After a year and a half of trying to move on from the what-ifs, the tides have pulled Alexandra Rivera and Zachariah Kim back together again.
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In the h...
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What always astonished people who knew both Emmie and me was that, on the surface, we didn't seem like we'd be friends. While she shined in the spotlight, I felt like being roasted under a harsh light. She went after what she wanted without a second of hesitation, and I contemplated things that weren't even relevant before making mundane decisions.
Regardless of our differences, our hearts beat along the same wavelength, and it meant knowing we could confront each other about whatever we wanted.
She was sitting on top of the monkey bars that circled into one giant loop when I found her at her usual spot. I'd lucked out because it was the first place I'd checked, knowing that she would be just about anywhere but her own house. With her feet dangling into the giant open space in the middle, her back faced the street before her attention shifted toward me.
"It's astronomically embarrassing how much of a struggle it is to climb up here now," I huffed as I struggled to pull myself up next to her.
She eyed me with uncertainty, but it transformed into relief because we were two waves destined to keep crashing into each other. Being here meant that I cared, and that counted for something.
"You do need to start working out again," Emmie laughed as I finally made it next to her.
"Again?" I scoffed. "That would mean I ever started, but calling one walk a start would be generous."
Emmie shot me a look. "I think that's the very definition of a start."
"I think that would be me using one walk as an excuse to pat myself on the back," I argued.
"And I think your denial is an excuse to not allow yourself the satisfaction because you never think you're good enough for it."
The two of us looked at each other with such unwavering admiration that we always seemed to outdo each other around every corner. Subtlety was never a word in our vocabulary when it came to our friendship, so I stopped beating around the bush.
"Zach called me. He sounded upset."
Emmie looked down at her hands, fingers twisting into a knot. At least we weren't going to have to work around denial with this part of the conversation.
"What is it about Jarrod that keeps you running back?" I asked earnestly. It wasn't like I wanted to pretend I held some moral high ground above her; I genuinely couldn't understand why someone as fiercely independent as her could be hung up over a guy I couldn't even stand to be around, and I considered myself someone that, despite not being the most social myself, couldn't handle most personality types. Maybe her last relationship went deeper than I realized and I was just passing judgment on something I didn't even understand. "You barely blinked when you broke up with him, and now you two keep coming back to each other like you never ended."
She struggled to find her grip in the conversation, which was surprising because Emmie could hold her own in just about any conversation imaginable, but it illuminated the seriousness of Jarrod's effect on her, as well as the ignorance on my part on how it had affected her.
