To No One

Ch.12 - Tomorrow Onwards

<B - After finishing the last sentence, I remained silent for a couple of minutes to let Samantha process that bitter story. At least, that’s how I felt about it. No matter how happy and warm that memory feels, I can’t help but remember what happened afterwards. Oh, don’t worry… I’ll tell you what happened that day when the time comes.
After a while, Samantha voiced her opinion.>

S - That… *chuckle* That reminds me when I was a little younger.

B - Does it?

S - Yeah. I used to hang out with a girl that acted really similarly to Laurence.

B - I guess they just mass-produce that kind of people a lot.

S - Hahaha, I guess you're right!

<B - We spent the next hour talking about various things unrelated to my past life. It was fascinating to see how easily I could relive something like that and tell it to another person, specifically face-to-face. Some time passed, and we somehow started talking about Samantha’s friends.>

S - When I was your age, I didn’t have that many friends. I kept meeting people, but I couldn’t quite connect with any of them.

B - When you were my age? Just how old are you?

S - I’m twenty-two, duh~

B - You are only about three years older than me. You don’t have to talk like an old woman.

S - O-oh, uh… to the point, then.

<B - Samantha nervously chuckled as she hurried to continue her story.>

S - The only people I can truly consider my friends back then were two people. One of them was a girl called Evelyn.

B - Huh, interesting name.

S - Yeah, you don’t hear that kind of name too often nowadays. Anywho, it was a little tedious to call her that every day, so I got used to calling her Eve.

B - (Understandable, I suppose…)

S - She and I used to be a little wild all the time. Sneaking into the high school late at night, breaking windows, getting into trouble in general. We also used to have some really gaudy hairstyles.

B - What do you mean by that?

S - Well… I used to wear a huge ponytail on one side of my head. Eve, on the other hand, still has the extremely long braid that I helped her make once.

<B - Samantha continued talking about her friend for a long time. Her face was practically beaming with glee, increasing in intensity as she remembered more and more. By the time she was done, you could tan yourself just by looking at her general direction. There was something still in my mind, though, so I couldn’t help myself.>

B - So, who was the other person you were friends with?

S - Oh, him…

<B - Suddenly, the tone of the conversation shifted dramatically. Samantha was still smiling, but you could see how all the color on her face abandoned her. You don’t need a lot of insight to know that I tripped myself into a sensitive subject. It didn’t take me too long to put two and two together and realize who she was thinking of.>

B - That person… correct me if I’m wrong, but his name is Francis, right?

S - ...yeah. He was the best person I’ve ever met in my life. Kind, understanding, caring...

B - Sounds like you think really highly of him.

S - Who wouldn’t... with a guy like him? But he was too kind, I’m afraid.