Memories of you and me

"Hello there Zoey, here for the new fiction books that I mentioned yesterday I guess?" a middle-aged woman asks the girl that entered the building a few seconds ago with a smile, waving her right hand with gracefulness.

The girl stops walking as her attention shifts towards the woman's voice upon hearing it, she waves back with a zipped smile as she approaches the woman "Yes Ms. Librarian, I'd like to finish them all as soon as possible and...", she rummages her bag and after a few seconds she takes out a bunch of books "... return these books that I borrowed a week ago." and leaves it in front of the woman.

"Whoa! Already? You can be a record holder at Guinness Zoey!" she exclaims while checking the books that the girl just took out of her bag, she looks astonished at the girl who is chuckling in front of her. "Anyway, the new arrivals are at the same spot." the librarian adds as she goes back to the paperwork that she left.

"Thanks." Zoey throttles toward the center of the library with hums coming out from her mouth. The scent of old books envelopes the place, her sense of smell is used to the odor of antiquity and she finds it pleasant and relaxing, the light coming from the windows faintly enlightens the place; there is only a couple of people around that they seem college students from the university.

She first discovered this old library when she was a child for she loves wandering around, as any normal kid does. Always thirsty for adventures and action; from that day on she visits the library and reads the books that grab her interest. And just recently she got hooked on fiction ones especially those with dramatic endings or in other words, tragedy.

Most of the days this building is desolated, only a few come here and goes scanning the place for a pair of minutes. The sound of her feet ceases as she stands at a bookshelf with the books that the librarian mentioned awhile ago; there are thick and thin ones, "Hmmm.." her meticulous eyes wanders through the bookshelf.

"Oh!" she exclaims by the surprise of finding a new book from her favorite author. Her eyes are filled with avarice, sparkling and teary by the joy that she can't express. She leans forward, standing on her tiptoes and flails her arm to reach the book. The excitement changes into irritation as she struggles to get the book " Darn, if only I'm a few centimeters taller. A shorty's life is so darn hard!!"

Zoey stops the vain attempt and grumps as she glares at the book that she wants to read. "Um.. 'Scuse me." a male voice shocked her and made her turn toward the guy behind her, she slowly moves aside to give him the way "Sorry, go ahead."

"Thanks." the guy replies as he steps forward and reaches his hand to the book that he is interested in, Zoey stares at the guy with uncertainty because there is a faint hospital-like smell coming from him. Her train of thoughts halts as she sees the book that he took out from the shelf.

"Ah, That's-" she speaks abruptly making the guy budge out of surprise and look at her, "This?" he lifts the book that he freshly fetches out from the shelf. Zoey nods with enthusiasm and the sparkling eyes returns once again "Are you a fan of Dreycer Spean too?" she asks while her eyes are glued on the guy.

"Before the leaves of every tree withers..." he opens the book and shifts his eyes on it, gently turning a page after the other "... And the first flake of snowdrops; I am not good at waiting but for you, I will stop my time, I'll be here. Waiting for your return Anna." after speaking he closes the book and gives her a warm smile.

Zoey's expression changes into melancholy, powerless and teary by the sudden statement of the guy; she leans forward, holding the guy's thin and pale hand "For the days that had passed and taught me how to smile once again, thank you. Your love that patiently took care of me even though I am so conceited and arrogant, I love you too Carl. I'll return, by your side, and I'll never let you go."

They gaze at each other accompanied with the silence, their faces illuminated by the light coming from the window, the two of them stands there as if they departed and went to their own enchanted world. "The patrician and the jester..." Zoey decides to break the silence enveloping them and let go of his hand "... I love that novel and I can't believe that it is a work of a high schooler and he's the same age as me." she ends her sentence with a sigh while staring at the book that she wants to read still at the bookshelf.

The guy takes a glance at the spot where Zoey's staring at " You're an avid reader of Dreycer's eh?..." he takes the book out of the bookshelf with ease for his advantageous height and gives it to Zoey while grinning "...That you know the lines of his first book." As a response Zoey takes the book while giving him a smug look "I know all of his work, I know it better than what's inside my bag!"

The guy chuckles and tries not to laugh hard or else they will get scolded by the librarian "What the heck! Haha. What does that suppose to mean? Haha." Zoey chuckles along, hiding her mouth behind the book that she's holding; after a few seconds of chuckles she wipes off the tear accumulated on the corner of her left eye and clears her throat "I'm Zoey, Dreycer's number one reader."

"Andrey, just a random reader," he replies as he catches his breath and caressing his chest. "Let's go and sit over there..." she says as she points the free table behind him and he nods as a response, "... Is this your first time here? I never saw your face before." she asks as they walk toward the empty table.

"I came from the city. I transferred here a month ago." As soon as they arrived at the table they sit and chat for quite a while, discussing the novels they have read and the authors until it is time for the library to close. In just a day the two strangers became friends.

