"I know. I know. Just, don't let her hurt you anymore, okay?"
"I won't. I'll be back one day. I promise."
The two separated with one last hug. The temptation to run after him was strong. But the feeling was fought off, instead replaced by one of despair. With one last wave...
Y/N's POV:
My eyes shot open, full of tears.
"Damnit, not again!" I rubbed my swollen face quickly, yet harshly, to clear my cheeks of rapidly falling tears. The same visual has been haunting my nightmares for weeks: my childhood best friend leaving for America, leaving ME behind in this squalid city. Almost every detail of that day is still fresh in my mind. The squeak in his voice at the end of the phone call, the painful car ride to the airport, the impulse I had to run after him but somehow managed to fight off. With that, he boards the plane and promises to call, yet we never speak again. I wake up with initial hope, praying that it could be a new beginning, a sort of change to the situation. Yet, the hope instantly vanquishes as I remember the harsh reality of my circumstances: he was gone, essentially without a trace, and he was never coming back.
It was as though my mind had been tattooed with dread.
In the midst of my attempt to turn over and drift back to sleep, my eyes were greeted with another sight of him, this time in the form of the last photo of us together, framed in a golden border. Despite seeing two bright smiles, I could not feel anything but pain.
"You promised," is the only thought that formulates in my mind as I stare aimlessly into the dark brown eyes of the photographed beaming boy. "You promised to come back."
Five, grueling, endless years later, he had in fact never returned. I find it impossible to comprehend the anger coursing through me. He does not have a choice; in fact, there is no way he COULD have a choice. Yet, knowing that doesn't make it any less painful. It's particularly difficult to think about the time we spent together, perhaps because every hour we spent together felt like its own version of eternity.
And believe me, it is nearly impossible to forget about eternity.
My eyes were half-open as I turned over; I had hoped to at least drift back to sleep. Yet, like previous endeavors, my hope did not last for long. My alarm's eardrum-shattering tone startled me awake. I slammed it off instinctively and rolled out of bed drowsily.
Monday mornings always suck. My dad comes home late from the bar, drunk out of his mind to the point you would think his blood stream has been entirely replaced with beer; an intense hangover naturally follows. Due to my father's irresponsibility and indulgences in less than savory habits, I'm in charge of practically everything. Without me, the house would be a wreck; dishes would never get done, dirty clothes would pile up, so on and so forth.
If only this just happened on Mondays.
Going downstairs revealed a displeasing sight; my father was passed out on the couch with a broken Tequila bottle lying beside him. An audible sigh escaped my mouth as I cleaned up the shattered glass and subsequent, smelly liquid. I did my best not to wake him. though, I'm not sure I could have if I tried. I shook my head in disappointed and walked to the bathroom for my morning essentials.
Or at least, I had intended to. Instead, I found myself staring into a room. An empty room. You wouldn't think this space was much just by taking a glance at the empty black walls; you would most likely think it was some sort of guest bedroom or a work in progress. You would never fathom that this room was once where two teenagers resided almost every day. They played video games, watched horror movies, and laughed until their chests ached.
The black walls may now represent a void feeling, but they weren't always so bland; there was a time in which they were decorated with fairy lights and Polaroid photos. Music from the 90s used to echo in every corner of the room. Boisterous laughter once filled the dreadful silence.
There is three valuable lessons to learn from me, and the first is that nothing, and I mean absolutely nothing, lasts forever.
The livelihood that was that room died the day my best friend left. All of the memories were rendered insignificant, all of the photos mere reminders of what could have been.
I did not want to remember a single thing.
With that conclusion, I managed to cover up seven years of memories with thick coats of black paint. Remnants of ripped photo film laid at the tops of overflowing garbage bags. The video game consoles were smashed, and the video games just as such. Every memory in that room was destroyed.
The second lesson to learn from me is that you can destroy the physicality of a memory but not the memory itself.
I felt a tear slip down my cheek as I reminisced on every memory we had in there. Late-night horror movie binge-watching sessions, staring at the ceiling talking about nothing in particular, gossip sessions. It was all gone, never to be recreated.
No one ever tells you what it's like to move on, so let me bear the bad news: it's an absolute bitch. You're forced to forget the memories that mean most to you. It's like letting go of a puppy you've had since you were a toddler; it's painful, heartbreaking, dreadful.
This story can't be all depressing, however. Depressed girls still have to go to school.
As such, I got dressed in some comfortable clothes for school, specifically jean shorts and... a hoodie.His hoodie. The hoodie he gave me right before he left.
"Just so you never forget me," he said with his brightest grin, braces shimmering in the sunlight. Never forget, huh? You're lucky I can't forget.
I grabbed my backpack and began to head out the door. Right as I touched the door handle, the house phone's deafening ringtone began going off. I reaching for the receiver when I heard a hungover groan. Great, it woke my dad up. "Whatever he can get it himself." I purposely slammed the door on my way out to jar him awake farther.
The third lesson? Mondays fucking suck.
A/N: So, this is my first fan fiction ever! So, I'm sorry if it was bad, and if you didn't like it, leave me some thoughts on how I could improve. Love you all. Stay safe <3
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Edit 3 years later: Holy shit??? I'm coming back to this as an adult now. I want to finish this with everything so let's clean this up, shall we?
