Opposite Side

by @inescapeabIe  

The girl walked along the streets in the place she never thought would leave behind. As a kid, she never had to deal with something like this, yet, there she was, feeling like she was about to lose it all.

The home she lived in for like, two years, to be exact was divided by a river. She lived on the other side whereas her best friend lived the opposite. They always rode their bikes together to school, but up until her parents told her she was moving, she had no idea how to feel about it. Which shouldn't be a surprise because it was a very rare occasion that she'd stay in a city more than two years.

Two years was a miracle as some might call it.

She had just graduated elementary school and started middle school, yet, she never thought that the end was already near. Her parents taught her that it'd be a good thing because then she got to meet new people, and for some reason, she believed them. After all, it had only been less than a month she was in that school, how many people would actually miss her right?

If that's the truth, then why was she walking in the middle of dawn trying to get to her best friend's place when she hadn't even spoken to her ever since school started?

Long story short, they went separate ways. But, their school was next to each other it was practically neighbors. Just like they were, once upon a time. She had no clue what she was going to say or do when she decided to meet her one last time, yet several houses and less crowded roads later, she made it to the house.

The house was small but welcoming and the front was filled with greens all over. She walked towards the porch on the terrace and sat on the couch as she remembered that was where they spent most of their time playing or just doing homework. God, did she miss it.

For a moment, she just sat there in silence, she hadn't even knocked on the door. Because she knew if she did, it would be the end of something. And she so did not want that to happen. She cursed all those childhood shows she watched on Disney each time she went back home from school, because damn were all those kids such liars. Kids could barely have it all together and they made it seem like they did on TV.

She almost fell out of the couch when she heard the door revealed open too suddenly, then she turned around and face to face with the one person she was looking for from the beginning. Her friend was confused seeing her there as they no longer hung out as much anymore.

"Lana. What are you doing here?" The friend asked, walking over to the other unoccupied couch and sat herself down.

Lana didn't say a word after. But knowing her friend, she probably would want one so she decided to speak up. "I really don't know," She said, pausing. "how was your first day of school?" She asked, coming up with something that's light and wouldn't tense up the situation more.

"It's fine, I guess," Nina replied.

Lana nodded, should've known that she lost the rights to knowing all the things that Nina did the moment she stopped talking or hanging out with her. Her stupid self was too caught up in being friends with all the popular kids who never cared about her to begin with.

"I saw you walking back home the other day," Lana finally said again, breaking the silence.

That got her friend attention that she jerked up immediately. "Really? Why didn't you say hi?" Nina asked further, a tiny grin was shown on her face that Lana swore she noticed but her friend was quick to wash it away.

"I think we both know the answer to that." Lana stated, not followed by a smile or even a frown, she was just static. Too confused to even put on an actual expression.

Nina sighed. "I'm not sure I do," She finally said after another silence. Lana tilted her head to the side to glance at her, "you stopped talking to me." She declared.

The anger raised in Lana's that made her say something to deny such accusations. "What are you talking about? You were the one who did that, not me." She argued, starting to point fingers at her friend.

The friend scowled, "Really? You're really going to blame me for something that's clearly your fault? You know what, this is so typical," Nina remarked.

Lana furrowed her brows, on the edge of her seat it seemed. "Typical? You mean, like you forgetting your friend once school starts typical?" She insisted, still trying to win over an argument and being stubborn about it.

"You know what, I'm not going to deal with this. I have a lot of work to do and my friends are going to be here any minute. So if you want to leave or stay, it's up to you. I don't care," Nina finally said, getting up from the chair and about to head inside the house.

The moment Nina did that, Lana felt an urge of guilt starting to wash over her. She had no idea what it was, but it still made her say something that got her friend to delay her leaving. "Nina, wait," She said, her friend sighed and turned around, waiting impatiently with displeasing look on her face. "I didn't come here to fight." She revealed.

