The End of a Friendship

(Bella)

It was a time I anticipated but dreaded. All the memories from when we were younger, engulfed my brain and my eyes welled with tears. How could she leave? I refused to look at her, I knew I would break down. Katherine stared at the cardboard boxes, unable to process anything either. She sat abnormally still, and the marker she held in her hand fell onto the unpolished oak floor. College was inevitable, but we demanded more time together. Everyone hears stories of the best friends that forget each other due to life having separate plans for them, but I never thought that would happen to us. I broke the quiet after what felt like an eternity. 

“So are you ready?” I laughed tensely. 

“As ready as I'll ever be I guess..I’m going to-” she began before her voice faltered. 

I knew she was hurting as much as I was and it pained me. I wish we were going to closer universities, but we had futures to pursue. As much as I wanted to tell her that we would see each other soon, I couldn’t lie to her. After a while in silence, she left without a goodbye, placing our friendship in an awkward state of dismay. 

Soft water droplets cascaded down the rooftops of each house. The sky was pigmented with a variety of grey shades, making the clouds submerge into the atmosphere. This type of weather would have usually calmed me, but it made me feel more uneasy. My mood added to the gloominess of the day and inflicted an indescribable sadness. I felt lost, my best friend has always been my other half, but now she was gone due to her new life beckoning her. She was moving to the other side of the country, and I was going to stay in our hometown.  I wanted to linger onto my childhood again, where there were no restraints on life.

For the first time, I felt worlds apart from Katie. Katherine was moving to a secluded area with limited internet access, making it impossible for us to keep in touch. We promised to try, but the reality was that our friendship would be a casing of what it once was. I resisted saying goodbye because that would mean that we wouldn't meet in the future. The best  I could do was to forget her existence to stop the hurt I felt. I  told myself that she was an insignificant part of my life, but the truth is that she was more than a friend, she was my family. It was selfish of me to be depressed; I should have been happy for her. Katerine got into her ideal school and was pursuing her dream, but I continued to embrace the past. 

A few months later, I received a phone call from an unknown number. My first instinct was to decline it, it was probably another spam call, but something prompted me to answer. I didn't recognize the person on the other line, but she appeared to know me. 

"The last time I talked to you seems like a lifetime ago." the voice said in a dire tone and then hung up.  

There was a certain familiarity that I couldn't describe. I traced the number to only find that it was disabled. It was odd, but I didn't think much of it. 

(Katherine) 

After I left for college, there was a tragic accident. My roommates wouldn't stop talking about it, especially since it happened in my old neighborhood. The area I currently lived in was isolated from the world, but that also meant that it got boring. So naturally, I was intrigued. There was a girl who was involved in a car accident and ended up surviving by a miracle. I doubted that I knew her. 

(Bella)

The week before my accident was bleak, however, the cold air was refreshing and suited my mood. Most days, I would run outside and let the rainwater stream down my face. I would remove my shoes and allow my bare skin to barricade itself into the damp dirt. Then I would proceed onto the asphalt road, leaving a path of dark footprints until the soil eventually faded and the rainwater washed away the marks. Something upset me that day, but I couldn't remember what it was. My doctor explained that it was normal for patients with retrograde amnesia to be limited in the memories due to the events being emotionally traumatic, but I begged to retrieve them back. I tried thinking back to that specific moment when the car hit me., but all I could recall was the blinding yellowish lights radiating from the car. 

(Katerine) 

I was about to call Bella to ask her if she knew anything about the accident, but I remembered that the signal here was awful. Instead, I was going to surprise her by going back home, after I saved enough money. 

My roommates wouldn't stop rambling about the girl from the news, so I decided to read the news. The paper wasn't descriptive, but the premise of the story was that the girl ran into the street and a moving vehicle hit her. There was damage to the girl's limbic system. If I remembered correctly, the limbic system was responsible for memory and emotion. I was so fascinated with the medical aspect, I barely glimpsed over the personal details. Until I saw her name, my best friend was the girl from the wreck. I suddenly felt nauseous. Subconsciously, I had always felt consumed by her identity. I haven't been able to be myself because we were always so intertwined with one another. That was part of the reason why I needed to move, I wanted to be independent for once. I hadn't realized my greed and how hard it must have been. 

Months after the crash, I finally mustered the courage to talk to her. Before I could explain why I hadn't called earlier, tears began deluging down my cheek. I couldn't stop sobbing and felt a surge of weakness and humiliation. Bella probably didn't want anything to do with me, especially after I didn’t check up on her after a life-threatening accident. I promised myself to never be in her life again, so that was the last time I ever spoke to her again.