Gone

A Story by Sofia

Devon and Elizabeth have been best friends since they could remember and when it seems like it might be all gone, it becomes to hard to handle.

This isn't one of those stories where the two best friends end up together like any other romance cliché. It doesn't end like that; not everything does.

But she knew it wouldn't be easy. She knew out of all the people, Devon would be the one person she dreaded to tell. Telling him would only make things more real like all this was actually happening. But her birthday was coming, and she figured it might be slightly less agonizing if she got it done before hand.

“Hey Elizabeth, what'dya get on your math test. My mom's gonna kill me,” Devon said, laughing the statement off a bit.

“Devon! For now on, I'm tutoring you.” Elizabeth always helped him in his other subjects, but math was the only one he really needed help with even though he insisted on figuring it out himself. “Listen, come over tonight. I need to tell you something important anyway,” she said quickly. Devon just nodded off.

At Elizabeth's house, Devon and her sat at the kitchen table. They were eating chocolate chip cookies like they always did as kids. Sometimes, if it was warm enough, they'd have lemonade stands and sell some of the cookies. Hardly anybody came, so they usually just talked and ate.

After finishing another plate of cookies, Elizabeth got out a pack of Oreos, Devon's favorite. She got out the milk and poured each of them a glass. Sitting back down, they both dipped their cookies into the milk and bit into them, laughing at each other. It was a thing they always did ever since they were little kids; it became more of a tradition than a habit.

“So, what did you want to talk to me about?” Devon asked as he reached for another cookie. Elizabeth bit her lip, trying to think of a way out of answering immediately. Her eyes wandered as if avoiding the question. After a long silence, Devon looked at her, searching for any eye contact.

When Elizabeth finally had the courage to look at Devon in the eye, she blurted out, “I'm moving,” in an exasperated tone. He barely have any time to respond at all when Elizabeth continued. “The thirteenth we're leaving. And I know that it's only in a week, and I'm sorry I waited until now to tell you, but I just didn't want to see you upset and telling you would mean that this is all actually happening, and I... I just really don't want any of this to be happening.” The pressure in her eyes started to build up, but she fought back the feeling to look as guarded as she could. But even she could sense the vulnerability in Devon's eyes, staring up at her, not knowing how to respond. The usually bold, deep blue faded to a dull grey barely reaching opacity. The only thing he could think to do was to reach in for a hug and never let go.

The following week included numerous afternoons at the local coffee shop, either doing homework or just talking with each other. They didn't talked about the moving ever since Elizabeth first had, but they both subconsciously knew the reason for the immediate extended time together.

On April 12th, Elizabeth's seventeenth birthday, she tried to ignore the fact that she would have to leave all of this only a day later. Devon and a few of her neighbors came over for cake and a little talk while Elizabeth led Devon upstairs. She brought two pieces of cake, and they sat on opposite sides of her bed. Half of the things on the walls were down and the tops of the dressers were bare. They didn't talk about it.

Devon pulled something out of his pocket after exchanging some laughs before he thought it'd be too late. “Here, Elizabeth.” He held out a enveloped card to Elizabeth, and she sheepishly looked at it and then at him. His eyes were still as dreary as before, but his smile shined bright as if the past week hadn't happened. He urged the card further and laughed. “Go on, take it. Happy Birthday.”

Elizabeth eyed him curiously, wondering why he was so eager. She took the card from his hand and slowly opened it. She expected it to be a card saying “Happy Birthday!” on the front, but what she was holding in front of her caused her breath to get caught in her throat. It was a picture of her and Devon as toddlers; they stood hand in hand in the kitchen. Devon was wearing a tie that was too big for him, and he was sucking on his thumb. Elizabeth stood tall next to him in her mother's bright, red heels, and on her head was a plastic tiara. Her and Devon laughed at the image of their forgotten childhood memory. Elizabeth began to speak shakily, “This is when-”

“When we got married,” Devon interrupted. “Well, not really; we were just playing pretend.” He leaned forward and nudged Elizabeth's knee. She never took her eyes off of the photo, not daring to release the joy it gave her. “Look on the back.” She flipped the card slowly, again expecting a Happy Birthday message. Instead, “Devon + Elizabeth” was written sloppily in blue crayon surrounded by a heart. Her breathed hitched followed by a loud, but short laugh. Her eyes began to spill so many tears, she couldn't have held it back from the start. A tear dropped from her left eye onto the photo, and she wiped it away quickly, hoping Devon hadn't seen.