"Continue." Nina said, instructing her like she always did. She had always been one to lead whatever games they were going to play, or decide on something. One of the many things that sometimes drove Lana crazy.

Lana sat back down on the couch while Nina leaned on the wall where she was standing, waiting for her to continue. She hoped her parents would have taught her what to do in this situation but no, she had to deal with it all on her own.

"I'm moving." As soon as the words left Lana's mouth, she sighed in relief, but that didn't stop Nina from being surprised that the girl walked over to the other couch and sat down.

"What?" Nina asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, I am," Lana said, looking down on the floor. "I just, I don't know how it's going to work, honestly," She added.

"But we just started school." Nina stated.

Lana shrugged, "Does it matter? I mean, being with me for long, you should know that I'm going to move at some point. Right?" She said.

Nina remained silent for a moment before jumping into another argument. That's the last thing that she wanted. "Of course it matters!" She finally said, raising her voice at the same time. "You're my best friend," Was the only thing that she was able to say.

"..who just talked after a long time of not talking to each other, and having an argument to add to that equation." Lana corrected.

Nina rolled her eyes at her friend's usual aloofness when it came to serious conversation like the one they were having. "Can you just not do that right now? I mean, you are moving. Doesn't that bother you at all?" She remarked.

"Why do you think I'm here?" Lana shot, leaning her back on the couch, sighing.

No other replies came out of Nina's as she just sat on her seat in silence thinking of things to say or do in this situation. She thought long and hard before finally deciding to speak again. "When are you leaving?" She questioned.

"Tomorrow," Lana responded.

Nina widened her eyes, "Tomorrow." She repeated.

"Yeah," Lana looked sympathetic then turned her eye at her friend's. "My mom has practically packed the whole house." She changed the subject.

"Wow, no turning back to say that this is just an early April Fool's joke, huh?" Nina stated sarcastically, followed by a chuckle that sounded more ironic than not.

"Yeah, guess it's not." Lana said, back to looking on the floor.

"Can't you just tell them about staying with a relative? You always said how you have a relative here, right?" Nina suggested.

"That might work if I wasn't 13 years old," Lana replied. "but thanks for trying, though." She added, smiling a little bit.

"Yeah, that's a tough one to break," Nina concluded. "but we're going to make it work, right?" She asked, concern was written all over her face.

Lana shrugged again, she was holding back something she wanted to say. Afraid that her friend might react unexpectedly.

"What is it?" Nina pressed further, noticing the frown on her friend's face and being the person who was close to her, she knew when her friend was keeping something from her.

"It's just that," Lana turned to the side, "we lost touch just so easily the moment we went separate ways to school. What's that going to do when we're miles away?" She said.

The sentence silenced Nina instantly. Guess she took it deep and guilt was all over her by now, that she was clueless as to what to say. Usually, she always knew what to say in any situations, but not at the time.

"I really don't know," Nina finally spoke up, then she looked down on the floor, pretty much confirming that Lana wasn't the only one with nothing to say.

"Yeah well, welcome to my world." Lana sighed, leaning her head back.

Both of them had nothing to else to add that they were just letting the peaceful, yet tense silence surrounding the air between them. Lana stared at the point straight ahead while thinking in deep and Nina looking up at the ceiling. They both were too much of a kid to even comprehend what was going on. If they weren't, they'd come up with something but the only thing they could do at the moment was cherish their last moment together.

"So do you want to come inside and hang out for a while?" Nina finally declared, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

Lana was startled by the statement not expecting to be invited in at all judging by their being apart thing earlier. She glanced to look at her friend for a while before nodding her head.

"Yeah, sure why not. I might sleep over if it's too dark out to go home," She said.

They both got out of their seats and were already in front of the door when Lana said that that made Nina turn around to look at her friend weirdly. "Did you even tell your parents?" She asked.

"I'm moving tomorrow, consider it breaking the rules one last time." Lana said while rolling her eyes and shoved her friend further towards the house.