I Could Use A Friend...

[Vanessa Parker]

((Sorry for long post, it was needed for explanation))

Vanessa had heard terrible news. She had had a close friend in the U.S.A. When she left to go to New Zealand, she had only been able to write letters to her. Wynstelle hadn't wanted to upset her, and she wasn't told that her friend had been diagnosed with cancer. And then her parents had known, they had known all along. They never told her. So she didn't have a chance to say good-bye. And now her best friend, her best friend she had known almost her entire life, was gone.

She had received a letter from her parents. It said that her best friend had passed away. It couldn't be true. Was this someone's idea of a joke. She had written back, saying that it was a joke, asking the person who did it to reveal themselves. But they had known things only her parents would. She felt the tears in her eyes. When she had received the letter from her parents, she had a feeling it wasn't a joke.

She had run outside, to the cliffs and sat down on the edge of the cliff, her legs over the edge. Wynstelle, she's gone, she thought. Forever. I'll never get to speak with her again. We'll never share laughter or smiles. Only one person has left, but I feel so alone.

Vanessa put her legs back on to the grass. She lay down in the grass, never having felt so sad and alone. They had done all they could... no, there must have been something they didn't do that they could have! People got to survive to become adults, while her friend didn't get to live past 15. It wasn't fair.

She knew that music could cheer her up. Even just a tiny bit would help. She started to sing the chorus of a song that kind of fit.

"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life."

As she sang, tears started to run down her cheeks. She saw a person standing near her. She stood up and looked at them.

"What do you want?" she asked in between sniffles.

 

[Aimee Darkhart]

Aimee was wandering around the cliffs. Her wig still lay at the base of the cliffs and she didn't have the strength to retrieve it. So her short golden hair was ruffled and messy. Her eyes were red and sore from crying. She was pre-occupied, thinking hard about Aliana. It still felt like a terrible nightmare, even though it was 3 years previous, the memories of the hospital still haunted her. She lost her only friend at the time due to Lukemia. She couldn't get over how close she had been to passing away herself. Fingering the scar on her head under the fine locks of hair she sighed remembering the surgery and treatments she had to go through, over those long years.

Trailing her bare feet through the grass she saw a girl at the edge of the cliff. Aproaching slowly she heard her singing:
"Where did I go wrong, I lost a friend
Somewhere along in the bitterness
And I would have stayed up with you all night
Had I known how to save a life."
Aimee knew this song, it was also one of her favourites. Aliana had made a CD with this song on it just weeks before she passed away and she blinked back the tears that were brewing. Noticing the girl had begun to cry she drew up to her. The girl stood up and spoke "What do you want?"

Aimee wasn't usually shy but she was almost lost for words "Are...are you ok?" she asked stupidly, knowing full well that she wasn't ok at all. "The Fray, How To Save A Life...that's what you were singing...my friend..Aliana...she made a CD for me with that song...on it for..me...While she was in hospital" She blushed still sounding stupid she bit her lip not really wanting to say that Aliana passed away.

 

[Vanessa Parker]

Vanessa looked at the younger girl. She felt a bit bad for seeming angry. It wasn't the girl's fault. It seemed like the girl knew how it felt.

She tried not to cry, but the tears were falling down her cheeks like raindrops on a window.

"Sorry for.. snapping there," she said, trying to stop the tears from falling, because crying in front of a first year wasn't exactly going to make her the most popular third year. "I.. got some bad news about a close friend and I'm not that good with sad things. It's one of my favorite songs, although I do have a lot. My friend... didn't want to tell me that she had cancer, so she wouldn't upset me. And the doctors said they did everything they could, but they couldn't save her."

When she said this, she heard herself give out a few more sniffles. If only, she could talk to her best friend again. To see her. To have a good time with her. She would never have that again in her life.

This thought made her cry even more. She hadn't had a long life. Why? She deserved it. Wynstelle had been a great person. Never mean, always standing up to bullies without hurting the bullies. All that she was supposed to do. How come horrible people got to live long lives? It wasn't fair.

"What about you?" Vanessa asked. "Would you like to sit down? I'm a bit dazed after.... the news, it's more comfortable for me to sit."

She sat down again, still not being able to believe it. It felt like a dream. It would be great if it was a dream. But unfortunately, it was real.

 

[Aimee Darkhart]

Aimee looked up at the girl. She seemed very upset, she wanted to comfort her but she didn't know what was wrong. Listening she shrugged "Don't appologize..." she said nodding "Yeah it's one of my favourite songs too..." her eyes widened she had gone through the same thing she had three years earlier "That sucks...I met my best friend in the cancer ward when she had Lukemia and they couldn't do anything for her either..." looking down she bit her lip, "I had cancer too..." she added with a sigh nervously she pulled up the hair above her right ear and exposed the thin white scar on her head, " I know exactly what your going through..." she said hesitently she put a hand on the girls shoulder as she began to sniffle again, she couldn't bear it and her eyes brimmed over. Delicate tear tracks were left on her face. "Yeah lets sit." she sat down on the edge and dangled her legs over the edge. She sniffed and wiped away the tears that were left.

 

[Vanessa Parker]

Vanessa listened as the girl spoke. She had gone through the same thing. So she wasn't all alone. That thought made her feel a bit better. She was quiet, not really sure what to say. She felt the girl's arm on her shoulder. She put her arm on the girl's shoulder.

"I'm sorry to hear that," she said. "I'm Vanessa, by the way. It's good that some people, like you, were able to survive it. I mean, it's better than no survivors, I just wish that my friend could have been a survivor..."

 

[Aimee Darkhart]

Aimee bit her lip as Vanessa put her arm on her shoulder. She seemed to have used up her voice so instead she listened to Vanessa. Nodded she agreed "I wish Aliana had survived too...Home life has been misrable with out her." sighing she blushed realising what she had just said about her home life... Sure it wasn't perfect but it was in some aspects better than some.

Twisting her hands in knots she didn't know what to say so instead she kept quiet and waited for Vanessa to speak.

 

[Vanessa Parker]

((Sorry about the delay, play rehearsal all week and homework. The first performance is today.))

Vanessa attempted to smile at the girl. It came out tiny, not like her usual bright smiles. She felt better once she knew that she wasn't alone. She realized that this was the first bad thing in her life. She had lived happily. Sure, it hadn't been the perfect life that every girl dreamed about, but she was thankful for all the good things that had happened. Her family didn't speak to her much, but she would rather have them save lives than chatter. She spoke enough to them, though. Enough to keep a family bond. Her friends were great, too. She was suddenly reminded of the book "Tuck Everlasting" She had read it at her muggle school before she went to Hogwarts.

"I wish that she could still be here," she said. "Forever. But if she lived forever, it wouldn't be a happy life. Down sides to it. If only she could just have one more year..."