Living on Perfectly Remembered Memories

It was close to nine p.m. at night. I was so tired from today's events of five tests in a row. Today sucked. I didn't want anyone to bother even calling my name. I was that tired.

When dad told me someone was on the phone for me, I screamed in frustration as I reached the phone. "What?" I growled, adding a yawn.

"Please go to the skate park right now. I need to talk to you." The phone lined ended soon after.

I stared at the phone in confusion. Should I go and meet him? Should I march back to my room and go to sleep, just like I planned to in the first place?

I walked up to my room, closing the door behind me. I put on a sweater and grabbed my keys. "I have to go meet Matt at the skate park. I'll be home soon," I said, walking towards the front door.

"Wait!" dad exclaimed. I stopped in my steps, waiting for him to finish. He walked up to me with a very small can in his hands. "Take it."

I rolled my eyes, crossing my arms across my chest. "Are you serious? I'm not bringing mace with me!"

"It's for protection! What if someone tries to mug you?"

"I'll be with Matt. Have you seen him lately? He's built for battle."

"Please?"

I grumbled, placing the mace into my pocket and walked out the door. When I slipped through the entrance to the park, I sat on the biggest ramp, waiting for Matt to come.

I want to see what he has to say to me. He sounded very urgent on the phone but that could mean nothing. He could just stand me up just because he knew he had that power. He could tell me why he doesn't want us to be friends anymore. Honestly, I don't care anymore. For the past three months, I'm happy. I don't have to worry about anyone but myself and Rafael and that's fine with me. Things aren't hectic right now and I planned to keep them that way.

Matt climbed up the ramp with a sullen expression on his face. I hate it when he does that. My tough girl act completely melts down when Matt looks like that.

"Matty, what's wrong?" I whispered, patting the seat next to me.

He sat down, running a hand through his hair. "My parents...they're separating."

My dangling feet froze. My attention was fully on him now. Separating? No...His parents were the happiest couple I knew, besides my parents.

I put a hand on his shoulder. "What do you mean?" I questioned. Maybe I heard him wrong.

"What the fuck do you think I mean?" he spat, not making eye contact with me.

I retracted my hand back, a serious frown showing on my face. What did I do for him to snap at me like that?

"Sorry," he mumbled.

Bet he is. I narrowed my eyes. If this was what he was going to do, I don't want any part of it. I'm trying to figure out the facts and he's going to give me the cold shoulder? I don't need this.

"I-I can't deal with this Franchesa. I can't," he whimpered, tears spilling from his eyes. For the first time since we were here, he looked into my eyes, the sadness conveying how much he was hurting.

I sniffled, feeling the need to cry because my best friend was in need and I couldn't do a damn thing to make him feel better. I wiped away the beads of tears that fell from his eyes.

"Matt, listen to me. You're not going through this alone. I'm with you and I always will be. Everything is going to work out. I love you," I told him, hoping that would make him feel better. My hands found their ways to my kneecaps, shaking now.

"I love you too. Please...just hold me," he pleaded, his voice finally breaking.

I motioned my hands so he could lean on me. His head found a comfort zone against my collarbone. He sobbed, not even bothering to wipe away his tears. My parents weren't separating, but how could this hurt me so much?

I could almost feel Matt's pain. All his feelings dispersed between his cries, whimpers, and sobs of anguish. I never saw my best friend look so sad, so hurt, so broken.

We sat there for hours, listening to the crickets chirp and cars passing by. Matt calmed down by now, but he was shaking. I offered my sweater but he denied it, saying it wouldn't fit him either way. He settled on hugging me for dear life.

"Maybe we should get home before we get into trouble," I offered, noticing how dark it had gotten.

"Okay," he replied, jumping off the ramp and catching me as I did the same.

We walked in complete silence, holding hands, just like we used to. It almost had the same effect it always had on me, almost. Three months without talking to Matt and my feelings went away. I'll never know if we would have ended up in a relationship or not, but that really doesn't matter anymore. He has Lisa and I have Rafael. The both of us aren’t lonely anymore. The only feeling I have from us holding hands is the happiness of having my best friend back.

We had school in a few hours but we really didn't care. What happened tonight was more important than school. Although Matt wasn't in any fit state to go to school, I knew he would. He had to or our friends would all worry. If they worried, they would ask me if he was okay. If they asked me what was wrong, I would never be able to lie to them.

I reached home at one a.m. in the morning. A note hung to my bedroom door as I reached it. 'We're talking tomorrow.' was all it said. Wonderful, now I have to tell my parents.