Helping a Friend | Teen Ink

Helping a Friend

March 23, 2009
By Alejandro Perez BRONZE, Highland Village, Texas
Alejandro Perez BRONZE, Highland Village, Texas
1 article 0 photos 0 comments

The Meadow, Texas
…A cold wind blew across the meadow; leaves flew up and down. The leaves…They moved in swirls in the air. It was almost entrancing. I kept my sight on one leaf in particular….Until it fell gently into the still lake. I sighed, I can’t do this anymore. All the stuff I’ve done wrong in my life, the people I’ve hurt, friends I’ve pushed away….No…don’t think about it now. It’ll only make everything harder. I have done so many errors in my life, not the ones that can incriminate me. But the worst kind…destroying everything that I held dear because of stupid mistakes.
I continued to look at the leaf moving slowly around the water, but then my eyes set upon something else. It was a face…angled, tanned, not the greatest looking guy, wiry, curly hair that looked unkempt, eyes were the palest of Grey. It was my face... Edgar’s face. The face that could’ve brought joy to so many people but instead it brings sorrow, and a sense of failure. My little moment here; this little moment of redemption and regret was interrupted when my phone began to ring. I quickly grabbed the little phone out of my jacket pocket. Annoyed, I answered rudely,
"What?" My voice cracked.
"Hey, its me…sorry. Did I bother you?" A sweet but distressed voice replied. I closed my eyes as I recognized the voice. It was the voice of the only friend I had left…
"Not at all, I was…er…on my way to my house." I replied. It was a hopeless lie; she’s known me long enough to know when I am lying.
"Uh huh, you’re walking around by yourself again. Aren’t you?" Dang, she was good. I hesitated in answering.
"Yeah, it’s the only way for me to think clearly." I swiped at the water. The cold water felt good.
"I’m sure," I heard her sniffle in the background.
"What’s wrong?" I tried to sound reassuring.
She started to break down ,sobbing, "my grandfather just died…" I stood frozen in the same kneeling position over the water.
"…. What?" I couldn’t believe it.
"I was gonna call my dad, but I wanted someone to talk to, someone who can help me through this. That’s why I called you." She sounded so depressed. It was killing me, her being sad was rare…but when she was, it tended to be more than one person crying.
"I’m so sorry." something wet trickled down my cheek, I reached over to touch it. It was a tear. Surprised, I quickly brushed it away. "Is there anything I can do for you?" I asked.
She still kept sobbing, "could you meet me," she pleaded, "please?"
"Where are you?" I stood up and started walking back towards my car. The trees looked down upon me, leafless. The wind started to pickup.
"I’m at the park." She sighed.
"That’s three minutes away, I’ll be there real quick." I hung up the phone and ran to the car, the ground was slippery because of all the leaves. I was too worried about her. Hurry, hurry! The silver car that unfortunately was mine came into view. I quickly pulled the keys out of my pocket, and started the car. The engine roared, and I drove to the spot where she told me she’d be there. I parked and ran. I couldn’t find her anywhere. Where is She? I slowed down to a walk. The park seemed lonely, like nobody had been there in ages, I began to think that she had ditched.
"Edgar?" the same sweet voice that was on the phone was in person. I turned around, and there she was, my best friend, the only one I had left….Miranda.

"Miranda." I smiled; she tried to her best to smile but only to a slight curve in her lips. Her eyes, a light shade of brown were the most beautiful things I’ve ever seen, but the puffiness in her eyes was a clear sign of her distress. She rushed to me and I to her. She began to sob as I held her, trying to calm her down.
"shshshsh, hey, its gonna be okay." I said, I was hundred percent sure that this was not helping her at all. Still, I am trying to help her. Her sobbing persisted, and kept on going. "Here let’s sit down on the bench." I ushered her to the bench, she sat down and so did I. She continued to cry. What do I do? What do I do!?
"I’m so sorry that you have to see me like this, you’re the only person I can trust." she said between her sobs. I couldn’t help but think to myself that I had no clue that I meant that much to her. "I just…can’t believe that he’s gone. I mean all the times that we’ve had our laughs, arguments, and moments of sadness…" I have no clue what to do.
I sighed, "Can I do anything to help you?" she looked at me straight in the eyes. Oh lord, there I go again. Her eyes just instantly made me nervous.
"…. Don’t let go of me." She said. I blinked. Okay, at least I can still help her.
"Don’t worry, I won’t." her sobbing lessened a little, now it was the general hiccuping for breath. I rubbed her arm, trying to calm her down. She smiled, oh god she had an amazing smile.
"Edgar….can I ask you something?" she asked me.. She seemed relatively calm now, the weather too oddly enough as the wind turned into a gentle breeze.
"Yeah, anything." I responded.
"Why do you have to be so caring about me all the time?" she asked. That was it, one question and I was left in a daze of nervousness. I’ve never been asked this question before. I took a deep breath,
"You’re the only friend I have left, I can’t bear the thought of losing you as a friend. I care about you too much." I stopped after that; I didn’t know what more to say.
"oh," she said. Actually, she sounded very surprised. she stood up and stood there. There was an awkward moment of silence. "You know… you’re full of surprises." She bent down and gave me a kiss on the cheek. My cheek immediately felt warm where she had kissed me. "I’ll see you around, Edgar and thanks for coming." And she walked away, leaving me there. At least I had helped my best friend this time, and hopefully will in the foreseeable future.
The end


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