Friendship Tattered and Healed

We used to be best friends. We did everything together. Laughed, played games and had fun. We did all of it together. I was the small, sweet, innocent little girl and you were my overprotective, caring, funny best friend. When we were small, people imagined us together. They thought "Oh, these two will definitely end up together! Look at them. So cute!" We were cute indeed. We used our cute ability to its full advantage and got free candy, chocolate and free gifts. And all that time, we were thinking things would never, ever change. Because we were at bliss.

Little did we know. With our first puberty hit came something more. Distance. The distance of the once-great-ever known unbreakable bond of Lucia Herbert and Cole Dean. We fell apart, it was as simple as that. But, it wasn't so easy to see or to hear or to feel. It all started with him. As days passed by, he would leave me alone and never call me up at midnight to crack jokes. At classes, he would ignore me completely, almost as if I was invisible. And whenever our mothers met up, he would plaster on a fake smile and make small conversation. And that was it.

No more "Oh, here comes the besties!" No more staying up late eating ice-cream and watching horror movies. No more pranks on unsuspecting neighbors and annoying cheerleaders. No more. Nothing was left of our friendship to salvage. But, I couldn't just stand by. He was my friend and I was determined to protect him to the end. So, what did I do? I confronted him. Right before lunch break, I pulled him to a corner and asked him one single question "Are we friends?". He stared me with a blank expression and then he sneered "We were never friends". 

And that was what broke me. Everything turned red right there and I punched him and walked away. But, right before I turned around another corner I shouted out "If that wasn't friendship then I don't what was. You will always be my bestie, Coco". And that was the last time I called him by his nickname. That was last time I said the word "Coco" and that was that the last time I heard him whisper "Goodbye Lulu"

Everything shattered after that. It was only then that I realized that Cole was my only friend. Nobody liked me. Everyone dissed me and kept their distance from me. But I was okay with that. I was fine by myself. I held my head high and walked the corridors ignoring their whispers and stares. Everyday I would smile and walk by, without a care in the world. Of course, there were days when I thought back to those times when I played hide and seek with Cole and he would always hide behind the tree. Even if our friendship was gone, memories still remain. 

Everyday I would see him hanging around with the cheerleaders and the jocks. He became a bully, tarnished by the evil that surrounds him. But some days I would catch the distant lonely look in his eye and then I would look away before it affected me. His pain was still my pain. I've always wanted to know the reason why he left me broken and a mess. But sometimes in this world, we all have unwanted answers. Things happen for a reason. 

Then one day while I was walking down the streets, I came across a bruised, battered boy. I rushed to help him at once and  I slowly lifted his arm and tended to him. Then I glanced at his face and I was shocked to meet the familiar eyes of Cole Dean. He stared at me, his eyes shocked. I blushed for a second and then continued to tend to his wounds. After I helped him up and bandaged his wounds, his hand gripped mine. I looked back up at him and he blurted out "Why on earth did you help me?" I smiled at him and his mouth dropped. Then I patted his good arm and said "Because you needed help. And because good friends never leave each other." 

As soon as I started to walk away, he grabbed my arm and glared at me, "Then why did you leave me that day, huh? All alone? Why?" I was taken aback. "What are you talking about?", I asked him. His anger only burned at my response and with distaste and absolute anger, he shouted out "What am I talking about? Are you kidding me?! Lu, I waited for you for four hours that day. I waited and waited and cried, okay! I just wanted you to come! But you never did! And when I asked Claire why you didn't come, she said you were busy sleeping! Sleeping so peacefully when my dad just died! Sleeping without a care in the world!" Shocked was an understatement for my feelings. 

Then what he said registered in my head. "I never, ever heard anything from Claire! How can you blame even if I didn't even know?" I shouted at him. He stared at me and blurted out "What? You...you never heard from Claire that day? Is that....is that why you didn't come?" I looked him in straight in the eye and said "Of course, Coco. I would never ever leave you alone. We're stuck together for life remember?" Then, all of a sudden he smiled softly at me "Like super glue"

And after that, we were once again inseparable. Turns out that on the day Cole's father died, he had asked Claire, my cousin to tell me to meet him at our usual spot on the beach. She never came to me and I'm probably guessing it was because she had a huge crush on Cole and it was quite the heart-breaker moment when he told her to leave and bring his best friend. So, she lied and that was why it all happened. It was all quite silly. 

Isn't it funny how one simple thing can change everything; our lives, the people we love and our very purpose in life? One small thing has a great impact and it all depends on how we interpret it. Had Cole came out and asked me why I didn't come the next day after his dad died, we would never have been not best friends. But, here we are now. Or rather, were. Me and Cole patched up pretty well and he filled me out on everything in his life. Apparently, he hated it. Or rather everything. All that time when I was crying in bed because I missed him, he was doing the same thing too. And soon, we once again became Coco and Lulu. It turns out that thing we loose always have a way of getting back to us.

Author's Note

Just wrote it on the spur of the moment. Tell me what you think.