An Endless Wait.

chapter 17

I got up, my hair was impossible, I searched for my rubber band all over the bed, under the blanket, under the pillow but nowhere, I went and stood in front of the mirror, I was wearing my tattered old t-shirt which had holes in it with sweatpants, my hair was knotted, my face was tear stained and irritation plastered my expression. I picked up another rubber band tied my hair into a knotted ponytail and dragged my feet to the roof. 

I folded my hands around my chest and the let the cool wind calm me, I shivered as the cold wind entered my back and ran down my spine. I stood there for a while gazing at the night sky, and then curled into a ball on the edge. I logged on to my facebook account; my news feed was always filled with Richard. Richard Collins shared this and that, and that and this, I sighed and looked at the view around my house, my house was on an isolated street apart from one house and had a forest on the opposite road, whose half the trees I still could not name.

I narrowed my eyes, trying to see in the dark. Was Araiyna also sitting on her roof? Then she waved at me and I felt a huge grin spread across my face.

Araiyna and I had been neighbours since childhood; we had built mud pies as kids. I liked Araiyna; she was over the rainbow, sunshine and smiles all over the place kind of person. She was just forever happy and I sometimes envied that. I walked over to the other edge of my roof, waving at her, I knew I was glad to see her, I dint mind a company to get Richard off of my mind, and she was just the right person for the job.

"Shouldn't u be asleep?"  I questioned her

"I'm studying" she answered, giving me her toothy smile.

Araiyna was pretty; I had to give her that. She had deep green big eyes, which were forever ready to pop-out of their sockets, she had long brown curly hair which looked like telephone wires hanging on her head, and she had the cutest nose I had ever seen, small yet so angular and perfect. 

"You are not doing anything" I asked, confused.  

'I'm waiting for a comet or a shooting star" she paused thinking "or maybe even a meteor" she continued with a playful smile. 

"Has someone ever told you? You are crazy, miss" I said

I sat down next to her, and silence befell on us as we both stared at the starry sky.

Her sudden question caught me off-guard "Natalie, what has you so much worried these days?" I could see the seriousness on her face, seriousness of her question marking shape of her eyebrows.

"What do you mean?" I asked trying not to look at her.

"You know very well I'm an observer, common spit it out"  

"if you are not sleepy yet, I'll tell you in sometime" I said, now looking her.

"As u wish Nat Rat" she said shrugging her shoulders. She was the only one on the face of this whole earth who could come up with such name I always rolled my eyes at it. 

"So what's new noodles?"I called her noodles because of her hair "how's your life treating you?" I asked. 

Hours passed, Araiyna kept making me laugh, and I kept laughing on the lamest jokes I had ever heard in my life until we both heard a sharp, crisp voice yelling. Araiyna's mother was shouting from downstairs.

"I want you downstairs, now"

"Oops I got to go, tell me tomorrow okay?" she said getting up "goodnight sleep well and stay happy" she said and ran away downstairs.

As I heard her run down the stairs, ii curled into a ball, and opened Richard's facebook profile. I was a regular stalker to his facebook page now, I would just go and scroll down his wall, see girls flirting and making useless hearts on his wall, but I had never seen him flirt back and I respected him for that. At least he wasn't like every self-obsessed football player, but he was so sad, he needed somebody to be there for him, sometimes I just felt like hugging him, to sooth him, to tell him everything is okay, 'I'm gonna be there for you', he was falling and I couldn't stop it.

I knew this was going to be tough, but he needed a friend. I knew he was going to hurt me, push me away, but it felt just wrong to let him do that to himself, to let him change himself into what he was becoming. I have to try, I cannot just give up, I have to try and bring back the guy he was. I rested my head against the back wall, and sat, sat staring at the sky.