usual. Sydney tried to memorize every detail about the town. She went to meet every important person in her life before leaving.

Upon reaching the gateway of her house, she noticed a gleam of light coming from the neighbour's window. Maybe Ariana is at home, she thought and turned to move towards her new destination.

She knew not bidding her farewell to Ariana would result in a mess. A mess she wouldn't want to divulge into.

Sydney was about to ring the bell when suddenly Ariana opened the door. "What ?? Stop looking at me like that. I saw you from the window", Ariana cleared her doubt when she saw her best friend's eyebrows knitting.

"Ohh okay !! And don't you even dare ask me about it. I'm telling you it was shitass useless like everytime", Sydney puffed in irritation. That's what sessions do to her.

"I wasn't going to sweetie", Ariana winked to which she rolled her eyes.

"Bloody liar !!"

"You love me." With that Ariana pulled her into the household. Sydney plopped down on the couch and waited for her best friend to come.

Later that day, the two friends were having a chick-flick marathon when Sydney confessed, "I'll miss you Ari."

Her friend turned her head towards Sydney only to notice the unshed tears. Her heart clenched for her friend. She knew why Sydney felt the need to move out of the town and she supported her decision. There were too many memories here waiting to scrape Sydney's heart bit-by-bit.

"I'll miss you too, Syd. More than you know." Ariana moved closer to hug her friend. "Stop being sappy now. You'll love it there."

"I hope I will", Sydney said with uncertainty coating her voice. For the first time she was doubting her decision to move.

"Aye Captain. Just look for a handsome rich guy there", Ariana suggestively danced her perfect brows.

"I will and then make him dance naked on the rooftop in a rainy night." The idea itself didn't seem bad to Sydney and she started laughing at her weird thought.

It was a unique quality of Sydney that she loses the reigns of her laughter at most weird and awkward moments.

"God Syd !! When did you become such a pervert", Ariana slapped her arm and joined her friend's laughter train.

With Ariana by her side, sleep didn't seem to be distant. Both the friends slept peacefully after watching tons of movies together, compensating for the time they were going to be apart.

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