I Won't Let Him

One Day Left

ONE DAY LEFT...

AUBREY didn't know what possessed her to pull out the photo album again after all this time.

Maybe it was from seeing KEL earlier yesterday.

Maybe it was because she looked at the calendar and remembered that SUNNY's birthday was about to come up tomorrow.

Maybe it was because she just wanted to make sure the photo album was still safe and intact.

Maybe it was all three reasons combined. Who knows? Certainly not her.

Still, when she pulled the photo album out from underneath the lockbox under her bed, she felt compelled to at least go through the memories one more time.

Sitting there in her room, in the attic of her house, she perused through the old memories of eight years ago at her desk.

It'd been a while since she took the time to go through this again. When was the last time she actually opened this ever since BASIL gave it to her for safekeeping?

Maybe... two-ish years now? Huh. That long?

She'd have to apologize to BASIL later about this then if the topic ever came up. She definitely wasn't giving it the loving treatment that BASIL would have if he was still holding on to it.

Flipping to the last page of the album, she gave a depressed sigh as her eyes fell to the very last photo of the book.

(9/22): After some begging, SUNNY came to join MARI for recital practice... Hehe... They're still working out some stuff, but they already sound so amazing! I know they're going to be great. Go, MARI! Go, SUNNY! You can do it!

The photo of SUNNY and MARI practicing for their recital six years ago. Back when he was still awake. The last photo BASIL ever took of SUNNY being awake...

...

She gently closed the photo album and leaned back in her chair, staring aimlessly up at her roof.

Things changed so much after all these years... Ever since SUNNY became comatose, nothing had been the same.

At first, it was small. Barely noticeable changes. When they still had hope that SUNNY would wake up sometime soon, her old friend group was still closely knit together. She made the effort to hang out with BASIL and KEL at school. She did her best to wait patiently for HERO to make time for her. She earnestly gave her best effort to try to spend time with MARI...

But when SUNNY didn't wake up, and HERO moved on to go to college, it dawned on all of them that maybe things wouldn't go back to the way things were.

KEL probably realized this first when he suddenly stopped joining them to visit SUNNY. Did his best to avoid the topic too until he eventually stopped talking to her and moved on to be with other friends.

Heh... As much as she hated KEL for that, she only just realized how she actually did the same. So she was no better than him. What a hypocrite she was to act all high and mighty and ignore him yesterday when he reached out to her for the first time in years.

Whatever. Piece of shit still deserved it.

When KEL left, it starting being only MARI and AUBREY visiting SUNNY together. BASIL would actually visit at different hours for some reason, so that was why she saw less of him during this point.

AUBREY tried... she really really really tried to keep herself together...

But seeing her best friend on that bed, over and over and over, again and again and again, with no signs of change or waking up for two years- She couldn't take it anymore.