A month has passed since the two teenagers became friends, the bright green leaves turn into burning red and yellow colors. It seems like they are ablaze, swaying their branches through the rhythm of the wind's caress; the temperature drops day by day as winter is approaching.

Zoey looks at the falling leaves behind the window of the library, sitting comfortably while rocking her feet. Her eyes follow the precipitating leaf's movement while her hands are busy holding the book that she's reading. The sky is tinted with melancholic colors, giving contrast to the bright redness of the falling leaf.

She takes a deep sigh to wear out the thoughts that bugged her these past few days and the weather seems to play along. She did not see her best friend, Andrey, for a week now and she feels kinda lonely without his presence. As the leaf disappears on her sight she lays her chin on the table and tries to read the book.

But before she could resume, a pair of cold hands block her sight and the smell of medicine drifts into her nostrils. "Guess who!" a masculine voice comes out from the guy who is covering Zoey's eyes.

She sighs before replying the guy " You've disappeared for a week without saying a word. Do you know how worried I was Andrey?!?!" and holds those cold and bony hands of his to take it away from her sight so she could look at him. Her anger changes into shock as she sees his appearance.

"Sorry about that, I went back to the city for some urgent matters. Did you miss me?" Andrey says as he sits beside her, wearing a smile on his face. He got even paler and thinner from the last time she saw him. His cheekbones and collarbone are even more visible, the word exhaustion is written all over his body especially beneath his eyes, a pair of grey and puffy bags.

She remains silent, astonished by the sudden and drastic change of Andrey. "Hey, did you see a ghost or something?" he says in a sarcastic way while looking at Zoey's eyes.

"W-what happened to you? You don't look well," she says holding his cheek, her eyes filled with worries are looking at him, she feels sad as the soft and tender cheek that she adores is no longer there. Andrey jerks upon he felt her warm hand touching him and laughs to light up the atmosphere a little.

"Just lack of sleep, don't worry. A few rests and I'll be good as new!" he pats her head and messes her hair a bit then shows another smile to tell her not to worry; "Then why the heck you're here? Just go home and rest!" she orders while glaring at him.

"To see my beloved cute little best friend. Because I miss her so much." He says with a straight face without hesitating, he just replied naturally and nonchalantly.

"Little?? Well, I'm sorry for being a shorty!!" she pouts as she crosses her arm and turns away. Andrey scratches his nape and chuckles, "I didn't mean it like that..." he pauses for a few seconds, taking a deep breath as if the next thing he will gonna say might change the flow of his fate "... You're cute."

Zoey turns towards him and sticks her tongue out "And now you're trying to hit on me?" , Andrey becomes flustered by the sudden reaction of the girl "E-eh? N-no I didn't mean it li-"

"But I'm glad..." she cuts Andrey before he could even finish his defense, her eyes meet the boy's while holding the book she was trying to read in her hands "... I'm glad that you came back and the first thing you did is look for me. It makes me feel somewhat special." and smiles genuinely.

Andrey's pale cheeks turn somewhat pinkish by Zoey's statement "You're my best friend after all." He laughs in an awkward way as his gaze averts her's, "Oh there's new kinds of stuff here!" the chair screeches when he stands up and goes to the bookshelf beside him. "Hey, don't change the subject dummy! Hmph!" she grunts glaring at him for a few seconds, because of the feeling of irritation she returns briskly to the book she was reading with her eyebrows still bumping each other.

Andrey slowly walks towards the bookshelf, wobbling and staggering, he feels light-headed and his cold sweat dripping down from his forehead. Oh, crap, why now?! he says to himself as he tries his hardest to not lose balance and fall to the ground for he doesn't want his best friend to worry.

He pants and wheezes upon reaching the bookshelf, his hand holding onto the border of the shelf to keep himself standing. This ain't cool at...all... he mutters before his hand betrays him before his knees give up and before his bodies crash on the floor.

"ANDREY!!!" Zoey shouts as soon she heard a loud thud coming from Andrey's direction and seeing him lying down on the floor, she dashes towards him tossing the book she is reading aside. "ANDREY!! HEY!! SOMEONE.....HELP!!" she shouts desperately, so loud that her vocal cords might break while tears gushing out from her eyes. "SOMEONE CALL AN AMBULANCE!!"

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The ambulance arrived and brought them to the hospital; Zoey hicks and moans in front of the emergency room, still tears rolling down her face and mumbling his name like a broken cassette "Andrey..... An-drey..."

An hour has passed and the people dressed in surgical gowns come out from the room, a man approaches Zoey that is sitting at the bleacher in front of the room and explains Andrey's situation. She listens to what the doctor is saying with a petrified expression.

After that, the nurses transferred Andrey in an available room. "Just press the nurse call button if something happens." Says one of the nurses before leaving, Zoey simply nodded with her eyes staring at the sleeping face of her best friend. She sits at the chair near the bed, perplexed and trying to digest what happened a while ago; "You won't leave me right, you promised me." she murmurs as she nuzzles and rests her chin at the border of the bed.

