Chapter Fifty Three
1218 Words
***
I shoved at the weapons in my bag, pissed off at my best friend more than I thought I would be. I could not believe his request, consider it for even a moment.
How could he ask me to leave him? After everything we had been through, all the pain and sacrifices.
We had vowed a long time ago that we would never leave each other’s side. We would be best friends for life. This was not some cliche statement.
No, it was a promise.
One made on a dark, stormy night that I remembered just as vividly now, almost as if I had been transported into the past.
**
“You know, you probably shouldn’t sit out here in the cold like that. It's not good for you.”
The young teenager stated, his tone playfully displeased despite the warmth and acceptance that shone in his eyes.
I rolled my eyes at my best friend's attempt at consoling me. We had both had a rough night, one that was evident from the bruises that marred our skin.
My red rimmed eyes stared up at him, genuinely confused as to why he was sitting beside me now. He had no incentive, no reason to continue to be friend me.
Not after everything he had seen, the lies and deception as well as the darkness that lurked within my home and had corrupted my very soul.
Although no one had ever seen that side of me, I knew well enough that it was too depraved for anyone to ever truly care or even want to stay by my side. And so I stared at him, genuinely stumped and searching for an ulterior motive.
Such was my life, a teaching ingrained into me by my own mother.
Never trust anyone. Not until you learn their heart and how to corrupt and destroy it.
Her words haunted me even now as I watched the young man beside me grant me a reassuring smile that I had grown to love so much.
He knew me well enough to know that I was returning into my shell.
He knows that I am assessing him, trying to find a reason to expel him from my life and yet he continues to sit beside me in comfortable silence.
“Why are you still here now? You know damn well that I told you I never wanted to see you again.”
I declared loudly and firmly, hoping that my words would send away the boy who had become so important to me. He had helped me through one of the toughest times in my life. He had become a shoulder to lean on, an emotion that greatly shifted away from what I had been taught.
“Well, I chose to not listen to a damn thing you say because you and I are best friends now and friends never leave each other in their times of sorrow and trouble.”
He was so unapologetic as he declared our friendship loud, going as far as to shout it right into the rumbling skies that raged down furiously upon us.
Has he lost his damn mind?!
“Hey you can’t force me to be friends with you just because you want to. I said I wanted nothing to do with you and I meant it. Go on and make fun of me, reveal all my secrets. I don’t give a rat's ass. All I want is for you to leave me alone!”
I was frustrated, unsure of how to respond to the kindness of the young man beside me. He had seen me at my worst, a moment that I had struggled so hard to hide from him.
I knew the ugliness that came with my truth.
Nightmares that made me wake up in the middle of the night; screaming, crying and throwing up. Depression had become a part of my life, so much so that I had embraced and accepted it.
Just as I had my coping mechanisms. Our shared one just happened to be smoking weed on school grounds that earned us shared detention time.
Learning more and more about each other in the wake of Mr Barnes, our detention teacher’s silent snores had been more than thrilling as had becoming the best of friends during our school years.
Not that high school didn’t suck because it did. But it was less sucky when I had Noah with me.
We already knew so much about each other, had gone to each other’s houses and met each other’s parents. Our friendship was absolute.
Well, right up until you had the most epic of meltdowns after seeing your Demons firsthand and losing your s**t not only on him but all those around him.
He’s seen that side of me, the darkness that is in me and yet he still wants to truly stay?
“You know why, you silly girl? Because you are my best f*****g friend, b***h. You have been with me through some Really bad moments too even when you didn’t know it. You stopped me from losing myself after my dad died and I owe my life to you.”
“With the same fervor, I wish to return that same kindness. So what if you scream and cry at night? So what if you have blood on your hands? So what if you’ve been through so much pain that you can’t stand the thought of anyone sharing a bed with you? That does not change who I see you as which is my best friend.”
“We are all broken in our very many ways. We All have secrets and regrets but how you choose to keep moving forward is all that matters. I promise you, Emilia Navarro, that I will never stop being your friend. No matter what you do or where you are, I will always fight for you and always be by your side. I will never give up on you because you and I are true friends.”
My heart threatened to burst right out of my chest.I was speechless, moved by the words of my new found friend who had reinforced my emotions. Deep down, I knew that Noah was irreplaceable.I didn’t want to keep him at arms length like every other person I had met before him.
I wanted him close to me for the rest of my life.
And so on that night, as the rain pelted down hard, we swore to always be there for each other and spoke well into the morning about the dreams and expectations of our future.
A future where the two of us would always be together, no matter what.
**
“I don’t plan on ever breaking that promise Noah. Even if it means losing myself to the darkness once more, I’ll do it just as long as I get to have you back. And nothing and no one I going to stop me from finding you in kicking some sense into you.”
Determination costs through my veins as I made a declaration that I knew I would never back down from.
It was time to become the thing that I was scared of the most.
An enemy worthy of the King of Sin...
***
- Writer
