7 Darker

The night made way for another hopeful day.

In some crowded part of the same city, a girl- no- a young woman was hustling from room to room in her small apartment. She seemed to be in a slight hurry and shoving things into her bag. She had her Bluetooth device plugged in her ear and was simultaneously reassuring the person on the other end of the call.

She couldn't ignore the call as it was her longtime friend who was giving her hell and told- no order- that she be on her doorstep as soon as her job at the school ended.

"Liz, calm down. I will come."

...

"Yeah, I promise and I will not stand you up."

...

"Liz I am sorry but I have to go now. I will see you this evening, bye."

The young woman hung up on the call and sighed before heavily sitting on her bed. She took ut the Bluetooth and threw it inside her bag. She looked around the room which had few boxes lying around and sighed again.

She had moved back to this city after five long years and everything had changed. Her parents were no longer with her and she had not an ounce of courage in her body to go visit the place she once called home. She too had changed a lot but one thing which had remained constant was her friend Lisa. She was the same girl who cared immensely for her. No one knew of her return and she intended to keep it that way but Lisa was an exception.

She had called her this morning to inform her of the same. Lisa was livid would be an understatement.

After that vicious night, her best friend had disappeared and Lisa had almost gone crazy from worry and heartbreak. And now she called to tell her that she was back after five years of wandering around the globe. Of course, she was livid. She wanted to give her best friend, Shew Parker a piece of her mind and make her understand how reckless her actions were.

Shew smiled a little imagining Lisa grinding her teeth in frustration and after looking around her room for a while more, she hurried down to her car and drove it to the school in the neighbourhood.

Shew had gotten herself a stable job as a Science teacher and it was the very first day of her as a teacher. She sneered at the irony of the whole scenario, quietly mocking her fate.

It had been five years since she left this city but due to duty calls, she had to come back.

All the places she passed by, filled her with warmth but made her nauseous if she dwelled on anything for too long.

The city held her roots but it was also where her life had changed drastically in a single night. Taking a deep breath to clear her mind, she entered the school premises to face the day ahead.

***

Fortunately, Shew felt that her first day as a teacher was quite nice. The kids and staff were very cooperative and the hours seemed to pass in a blur.

After she was done with her 'job', she straight drove to Lisa's house. She had a promise to keep and face the music sooner or later.

She was surprised when the door flung open at the very first ring of the doorbell. Knowing Lisa, it wouldn't be surprising if the woman stood by the door waiting the whole day.

Before Shew could say something, the crazy woman that was her friend flung herself at her in a bear hug and started to sob and mutter incoherently.

"Calm down Liz, I am here aren't I?" Shew patted Lisa's shoulder in hopes of calming her down. She felt helpless in front of the crying woman. Her heart felt heavy with the guilt of putting her friend through a lot of pain but her circumstances weren't colourful either.

"God I missed you so much! I was so worried about you." Lisa stated after she calmed enough to speak coherent sentences.

Shew smiled softly, "I too missed you, Liz. Can I come in now?"

"Oh! Yes, come in, come in! Lisa hurried inside and Shew followed closing the door behind her.

After some tasty snacks and random chit chat, the atmosphere of the room turned tense.

"So what have you decided?" Lisa asked hesitantly. She had gathered all her courage to breach the topic.

Shew stiffened, "About?" She questioned back and her voice came out colder than she intended it to be. She felt worse when she saw Lisa flinch and move away from her fearfully.

"You very well know what I am talking about Shew." Lisa persisted not willing to give up. Although she was scared she wasn't the one to retreat easily. Moreover, it concerned Shew's happiness.

"Can we just not talk about it?" Shew's eyes turned sombre and she looked away from her friend. She didn't like seeing Lisa frightened of her.

"You are still hurting Shew, how can I be quiet about it?" Lisa raised her voice. She was annoyed that Shew wasn't treating her seriously.

"Liz, it took me five years to come back to this city-"

"I know but-"

Lisa didn't have any comeback for Shew's half-spoken thoughts. She didn't know how she could stop her friend from her path of self-destruction.

"I will do what I feel is right Liz." Shew declared after a moment of silence.

"Will it be enough for you Shew? Will you be happy after that?" Lisa couldn't help but speak her thoughts out loud. How could Shew not see that she was becoming more miserable than she was before?

"Happy?" Shew chuckled dryly. "I don't think I know the meaning of that word anymore."

"Oh, Shew!" Lisa exclaimed her voice breaking near the end. She once again almost burst out into tears.

"Come on now Liz, don't cry..." Shew was helpless and caressed Lisa's head awkwardly. She couldn't help but wonder how her friend turned into a cry baby.

"I can't see you like this Shew!" Lisa bawled and cried harder.

"I will probably find happiness Liz but I don't want it before I get what I want." Shew came to a compromise to get Lisa to stop crying.

Shew couldn't bring herself to shatter her heart with more cruel words.

Seeing her grim determination Lisa quietly nodded her head.

Even though she knew her friend was lost on a path darker than the night, she couldn't do anything but wish happiness and peace return to her soon.