Guest Of A Friend

Alexis walked past her guest room trying not to think about the last person that had stayed there. It wasn’t that they were a bad person it was actually the opposite but it was what had happened to them after they’d left that she didn’t want to remember. As she walked away, she heard a knock on her door so she answered it.

There was a stranger standing there. They looked ruff and like they hadn’t slept properly for days. Then she wondered why the strange woman had chosen her door to knock on. They had no connection to each other.

“Can I help you?” Alexis asked not opening the door completely. She wasn’t sure whether the person in front of her was going to be friendly or not.

“I was just hoping you could help me. My parents kicked me out and my friend Izzy told me about a woman who let her stay in her guest room and I guess you’re the person she was talking about,” the stranger replied.

Alexis just started back at her silent. She hadn’t heard anyone mention Izzy’s name in months and it almost sounded foreign to her. It was like she had tried so hard no to think of her that even her name was slowly being put into a box that she had locked away in the back of her mind. She would never be able to forget her but the memories just had a dark tinge to them now and it wasn’t something she ever wanted to think about.

“How did you meet her?” Alexis questioned. It wasn’t every day that a stranger shows up claiming to know someone who’d lived with her.

“We meet out on the streets actually. I was just walking and decided to stop and talk to a homeless teenager who looked like they needed help. It was strange to see someone my own age living like that so I stopped. We talked and I would go see her every day after class and then one day she wasn’t there and I wondered what had happened to her. Then a few days later I saw her and she told me that a nice person had opened their guest room to her and she was doing better,” the stranger replied.

“What’s your name?” Alexis asked. She had heard Izzy talk about a few people she’d met over the period of time she’d spent living on the street after her mother had kicked her out.

“My name is Phoebe,” Phoebe told the woman.

Alexis took a moment to think about whether Izzy had ever mentioned someone by that name and it didn’t take her very long to realize that she had talked about someone named Phoebe a lot. That’s when she remembered that Izzy had said her friend had the same problem with her parents as she had. It was then that she decided to let Phoebe stay.

“She talked about you all the time, come in. I’ll show you to the guest room,” Alexis told her as she opened the door wider to let Phoebe walkthrough. As she showed her to the guest room it felt right in a strange way but she also felt like she was erasing Izzy in some way letting someone else take her space in the house.

She kept an eye on Phoebe as she walked into the room. As she did, she noticed that there were still a few of Izzy’s things scattered through the room so she moved to pick them up. Before she could Phoebe picked up a journal that had been left sitting on the bed.

“Why is Izzy’s journal still here? She never went anywhere without it,” Phoebe asked holding it in her hand tempted to read it but knowing that it wasn’t something Izzy would want anyone to do.

Alexis didn’t know how to answer the question. There was something about looking at someone else holding on to Izzy’s journal that told her that what had happened to her was now completely real so she kept silent. She could tell by Phoebe’s expression that she could tell something wasn’t right.

As she stood there staring at the journal in Phoebe’s hand, she thought about how she would always see Izzy sitting on her bed writing in it before she went to bed. It was probably the reason she’d never moved the journal or actually change anything in the guest room. It was like if she didn’t change anything then nothing had happened and everything was still the same.

Then she looked at Phoebe standing there looking confused and worried. She knew that she would have to do everything she could to help her just like she had with Izzy. It was something she’d done her whole life. It was something that was passed down to her through her parents and grandparents. All of them just seemed to have a strong belief in helping those who are in need no matter who they were.

“Are you going to tell me what happened to Izzy? I haven’t been able to find her and some of her stuff is still here,” Phoebe questioned. She was now worried that the woman in front of her had done something to her friend and was going to do the same to her.

“She disappeared a few weeks ago and the police found her body under an overpass. They don’t know what happened to her and they’re investigating but they think it could have been an accidental overdose,” Alexis answered taking a deep breath. It was the first time she’d told anyone about what had happened to Izzy. Telling someone now meant that it was real and she was never coming home.

“Wait so she’s gone and never coming home,” Phoebe said her hands starting to shake as her vision blurred.

 “She’s not coming back,” Alexis whispered barely able to speak. She was standing in the doorway to the last place she’d seen her alive. As she stood there, she saw Phoebe open Izzy’s journal to the last page.

“She wrote something and I think it’s dated as the day she disappeared. It just says:

‘Dear, Alexis

I didn’t mean for this to be the last thing I wrote in this journal but my past is catching up to me and I have nothing left to fight it with so I’m going to disappear. I hope someone finds me eventually but by then I will be too late but I sent someone to take my place and for you to look after just like you did with me. They will never be me and I wouldn’t want them to be.

PS. You were one of the only people I ever trusted and made me feel safe I just couldn’t escape my past even though you gave me everything I needed. Take care of my friend.

Goodbye,

                    Izabelle

“You were always was good with words. I will take care of her,” Alexis said more to herself and Izzy if she was listening. In some ways, it gave her the closure she needed to burn away the dark tinge on her memories of her because she had answers.

“Why don’t we get you showered and changed into some clean clothes then I can make us some food,” she told Phoebe turning and walking out of the guest room. She knew that having Phoebe there would also mean the room wouldn’t be just an empty room that reminded her of the person she’d lost but was now someone else’s home.