Elizabeth always stayed strong. She always was the one who could handle her emotions well in any and all situations. She was the one to put everything back together again in the end. Even when she felt the need to, she kept crying as a last resort, and only as one, to any situation. Not very often did she have to reach that point, let alone in front of other people.

She tried to shrug it off by laughing, but it wasn't long until the reality of it all hit her, and she was full out weeping. Her eyes strained shut as she bit her lip, hoping to keep her wheezing down. Devon moved to sit next to her and wrapped him hands around her waist. She rested her head on his shoulder and slung her arms around his neck. They held each other tightly before anybody dared to say anything. Once her sobbing began to simmer down, Elizabeth lifted her head slightly off his shoulder and stared hopelessly into Devon's eyes saying: “I'm really gonna miss you.”

Devon spent the night at Elizabeth's. It was hardly nine o'clock when she had fallen asleep in his arms, and not having the heart to wake her up before such a traumatic day, her mom let Devon stay, keeping her in his grasp. Her head lay lightly on his chest, and she held his arm tight. He looked at how peaceful she seemed in her sleep. The sight made Devon tear up, knowing that it wasn't long before she was gone. Close to actually crying, he drifted off into a sleep.

The morning consisted of lots of bags, boxes, and silence. Elizabeth's eyes looked dry and lifeless as she helped load the car. He hadn't seen her smile since he gave her the picture the day before, which he made sure to remember to bring along.

On their way to the airport, Elizabeth sat in the back staring out the window, her mind depleted from all thoughts. Devon, who sat on the other side of the seat, look contently at Elizabeth, soaking in everything about her before it was too late. He reached out and held Elizabeth's hand. She didn't flinch, but she didn't look back. She didn't look back, because she knew that if she did, she'd never want to let go.

Arriving at the airport, they trudged through the crowds of people. While surrounded by talkative strangers, the quietness among each other wasn't as oppressive as the car ride there.Devon and Elizabeth held hands the entire way.

Once the line for the security check was in sight, Elizabeth stopped, causing Devon to stop as well. Right away, her face of stone crumbled down, and she was breathing heavily and her eyes became red and puffy. She shook her head repeatedly. “No, I can't do this. I don't want to do this.” Her voice cracked everywhere, and her breath lashed, causing her to start hyperventilating. Devon drew himself closer to her, not letting go of her hand.

“Hey, it's okay. It's gonna be okay. You're gonna walk you to that line, and then you're just gonna " you're just gonna go and never look back. Don't let me drag you behind.” Devon lifted her chin up so they could meet each other's eyes. Elizabeth's were soaked with tears as were her cheeks. “Here.” He held out the picture from the day before. “Don't forget this.”

Elizabeth took the photo, and with no hesitation, she jumped into his arms. She held onto him tightly, but Devon didn't mind since he did the same to her. She cried pathetically into his shoulder, and he bit down on his lip as tears began to stream down his face. His arms wrapped around her shoulders, and he wished he could just stop time to soak in the moment, but he knew it had to end; they both knew. So after a good twenty minutes " though, no amount of time could have been enough " of crying and standing and hugging, they let go, and Elizabeth walked away, holding the picture in her hand and her suitcase in the other. She did what Devon told her to do and didn't turn around, though Devon secretly wished she had. He stayed in the airport for an extra hour after the flight deported.