Counting Down The Days To Go

“This feels like the old times, huh?” Amanda asked as she flashed a cheery but rather forced smile. I gave her a small smile before sipping my coffee. We were currently at Starbucks, drinking coffee and just talking.

“So, what made you ask me out today?” I asked. Amanda hadn’t really been coming to school for a while so we hadn’t been hanging out as much.

“I just missed you, Crystal,” She said with a shrug. “We’re almost done with high school and so much stuff had happened. I just needed to meet up with you just to make sure that…I don’t know. I guess I just need someone to tell me that I haven’t changed that much.”

“You haven’t,” I reassured her. “You’re still that spunky, cute little girl.”

“We have been friends for a long time, haven’t we?” Amanda said with a small sigh. “Time just passed by so fast. From our first bras to our first case of foundation and then boys came along…”

“Yeah,” I said. A sharp pain went through my heart as she said ‘boys’. I still haven’t moved on from Mike. He had been growing paler and paler and it worried me so much. I just wanted to rush up to him and ask him what’s wrong but then I realized I can’t. Mike had just completely shut off. I haven’t seen him smiled in weeks. He looked like the ghost of his past self, a pale white boy floating around the hallways with a grim line on his face. No emotions whatsoever present on his face. It scared me to see that he had changed so much in a matter of weeks.

“Hellooo?” Amanda asked as she waved her hand in front of me.

“Sorry,” I muttered.

“Mike?”

“Yeah…”

“That boy sure is a complicated piece of work,” Amanda mused. “But there are so many other fishes out there in the sea.”

“But he was my…first l-love,” I stuttered out.

“I know, babe. But in life, you win some, you lose some.”

“I suppose it was the way he broke up with me that made me unable to move on,” I said. “He said he loves me but he can’t be with me. And every single time I see him, I’m still unable to believe that we’ve broken up.”

“Yeah, Mike's a pansy but…um…actually, I sort of asked you out for another reason,” Amanda began.

“Yeah?”

“You see, I’ve been thinking. And um, don’t hate me when I tell you but, you see…I’m going away,” Amanda said.

“I’m sorry, what? Going away?” I asked, shocked.

“I’m planning to go to Europe for a while and my parents agreed so…” She said as she traced some pattern on the table top.

“But-but…” I trailed of. No, it can’t be. This must be some weird dream. First, my boyfriend leaves me and now my best friend was going off to another continent? God must be playing a bad joke on me.

“Why? What about prom and graduation?” I croaked out. I was on the verge of tears. I guess you could say that I don’t deal well with people leaving.

“My parents think that it would be good for me to venture out and see the world. But I think they are just using it as an excuse to get me out of town till the whole pregnancy matter blew over. And I’m going to complete the rest of the year by doing online assessments. As for prom, take some beautiful pictures and send them to me, alright?”

I grabbed a napkin and began to dab at the small tears that were appearing at the corner of my eyes.

“Oh, honey, don’t cry,” Amanda said before reaching over to my side of the table and giving me a hug. “I’d be back before you know it.”

“How long are you going to be gone?” I asked.

“ I don’t know, really. A week? A month? A year? Ten years?” Amanda said. “But there are many ways to keep in touch. Technology is so advance this days.”

“When are you leaving?”

“In about a week but don’t come and send me off. I don’t want to cry at the airport. That’s too cliché,” She said with a small smile. “I’d be gone when I’m gone.”

“I’m going to miss you,” I blubbered.

“I’d miss you too. But I heard Europe has the hottest guys and their accents are just so yummy.”

I couldn’t help but smile even though I was still crying. This was so like Amanda to think of hot guys at a time like this. I knew that once she had gone to Europe, chances of her coming back were very slim. I really was going to miss this little ball of energy and fun.

“Don’t forget me,” I said before giving her another hug.