The Empty Echo

When a girl makes a friend, she becomes a sister. A sister that you can share anything with and not be judged is a connection that is extremely rare. What is more rare, is a friendship where honesty is harsh but welcomed. Ever heard two people welcome each other in the most vulgar ways or a friendship that is just blatantly honest? Being that comfortable with a person that didn’t exit the womb with you is a connection that many people spend their whole lives trying to find. A true friendly connection is to be cherished. This is a story of two girls that had that and completely fell apart. Both girls still need each other, but again, both are scared to reach out first. Pride is so bittersweet, no?

The friendship started when they met in elementary school. “I like your hair, it's not as long as mine but it's cute.” Stated the first girl. “My hair is long. It's longer than yours. Mine is just tame and yours looks wild. That’s cute for you though.” The second girl argued with the sassiest attitude on earth. “You’re funny. What's your name? I'm Inko.” Inko laughed and sat next to the mean girl. “My name is Amiya. Nice to meet you Inko.” she smiled. The thing was Amiya wasn’t that sassy, she was actually really sweet. She saw Inko across the room being herself no matter who it inconvenienced and didn’t care in the slightest. She copied Inko the very first day they met. 

“You got spunk. I like you.” Inko stated. Amiya knew she would since she analyzed her first. However secretly Amiya wanted to do what Inko did since she knew at her young age that being nice felt like a burden. She didn’t know how to say no and really make others respect it. She figured she would learn from Inko. Inko liked how graceful Amiya was. When she walked in Amiya was hard not to notice. She was very quiet but stern in a way. Just by looking at her you could tell she was kind and loving. Inko wasn’t used to that but it grasped her attention. She wanted to be her friend. 

“Hi, may I join you?” a mystery girl asked. “OMG Yamari!” Amiya shouted. She jumped up and embraced the sweet girl. They have been friends first. “Who is she?” Inko asked in a very rude way. “I'm Yamari! Wow, you are beautiful!” She stated strongly. “Can I touch your hair?” Yamari asked, touching it. Inko looked at Amiya and saw she was smiling. “We can all be friends!” Amiya said in excitement as she jumped and hugged the two girls at the same time. Little did she know in a few years everything would fall apart.

The three girls did everything together. They played and laughed, took notes, ate, and gossiped. It was like a real trio! However, things started to shift when Inko would get jealous of Amiya and Yamari being together. She would cause issues and quarreling would begin. “Inko what is wrong with you? You always do this!” Amiya would scream angrily. “What did I do huh? Nothing. You just can't handle me.” Inko stated as she pulled Amiya’s hair. Amiya yanked Inko’s hair right back and got in her face. “Don’t do that!” Amiya yelled now so close to Inko they could both kiss.

“Hey guys. Come on, let's just chill and talk it out. We don’t have to fight.” Yamari said as she pushed herself between Inko and Amiya. “Let's go. Both of you sit down, right now.” She said in a motherly tone. Both Inko and Amiya listened to Yamari and looked shocked at the same time. “Not the peace maker getting messy.” Inko stated to Amiya. Amiya sat back and laughed then agreed. “We both were acting out of line.” she barely got out between laughs. “I got yall, but Lord have mercy we can't keep doing this.” Yamari started getting kind of fed up with the two. She still smiled anyway and kept the peace. 

The girls end up being friends until Amiya had to change schools. “I am leaving now. Remember K.I.T. okay?” she instructed as her parents rushed her to the car. “Okay!” Yamari smiled. Yamari was so peaceful and was happy she was successful in keeping the peace. “Keep. In. Touch.” Inko said to herself over and over again. However, Amiya and Inko left on bad terms again. “You think she will call me?” Inko asked Yamari. “Yea, she will. C’mon boo. Let's hit the swings.”

Years passed by and all the girls barely stayed in touch. Yamari wasn’t heard from again but was seen here and there. Inko found Amiya running on the track and decided to talk to her again. “Amiya!” She called out running over to her. Amiya remembered they ended on bad terms and was reluctant to speak to Inko. It was fourth grade though so why not? “Inko! Long time no see!” she said, embracing her friend. “Take my number, let's hang.” Inko insisted. Amiya remembered all the drama Inko brought to a peaceful environment but she still was attracted to how harsh she was. She realized too that she would get hurt as well if she accepted. Just not this bad.

“I guess.” She stated as she reluctantly rekindled an old flame. Both girls ended up being really close as if they spoke to each other every day. Amiya would walk to the bus stop every morning to go take her classes and Inko would ride with her. The girls never had a dull moment on the bus. They saw fights, bums, children, anime lovers, slipknot fans, and more! Everyday was something new to do and talk about. “You should sleep over some time.” Amiya insisted. It’s been a long time since they had a sleepover. “Yea okay!” Inko agreed with a smile so big you could see it from mars.

The girls spent all day in Amiya’s room talking about all kinds of things. Boys and girls were the topic for these two. “I dress masculine but I don’t know. I think I am either bi or asexual.” Inko stated sitting on Amiya’s bed applying lipstick on her. “Hm..I don’t know. I like boys but-” Amiya started before quickly getting interrupted by Inko. “NO! Cause remember we were at the mall and you saw that girl’s butt and was like ‘oooh yes girl!’ I mean I saw it too. It was beautiful but like you on the fence girl just say that.” Amiya smacked Inko’s arm. “Oh quit it!” She said a little embarrassed. “I did not!” She fought.

