If I Only Had The Heart

Alaine:

The familiar neighborhood appeared once I had turned left on the previous street. The sun was burning through the sky, leaving an orange and pink streak. I pulled into the driveway that I used to always do on a routine basis back a few years ago. After grabbing my bags and nearly dragging them to the door, I fumbled with my key ring until I found the right key and opened the front door.

It looked as if nothing had changed. Trying not to make much noise, I closed the door and headed towards the my old room across from Josh's. Once I had set my bags down, I tiptoed towards his room and cracked the door open. How predictable. He was laying on his bed, pillow covering his face, most likely asleep from speed cleaning the house. A step inside turned into a run and ended with me jumping on the bed and landing on top of him. He let out a groan and pulled the pillow off of his head with his free arm, while the other pulled me into a hug.

"Fuuck Laine, I missed you and everything, but that was not necessary at all," he eyes, still glossy from sleep, glared into my gray eyes. A smirk spread on his face and a curious look glimmered in his chocolate brown eyes. "So what brings you back to my lovely abode?"

"Ours," I corrected while rolling my eyes. A laugh erupted from his mouth and revealed that perfect smile that I adored. "And, I don't feel like talking about that now." I moved off of him and dangled my legs over the edge of the bed before getting up.

Josh sighed and pulled the pillow back over his head. "Well, you're going to have to tell me eventually," his voice was muffled slightly, "Now if you're done harassing me, make yourself useful and get us some fucking food."

I strolled back to my room, grabbing my bag and keys with a grin on my face. "I'm not your bitch, bitch!" Before he could yell back a response, I slammed the door shut headed towards the Chinese restaurant we used to always go to.

Once I got back to the house with the food, Josh and I immediately began eating, then headed towards the couch for a horror movie marathon. During the marathon, I would shield myself with the blankets that was spread over our bodies. The scene was totally cliché. Suspenseful music haunted the scene while a very idiotic girl was trying to find the ghost. The music grew louder which made me lean in towards Josh in attempt to avoid the screen. The music stopped and caused a dead silence throughout the cozy living room.

With the silence filling the air, I slowly looked up. Without much notice, my cell phone suddenly lit up and started to vibrate on the table -- and nearly scared me shitless. "Shit," I mumbled under my breath. I quickly shot Josh, who was practically dying from laughter, my death glare and grabbed my phone. Crap, I really don't want to talk about my sudden disappearance to my best friend. My lips pressed to a line and I grabbed my bag off of the table. "I'll be back," I mumbled as I walked out of the front door. I sat on the floor and pulled out a box from my purse. I fumbled with the box and retrieved what I needed. The cancer-stick hung from my lips as I pulled out a lighter and lit it. After taking a long drag, a small smile formed on my face as I stared down at my best friend's name on my recent missed calls list. I imagined her yelling at me for the first few minutes then rambling on like her crazy self, that I had missed already. Without much thought, I inhaled in more smoke and called her back.

"Hey Mel--" my voice was soon cut off by an urgent, raspy voice. My smile fell as soon as I recognized the voice.

"Alaine? Alaine, where are you?!" The distress was clear in his voice.

A sigh left my lips as I pulled up the cigarette back towards my mouth to take another drag before answering him. "Does it really matter?" I rolled my eyes at the thought of his question. Now he's interested in me.

John let out a scoff before sighing. There was a long pause, before he finally spoke up, "Alaine, I'm sorry. I wish you could just come talk to me. You don't know what happ--"

Something in me snapped once he said that and made me cut him off. "I don't need to know what happened. Because I know pretty damn well what I saw that night," anger dripped off of the spoken words. My face felt hot and before I knew it, tears poured down my face.

After several sniffles and rubbing my eyes, a figure stood before me and lifted me up into a hug. Josh retrieved the phone from my limp body and hung up before carrying me off, princess style, back to my room.