Hello. I'm Casy. I'm a quiet guy. I guess I should start off with the beginning.
It was long time ago I met Edana or Ed as I called her. We were about five. She was very reversed and shy. She rarely talked to anyone. I was also pretty shy. The two of us were normally partners in things cause we didn't have friends.
We started to become friends. We even became really close. It was short lived. She stopped talking to me when we started middle school. She stopped talking to most people at this time. She became a lot more introverted only talking with people when needed. I began to realize she wasn't shy she just didn't want to talk to others.
This only grew as we got into middle and high school. At this time I started to question things not just about her but myself. I found I didn't feel like the female I was born as and I never really did. My parents and most of my friends didn't really accept that...it got really bad for me... Anyways this story is not about how I feel and my gender. It's about Ed.
I guess I always worried about her. What little friends I had joked that I liked her. I slowly realized I did...
One day I got a message saying "it's Ed. Want to see me at the cafe in at 3:30?" I was shocked. How'd she even get my number? I didn't question cause I was excited she remembered I existed and messaged me. I messaged, "I'd love too!" I was really excited all day. At the end of the day I rushed to the cafe. I got there early and ordered an iced tea. I sat at a table with two chairs and waited. She walked in right at 3:30. She saw me and sat down.
"Hello Casy," she said.
"Hey Ed!" I said a little too enthusiastically.
"So I needed to talk to you,"
"You can talk to me about anything. We were best friends," I replied.
"First you're a guy now right?" She asked.
"Yes...are you okay with that?" I questioned.
"Of course. I just wanted to be sure,"
"Heh thank you. Now what did you want to talk about?" I asked.
"Well someone told me you liked me," she said this in the same tone she said everything. With those monotonous words I felt myself being destroyed inside.
"W-who told you" my voice broke a little.
"It's not important. I just wanted to tell you I'm not interested in people right now. No one can help me with what I want and no one ever well. Thank you for this time," she started to get up and walk off. I grabbed her hand.
"Wait! What do you want?" I asked. She looked at me then glanced around the room.
"I can't tell you..."
"I want to know. Maybe I can help. I understand if you don't like me like that but I want to be friends again....please Ed," I begged. She turned back around.
"Come with me for a second," she said. She grabbed my hand and dragged me out of the cafe. My face turned red at her touch. Her hands were so warm and soft. It felt nice in my palm. She took me to an alleyway close by. She took out a lighter.
"What's that for?" I asked. She put it back into her pocket. She pulls up her sleeve and I gasped. She had burn marks all over her.
"Holy shit...did you..." she nodded.
"My god Ed!" I ran my hands through my hair. I sighed.
"Explain why you do this...now," I said trying not to raise my voice.
"I like it..."
"How long?"
"Years..." she said quietly.
"My god Ed..." I was so shocked at what I was hearing.
"We need to get you a better habit...hell even drinking or smoking would be better than this!" I yelled at her. She sighed.
"You act like I care," she muttered.
"Ed! Seriously! This isn't okay!" I yelled. She glared at me and started to walk away.
"Ed wait!" I went to grab her hand and she smacked me. I held my hand. She walked off.
She didn't talk to me months after that. It was hard not to be upset that I probably ruined my chances of ever being friends again. I knew I should probably tell an adult about this but then she'd probably hate me more. This wasn't long before the incident.
When it happened everyone was shocked. Apparently she was being harassed and freaked. She burned them. I didn't know all the details but...she did it... I heard she wasn't coming back to school. I decided to visit her at home and ask her what happened later that week. But later I heard her house burned down and...she was the one who did it... The news spread like wildfire (pun very much intended). They said she'd been taken to a mental hospital to get help. I was glad she was getting help and no one got to injury in the fire but I was still confused. Why had she done it? This wasn't like the Ed I knew. She wouldn't act so hastily. She normally thought things through. I just was so confused.
When her parents got out of the hospital I talked to them about what happened. I when to the place they were staying at and knocked on the door. A man with dark brown hair and eyes opened it. Excuse me but are you Mr. Tayler? I'm a friend of Edana. I really wanted to talk to you about her and what happened..."
"Oh yes. Come in please," he opens the door for me and I come in. It's a small hotel room that was pretty neat.
"My wife is out right now but you can talk to me. To be honest I don't think she knows too much about what happened," he said.
"Okay sir," He gestured to an empty chair. I sat down.
"So what do you want to know?" He asked.
"How long has her fascination with you know...fire been going on?" I asked trying hard not to sound rude.
"I'm not sure. She tried to hide it I guess. She was always interested in it I guess. Ever since she was a kid and she would go out looking for matches. I never thought it was this bad..." he ran his hands through his graying hair.
"Sir do you know what triggered her to light the house on fire?"
"Well someone is a junior detective. I'm not sure. We never guessed she'd do this. We had told her she had to stop this. We were going to get her a therapist and keep fire away from her. She could have gotten better if she tried. I think we angered her when took all the lighters and matches on hand. She might have had extra hidden in her room but we weren't to sure how she got the stuff to start the fire," he answered.
"Do you know about her burns?" I asked. The words came out quickly.
"What?" He said sounding shocked.
"Not only the one she's always had in her hands but all up her arms...there's probably more than that..." I muttered out a little.
"My god," he sank into the chair more and messed with his hair again.
"We should have found out sooner and gotten her help quicker. I really hope she gets better. I want my daughter back," he said.
"I'm sorry sir...I knew for a while about it. I should have told but she would have been so mad at me and I-" he put his hands on my shoulder.
"It's okay. We all would have done things differently if we could go back," he told me.
"Thank you for telling me all this sir...when you go to visit her could we talk after?" I asked.
"Of course. But you should visit her yourself too. She'd probably appreciate it,"
"Of course." He smiled at those words.
"I have to get going I have homework," I said as I got up.
"Oh yes,"
"Thank you for the talk sir," I thanked. I walked over the door.
"Any time," I opened the door and walked out.
It had been about a month or two after she was taken. I wanted to visit her parents again but wrote to her instead. I had to see how she was doing. I was going to visit her. After I'd sent the letter I made the date I would visit her. It was a week and a after away. And I couldn't wait.