Unknown Visit

Have you ever felt alone? Abandoned? Unloved? Have you ever met somebody that you thought you’d be with forever, but they end up leaving you like everyone else? Well, to me, that person is Elerna. We’ve been friends since the dawns of time, we’ve told each other everything, and now she wasn’t here with me.

And the only reason why was because her mom had taken her away. I never got to say goodbye, to tell her how much I cared about her, how we would see each other again. How even though we’re separated, we’ll keep in contact; but that last part’s a lie.

There really isn’t an easy way to say this, but, I’m not sure what Elerna’s email is, her phone is destroyed, her home phone isn’t in my address book, and I have no idea what her home address is. As you can see, Elerna and I, we’re out of touch now; maybe forever.

My first thought when I woke up this morning, was that I was going to go to town with Elerna to get a new outfit. And then I remembered Elerna wasn’t here. She was going home, wherever that is.

“Rayne? Can I come in, sweetheart?” My mother asked, and without me answering back, she walked in. “Oh, Honey. I know you’ll miss Elerna, but it’s time to think about different things. Honey, why don’t we go shopping?”

I burst in tears, and my father walked in, upset looking, with a sad looking Mikey and Frank behind him.

“Oh, Rayne.” My father tisked and I had to clench my teeth to not curse at him. He didn’t care; the only person who actually cared about me was Frank, Mikey, my mother, and Elerna. And she wasn’t here, God!

“Roy, stop that. She’s upset, let’s go downstairs.” My mom hissed, and he followed behind her, protesting that Elerna was just a failure as a friend. Mikey walked the opposite direction of my parents, to Elerna’s old room. Probably to think.

“Rayne, are you alright?” Frank begged, and I shook my head furiously. How could people ask that when somebody was bursting their eyes out? It bugs the crap out of me.

“I-I miss her, F-f-frank. I-I want E-e-elerna back. She’s h-helped me through b-basically everything in m-my life. G-g-god! Why did this h-happen to m-me?” I sobbed, and forced words to go past my lips.

“I’m not sure, Rayne. Mikey misses her a lot. He says that he thought she was just a regular girl, but now he knows that she’s more than that. Elerna has attitude, and he adored that about her. Hey, Rayne, I have to tell you something about what happened today.”

“What?” I stared at him, his face a bit blurry from the tears.

“I was going to have some bacon, and I actually thought about how badly those pigs died for humans to have it. I’m officially a vegetarian. So no more greasy burgers, just delicious crackers, soup, salad, all that good stuff.” He smiled, and I laughed a little.

“I’m the only non-vegetarian person in our group, aren’t I?” I asked, and Frank laughed along with me.

“Yea, I guess you are.”

MIKEY’S P.O.V.

I walked into Elerna’s room, afraid if she was actually gone for good, not sneaking into this room to surprise Rayne. But when I opened the door all the way, it was empty. The bed was neat, the wardrobe was empty (I checked), and nothing was out of place.

Wow, Elerna really cleaned up the place. I thought, and sighed. As I sat down on the bed, I heard a crinkling sound; the sound of paper.
I stood up, undid the quilt, and saw three individual letters. Each one was named in beautiful hand writing.

Frank; Rayne; Mikey.

I picked up the one with my name on it, opened it, and started to read it. The letter was sad, but I knew she meant everything she said. Especially the first part, about how much she would miss Rayne.

The last words, those words confused me. I had to read over them 10 times before I believed it.

Dear Mikey,
You may be reading this now, and I know that I’m not here to tell you this personally, but I just wanted to tell you some things. I will miss Rayne very much, and I expect you to help her. Help her with her trouble, since I’m not there. It’ll mean a lot to me. I’m not really into this… gooey stuff. So it’s a bit new. You know, I may have sounded like I hated you, but every night, when I went to bed, I thought about what I really thought of you, and one thought kept coming into my head, so it has to be true.
I love you.
Elerna

Those last words were shocking, but I felt the same way. I loved Elerna. And it felt like it was my fault for showing up, for making her feel feelings she’s hidden for a long time. It felt like it needed to happen, for us to love each other.

I’m not sure, I walked into the other room, where Frank and Rayne were, and gave them their letters.

RAYNE’S P.O.V.

Mikey had been gone for about 10 minutes before he walked back with two letters; one for me, and one for Frank. Mikey seemed a little distant, but I could see the letter in the back of his pocket.

It felt weird, reading something my best friend wrote. She’s gone, and I would’ve expected for her to tell me this when she had to go, but this was fine too. I’d just cry a little more.

Frank was smiling and giggling at his letter, I’d read that after reading my letter. And speaking of my letter, I was a little shocked about what it actually said.

Dear Rayne,
I’m so sorry for leaving you with those boys and your parents without telling you about my mom coming earlier. If I could turn back time I’d kill my mom, take my siblings, and move in with you. I would, you know I would. Don’t worry about me; I can take care of myself and my siblings, even after the beatings. If I really do need to leave, I’ll probably call that number that takes parents away from their children because of them being so abusive. Give me 4 days, I’ll be back. I promise.
See you soon,
Elerna

I smiled as I finished my letter. I knew Elerna would do something to come back; she talked about killing her mom a lot. It’s strange, thinking that my best friend would risk going to jail, to see me. Maybe she wasn’t so un-caring after all. I mean, she said she’d bring her siblings. Isn’t that wonderful? It is!

I looked at Frank, and stole his letter.

“Hey! Give that back!” He hollered, and I ran to the bathroom, locked the door, and started reading his letter. It was pretty funny seeing all ten words on the paper (not including ‘Dear Frank’ and ‘Elerna’).

Dear Frank,
You better take care of Rayne for me, or else!
Elerna

I smiled at those words, unlocked the door, and handed the letter back to Frank with a sly smile on my face. God, I just love Elerna’s attitude; I could hear her saying each word like she was actually there.

Maybe hope wasn’t gone, maybe it was just hiding.