Passing Time (H.S)

14.

"Monica! You're going to fall!" I laughed loudly. "No, I won't! Look at me go! Look at me-"

"Monica! Stop spinning so much!" Mary, Monica's mom scolded. I stifled a laugh as Monica scrunched her face up in annoyance. "Okay!" She complained and got off the roundabout. She couldn't stand still for a few seconds and then, suddenly fell to the ground. I gasped and went to her aid as she looked up at me with crossed eyes.

"Valera, there are three of you!" She giggled. I rolled my eyes and pulled her up. "C'mon, we haven't even been on the swings yet and my brother is going to take me home soon!" I whined to her. "Okay, lets go!" She ran to the swings, and sat on one as I followed suit. I jumped onto the swing next to her. Well, I belly flopped onto the swing, as my whole entire body swung because of the force, legs and arms extended out high.

"You're going to be the one who falls if you don't sit on that swing correctly." Monica scolded me. I looked up at her from my position and stuck my tongue out at her. I finally came to a halt and sat down, swinging slowly and effortlessly.

It was the beginning of autumn. I liked autumn, but winter was my favorite season. The wind was sweet but crisp, not cold enough to freeze my hands since I was not one to wear gloves. From afar I saw my brother shooting baskets with a couple of friends. Isaac was always with friends, it was strange to see him without people.

Monica's mom sat at a bench to the side of the playground, watching us with a faint smile. The cloth around her head shook with the wind, but it never made the decision to fly away.

With a frown, I looked over at Monica who swung happily and high. "Hey, can I ask you something?"
She looked at me and nodded, and continued to swing, eyes closed in delight as the wind blew into her hair. "You know that I never ask things, right? I always try to mind my own business, but I wanna ask- why does your mom wear a scarf around her head?" I asked as gently as possible.

Monica has always been one to react before thinking. But I was a curious ten year old. Monica never told me anything, and neither did I, but I knew she trusted me and I trusted her; there was no in-between.

She suddenly opened her eyes, not looking at me but at her mother who now watched my brother and his friends play basketball on the blacktop. Monica's swinging decreased, as she dragged her feet across the mulch, and came to a full stop, a forceful one too; her body lunging forward, almost falling off the swing.

She finally looked at me and it was then when I finally saw her expression. Teary, glossy eyes, and a quivering bottom lip stared right back at me and I immediately felt bad for asking such a thing. But I didn't say anything, I didn't stop her from telling me anything and I still feel guilty about it now. I felt like I pressured her into telling me the worst thing I could possibly have ever heard in my life.

"My mom has cancer."

Those four words, at a young age, I knew were the most terrifying words to ever hear. The wind was knocked out of me and my heart and stomach literally began to hurt. It was the feeling of nervousness that came to me, but I knew it wasn't nerves; it was terror. Terror that I was going to lose someone who was like a second Mother to me. Frightened for my best friend who was possibly going to lose her own mother.

I got off my swing, and quickly pulled her into a hug. "Everything will be okay." I assured her, rubbing her back.

I could only hope...

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Present Time: Midnight, 15 March 2014

"Thank you again for the ride." I told Harry softly. He nodded and gave me a small smile. "You're welcome. Did Zayn not answer you?"