Invisible String

until one very specific event happened

"Hey Cari?! Are you there?"

I stopped reading our History book when I realized she was in a completely different dimension and not paying attention at all at what I was saying.

"Huh?"

"You zoned out again. Is everything okay?"

She was lying in her bed with her book opened above her chest and I was sitting at her desk trying to study for the history test we would have in a couple of days, but she was putting no effort into it. After offering me her help with the subjects that I was having difficulty with, we turned Wednesdays into our weekly study night. And soon I was living for the moment where I could sit next to her and enjoy a peaceful time with the person who quickly turned into my favorite one in the world. It wasn't easy to keep myself concentrated and don't get lost in her features or the way her voice started to get raspy as the hours passed by, but the way she used to explain the things that to me seemed to be as confusing as learning to read for the first time, made everything simpler. She was the smartest person I knew, without any doubt.

It was unbelievable to me that she would spend the little free time she had to help me when she clearly didn't need to spend one minute reviewing any of those things, but when I pointed that out she quickly said that study night was one of her favorites times of the week because it made her feel relaxed and she loved spending time with me, which I thought it was something completely crazy of her to say, but if it was working for her, it was surely working for me too. Sometimes, when we were both in silence, I would look up at her and catch her staring at me for no apparent reason, which immediately made me turn as red as a tomato, specially because instead of looking away as soon as I noticed it, like I used to do when she was the one to catch me staring, she would only send me the cutest soft smile and only then get back to what she was doing before.

"Sorry, I got distracted, where were we?" She said grabbing her book back.

"I think it's probably better if I go home now, I feel like you're not really in the mood for studying tonight."

"No, yes I am, I'm just..." She said sitting up in the bed but not finishing the sentence.

"You're just...?" I said encouraging her.

"I had a little argument with Tyler this afternoon." She said checking her phone again for the thousandth time that night. "And now he won't text me back."

"Can I ask you what happened?"

"He's been so stressed lately, I think it's because of his dad, he's putting all this pressure on him because of work and school. He's been acting a little rude with me the last couple of weeks and when I tried to say something he got angry and treated me really bad."

"What did he do to you?" I said, already wanting to kill the guy.

"He yelled at me and said some pretty bad things and left me basically talking to myself."

"Cari, can I be honest with you?"

"Sure."

"You deserve someone so much better than that douche. The guy is an idiot."

"Do you think?" Cari said, looking at me with glassy eyes.

"Of course." I said standing up and sitting at the edge of the bed facing her. "You deserve someone who's gonna treat you right and not some kid with angry issues that doesn't value the girl he has by his side."

"I don't know what to think Shan, sometimes he's really sweet and treats me like a princess, but other times he gets really angry and kinda scares the shit out of me."