Somebody That I Used to Know

I woke up early like I usually do on Sunday morning's, before beginning my everyday routine. I walked to the bathroom, rubbing my face as I went, and peeled off my pajamas. I turned the water on for the shower; I desperately needed to fully wake up. Half an hour later, I was fully dressed and out of the front door after feeding my two tiny pets. As usual, I dragged my feet to the car because of how early it was. Once I was sitting in the driver’s side of the car, I started up the radio before going on my way to see my best friend Ronnie. He's been in jail for over a year and I haven't missed even one Sunday of going to see him. And today was not going to be any different. I sat in my red car and got comfortable before taking a sip of my coffee and speeding over to see him. I got there in about twenty minutes, parked my car, and stepped out of it allowing my pale skin to be warmed by the never-missing warm sun. I made my way to the entrance, ignoring the catcalls as I went.

"Hey Ana." the guard behind the counter said once I walked in, after coming for over a year most people knew me.

"Hi Victor." I greeted as I walked over to him and filled out the piece of paper he pushed towards me.

“How was your week?”

“It went well. My brother’s birthday was on Wednesday. We had a little party for him.”

“Your brother? Well, tell him I said happy birthday. How is he?”

“He’s adjusting.” I said with a little shrug while I scribbled out my signature on the bottom of the paper.

"You're here to see Ronnie, as usual?”

"As always." I told him when I finished filling out the paper.

He nodded his head before telling his friend through the phone that I was here to see Ronnie before gesturing for me to walk into the room. I did as I do every week and pulled open the heavy door before walking through the room to get to one of the chairs that had a wall of glass separating it from the chair across from it. Ronnie walked into the room with a smile on his face before practically running over to sit across from me. He picked up his phone at the same time I picked up mine and placed his hand against the glass.

"I almost thought you weren't going to come." he said to me as I picked my hand up and placed it against the glass level with his hand, making me laugh a little since he said that every week.

"How could you think that? I come every Sunday at the same exact time." I said as we both let our hands down.

"That's true," he began with a small chuckle as he shifted a bit in order to get more comfortable in his seat, "so how's everything going?"

I thought about it for longer than I should. I wasn’t sure if he was referring to my challenged brother, my asshole of an ex-boyfriend, or my thankless career. Instead of giving him another burden, I decided I wouldn’t tell him everything that was going wrong. I shrugged my shoulders a bit.

"Everything's good, still missing you more than anything." I told him, making him smile, “We had a Pokémon themed birthday party for Kris.”

“Damn. I can’t believe I missed it.”

“It’s okay. You’ll be home for the next one.”

“Did he get the letter I wrote for him? I told him that I’m taking him to Comic Con when I get out.”

“He read it and he’s keeping it on his dresser. He can’t wait.” I said with a wide smile, happy about how well he got along with my family members since they were all so important to me.

"I miss you so much, sunshine." he said with a little whine and the first sign of a tear was caught in his eyes.

“I know. I'm counting down the days until you’re back home and watching old movies with me on Netflix.” I told him while I ran a hand through my newly dyed brown and blonde hair, fixing it slightly since my bangs were getting into my eyes.

"You dyed some of it blonde again." he commented with a wide smile spread over his face, "I like it. You look really good."

"Thanks Ron. I don't mean to spoil anything, but did they tell you anything else about when you're getting out?" I asked him, worried because now I had his release on my mind.

He smiled at me and for a second or two, it seemed as though everything was back to normal; it seemed like we were kids again and running around in my backyard. Most days, especially these days, I missed that. Everything seemed so much simpler when we were just stupid little kids.

"Well," he began, dragging out his words teasingly, "they said I'll be out sometime in December; thanks to my good behavior."

"Ronnie, th-that's great!" I said happily after I had recovered from my jaw dropping.

"Yeah. Well-" he began, only to be cut off by the guard.

"Time's up Radke." the guard said.

Ronnie and I sighed at the same time and he stood up a little, pushing the chair out as he did.

"Well goodbye Chek. I love you" he said to me, placing his hand against the glass again.

"Bye Radke. I love you too." I said, copying his motions as we did every week.

We both pulled our hands away from the glass at the same time, and soon after, I watched the guard pull my best friend away from me again. I sighed and stood up so I could go back home since I had off for the entire day. After saying a quick goodbye to Victor at the front desk, I got back into my car and started to drive home.