Zoey holds his cold hand once more, she caresses those thin and bony fingers of his, that now there is a tube pierced through his pale skin. Only the sound of the air conditioner can be heard and the room well lightened by the fluorescent lamp hanging on the ceiling.

She remains still, watching over him until her tired eyes give up and close until the exhaustion overwhelms and put her to sleep and sends her to dreamland. She sees herself and Andrey together, walking side by side in the prairie with the sun showering them with its warming rays and having a bubbly conversation; but all of a sudden the scenery is engulfed in darkness and Andrey disappears, leaving her all alone.

Then everything turns white and a silhouette appears before her, "He has a severe Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary disease (C. O. P. D.) and his fate is inevitable. Inevitable. Inevitable." the dark entity repeats and repeats the last word making her terrorized and slumps on the ground, covering her ears so she couldn't hear a thing;

She shakes her head in a complaint, refusing the truth and believing that he will survive and remain by her side; "NO!! NOOO!" she screams, as hard as she can, so hard that her throat dries off and she starts to cough for the irritation. She squeezes her hand with so much force, she became desperate, desperate to wake up from this nightmare.

"ARGH!! My hand!!" her eyes slowly opens up by the scream of someone, " Ouch! Let my hand go you brute woman!!!" another scream but now clear and loud; Zoey sits up straight with her droopy eyes slightly closed, she seems still half asleep. "Darn you, why do you have such strength for a bookworm." The bed-ridden guy winces and grunts in pain as soon as he takes his hand off from danger.

She yawns and rubs her eyes while listening to the grunting, but then she stops and looks at Andrey with surprise, she rubs it once more to make sure she is not hallucinating or dreaming. "What? Did you see a ghost or something?" Andrey says while rubbing his poor hand that got squashed by Zoey. Her eyes begin to tear up and without any warning, she leaps towards him all of a sudden to hug him as she starts to weep.

"I thought you will leave me, you twerp! Do you know how worried I was?!?" She complains while her tears overflow, she hugs him tightly for the fear of losing him. "Stupid! Stupid Andrey, I will kill you if you'll die on me." He listens to the girl's sobs in silence and hugs her back to comfort her.

"Sorry for making you worry." he speaks up after Zoey calmed down, "But I promised you that I won't leave you..." he gently pushes Zoey away so he can wipe off those tears that she shed and give her a smile so he can cheer up "... I'm fine now and I just need some good rest. So hurry up or you'll be late for school." he says as he points at the wall clock in front of him.

"But-"

"No buts! I'm fine now and I'm thankful that you've watched over me." He insists while fixing Zoey's messy hair, as a response she gave him a pout "Fine but I'll be here in the afternoon." Andrey nods and pats her head before she stands up and goes to the restroom.

"See ya," Zoey says before going out from his room, waving her hand at him and beaming a bright smile while opening the door.

"Hey!" He shouts before she could exit.

"Hm?" she halts and looks at him with curious eyes.

"Well..." he averts his eyes and starts to fidget, "... When I'll recover let's go on..... A date... A friendly date, that is." he finishes with an awkward laugh.

"Stupid, focus on recovering first." She replies as she exit; he sighs by the rejection and looks at his hand that was being held by Zoey the whole night, a warmth that he can't forget. But before the door closes he hears her speak once more, making him ecstatic " And then focus on our date... Friendly date, that is."

Day after day, Andrey's condition ameliorates. "If this recovery continues, in a few weeks you'll be back as new." Says the doctor who came to check up on him, "That's great. Thank you doc." he replies while grinning, it seems that he can't wait to go out and smell some fresh air.

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"Sorry if I took so long." says Zoey as she arrives at the spot where Andrey is waiting, she sits beside him while staring at the wide blue sky where a flock of birds is freely flying "What a peaceful day, it reminds me of the day when I first met you. Those brown eyes that captivated me as soon as I lay my eyes on it, what do they call it again?"

She holds her chin as she tries to remember with her eyebrows colliding at each other, she snaps her fingers as soon as her memories gave her a hint. "Ah! Yeah, its love at first sight. Haha, and I just discovered my feelings recently." She smiles and stands up while patting the dust off from the skirt of her uniform,

"You remember what we talked about on the first day?" she turns around to face him, "The patrician and the jester by Dreycer Spean. Their story is just like ours, they accidentally met, gave company to each other and fell in love."

Zoey approaches him with small strides and crouches looking at him, " But the only difference is they lived happily ever after and us; we lived separately ever after."

Her tears of anguish start to flow, sobbing and weeping "You've left me even though you promised me you will not. Even though I wanted you to stay so badly. Why did you need to go away from me? and I didn't have the opportunity to say these words when you were still here beside me. So I gonna tell you now so I can move on."

She stands and wipes her tears because she knows that Andrey doesn't want to see her crying. She tries to smile, tried to make a bright one for his sake " I love you, Andrey. I mean Dreycer Spean, I love you and thank you for these bittersweet memories. These memories of you and me. You'll always be here inside my heart, forever."