Love is not only Romance

Chapter 3

I was never one who accepted things when they first appeared before me. My strategy was always to ignore the change and pretend everything is normal and everything does not affect me, this is something that will bite me later on. However, my friendship with Elle was something I couldn't ignore. Every day had something new. I was constantly learning about myself. In the past three months that I had been friends with her, I discovered my passion for writing. I always wrote short essays as well as an entire cringy short fanfiction about One Direction, but I never thought anything of it. nor did I think I was any good. Elle had taught me that passion is important.

Barely a year after the death of my father, Elle had found out about my father. We were in a conversation with other friends when she asked about my father and how would he react in the given situation. An awkward silence filled the air as everyone stared at me as if I was going to break. I wasn't, by the way, fragile that is. The need to laugh was strong. Elle looked absolutely lost as the silence took over until someone leaned over and whispered the known secret. Her brown eyes had widened animatedly as her lips formed the classic ‘O’ of realization. I noticed the guilt in her eyes, and I waited for the pity to come. I still wait.

I saved everyone from the awkwardness by laughing and creating a possible reaction from my dad. I will never know if that reaction is really how everything would play out with him. then again, there are many situations I will never experience with him. many reactions I can only imagine. Being the curious body that she is, Elle had asked me about him when we were alone, barely an hour later. We sat in the school's study garden as I explained everything, as I bared my wounded soul.

Keeping my eyes trained on the ground, I spoke about him. His joyous soul. The loudness of his presence. The kindness of his soul. His love for life. I spoke to her about my family. My mom and sisters. I spoke about our bonds with each other. The laughs we never failed to have. All the nights we all would pile into the small kitchen and prepare supper. The movies we would fight to watch. The amateur court sessions my sisters and I would have to resolve silly debates. I also spoke about the March of 2016. The accident that caused us to have our own angel in the skies. I told her of the abruptness of everything. How I had spoken to him the day before. How my mother had spoken to him a few hours before He took his last breaths. I told her about the feeling I had when we received the call. I told her about how we are still struggling to be okay again.

For the first time, I didn't see pity when I looked back up. I didn't get the aura of someone wanting to tell me sorry for something that is and will never be their fault. She looked at me and didn't say anything, she held my hand and hugged me. No words exchanged, just a silence that said everything I can't express even now. I guess it was at that moment where I realized that maybe everyone has their someone. Someone who understands you without needing to know you.

She had always made it easier to be me. I never felt pressured to be someone I’m not around her. She gave me peace while her eyes held a storm. I found myself opening up more to her, my darkness was slipping through my cracks. She never judged me, if she did it was never to my face. Being 14 at the time, having someone who seemed so constant was happiness, especially when everyone else seemed to be turning their backs on you.

Elle was in love with Tyler. She told me about him a few times. I would have shipped them if it wasn’t for the fact that the first time, I ever saw her cry was because of him. He played with her feelings. He was a grade above us, and it seemed that he still didn’t know what he wants. I don’t blame him; which tenth grader truly knows what they want? That didn't stop me from disliking him though. When I held her sobbing body, I swore him silently. I was ready to kill. How dare he cause tears to fall from her youthful eyes. She cried her heart out. I let her. After a while, her tears stopped, and it was silent. I noticed how the wheels in her head were turning, so I did what I did best. I said some weird things that made her smile. I said weirder things and she was laughing. I knew then that she wasn't just a girl in my class that I spoke to. She was becoming one of the most important people in my life. Dare I say maybe a future best friend.