“Yes you did! I bet you were thinking you want to be a man. Wishing you could tap that.” Inko laughed as she leaned back, almost falling off the bed. “You are so stupid!” Amiya laughed as she actually fell off the bed. The girls were two complete fools living in their own worlds. Complete opposites attracting and maybe just maybe it could work. “Sorry, continue what you were saying and get up omg.” Inko said as she moved on to Amiya’s eyebrows. “I just think guys now are not worth much. Everything is sex or sex there is no other option lol. Or they just wanna give you stuff so they can exchange it for a sexual favor. Dating right now is just so hard. I was definitely born in the wrong era.” 

Inko just nodded and listened for a little while adding her own opinion on when it fit. “I have to use the bathroom,” Inko stated really quickly. “I’ll be right back.” In her pocket were some pills that slipped out. Amiya looked at them and wondered what they were for. She looked up the name on the bottle and did a quick search. “Olanzapine..” Amiya whispered to herself. She heard the bathroom door open and quickly put it down and hopped in front of the mirror before Inko opened her room door. She didn’t want Inko to think she would judge her for anything so she pretended not to see it.

Inko sat directly where the pills were and Amiya slightly ruined the eyebrow Inko did in an “attempt to fix it” and fucked it up. “You are hopeless.” Inko said fixing it as if nothing happened. Amiya looked to her bed and saw the pills were gone. She looked back to Inko who did her make up and didn’t know what to think. They’ve been friends for a while, why was this the first time she saw or heard about the pills? She decided not to look further into it or the pills out of respect for her friend not wanting her to know.

Graduation pulled around a few months later and Amiya’s parents held a graduation party for her. She invited Inko and a person Inko introduced to Amiya at the bus station. His name was Dell. They all ate cake and hit each other with water balloons. Everyone even grabbed a nerf gun and began blasting each other with nerf bullets. There were balloon pieces and nerf bullets everywhere. It was a blast! However Inko did what she always did, got upset when Amiya spent time with anyone else but her. Amiya didn’t want any problems at her graduation party so she decided to solve the issue and forgive Inko.

A few months later it happened again, but Amiya never put two and two together. “Where are you going Inko?” Amiya called after her. Inko just kept walking away from Amiya and all Amiya could do was watch her leave, again. They all decided to hang out with Dell because it was his birthday and he wanted to do something chill with both the girls. “Inko tends to do that a lot.” Dell stated. “Before I met you, me and Inko were friends and she got into a fight with another girl. She expected me to defend her to which I did the best of my ability but it wasn’t about me it was between them. I decided to say a little sum but it wasn’t what Inko wanted me to say about the situation and she hasn’t really liked me ever since. I apologized over and over again but it feels like it never reached her.” Amiya apologized on Inko’s behalf. 

“I don’t know why she does that? I thought she was pretty chill at first too but now I just don’t think I can deal with her attitude anymore. She agreed to come, and its your birthday. I am really sorry. We can go into one of these stores and get you a little something something.” Amiya insisted. “There is one thing I need to get.” Dell admitted. “Alright let's go! I'll text Inko where we are and which bus station we will head to after.” 

Dell and Amiya chilled and talked. The sun was going down and they waited on Inko still but she didn’t show up. “We should just go. C’mon.” Dell insisted. “Okay.” Amiya agreed. She inquired more on the issue with Dell and Inko and listened to Dell’s side of the story. Amiya really did feel bad that Dell had to have a birthday like this. Inko got on the bus at the last minute and saw Dell and Amiya sitting together. There was a spot that Amiya saved for Inko and Inko decided to sit really far from the two of them. 

“It's okay. Amiya. She’ll get over it and you two will be friends again in no time. If not, you still got me.” Dell said with a soft half smile. “Thanks Dell.” Amiya said softly trying to hide how bad she wanted to cry. She did everything with Inko. Why did Inko do this? What made her think that all of a sudden Amiya was her worst enemy? Dell walked the two girls home after they got off the bus and Amiya said goodbye to Dell and thanked him. Inko waited for her parents to come to Amiya’s house to pick her up. “Look I'm sorry but-” Inko began. “You always do this. It was his birthday, Inko. Then you just walk away? I'm done chasing you. I'm done.” Amiya stated not knowing what to do with herself or Inko. “Amiya..” Inko nearly whispered.

Inko’s dad pulls up and Amiya just looks at Inko and doesn’t say a word. Inko gets into her dads truck and waits to leave as her dad steps out. “Everything okay?” He asked with a smile. “Yea. Everything is fine. Wanna speak to my Dad? Mom stepped out.” Amiya insisted. “Yea lemme talk to him!” He said excitedly. Inko’s father entered the house but Amiya just watched Inko through the front of her fathers car window. The girls both made eye contact until her father came back out. Amiya just felt empty and alone. “Bye! See you soon!” He told her as he pulled off. “Bye bye!” Amiya waved after the car. Seeing her ex friend for the last time..