To Our Pinky Promises

Chapter 3

"Hey, you alright?" Kimmy asked when I stepped out of her room.

I nodded, giving her a weak smile.

"Have some food," Kimmy gestured to the plates on the table and I gratefully sat down on one of the seats to start digging in.

When I finished eating my food, I felt slightly better. The hammering of my head had dulled down to a slight throb and I didn't feel as nauseous anymore.

Kimmy stayed silent and watched me as I ate, as if she was afraid I'd have another mental breakdown.

I gave her a smile to reassure her that I was better now.

"Don't worry too much. It was something that happened a long time ago." I told her, waving off her concerns. "It's just been a long time since I last thought about it, that's why I took it hard earlier. I'm okay, now."

I wasn't lying, I really did feel okay. I wasn't feeling my best but I was okay. The weight that clung onto me had become familiar once again and once I've adjusted myself to it, it was bearable.

I could tell that Kimmy had a lot of questions she wanted to ask me, and I didn't blame her. She was my closest friend and after having thought about it for the last hour, I figured that she had the right to know.

"We were best friends in middle school," I started to say, although she didn't ask.

Kimmy remained silent as I continued to tell her the story I've bottled up and buried deep in my mind.

"We had been in the same school since we were in kindergarten but it was only in middle school that we really talked. He had a crush on my best friend and asked me for some help and we became close friends. We talked every day, he was there for me and I was there for him. But we were kids. Eventually, our friends found out about how close we were and started to tease us. I would overreact and lose my shit at them for bringing up something so ridiculous and say that I'd never consider being with him even if he did like me. I would call him names to make them think I didn't like him so that they would stop teasing us. I don't know why I did that but I know it must've hurt him. I was the one person he trusted most and I had hurt him with words I didn't mean." I played with my food as I kept on talking.

I knew if I raised my head and looked at Kimmy, I wouldn't be able to continue the story.

"At one point, I guess he grew sick of how I'd overreact and we had a huge fight."

My mind flashed back to that day.

"I think we should stop being friends," He texted.

My mind was still warped over what my friend had said and all I could feel was irritation and annoyance over how these people can't mind their own businesses and leave us alone. I wasn't exactly thinking straight so when I read Alex's text, all I felt was the residual anger and annoyance that was directed at the nosy people around us.

"Fine, whatever." I texted back, my fingers hitting my phone's keyboard with a little more force than what was necessary.

After sitting there, unmoving, for another 15 minutes, I started to realize what just happened. When everything finally dawned on me, a kind of sadness I never knew I could feel settled in me.

I took my phone and opened our chat once again, typing meekly, "Remember that promise you made? That if you didn't want to be friends anymore, you'll tell me why?"

I hesitated before typing the next message bubble, "Why?"

I waited for a few minutes before his reply came in. "I don't like how you overreact over everything."