Year of 365

July 30

A/N: I recommend listening to the music while reading :)

I was sitting on my bed, my phone clutched in my hand. The screen was off, just as it had been for the past ten minutes. I hadn't been doing anything but stare at the screen, wishing for something, though I didn't know what I was wishing for. Maybe it was a text from a friend, or maybe it was a notification of sorts. 

Someone knocked on my door.

"Yeah," I asked in a tired voice, flopping back on the bed and staring up at the ceiling above me. 

My mom opened the door, looking a little nervous. No, not quite nervous. It was more that she knew how tired I was and was about to say something that I wouldn't like. That look. The one your mother gives you when she has to be the bearer of bad news to you. 

"Your friends are downstairs waiting for you." Her voice wasn't louder than a whisper, but it still reached my ears. 

I had forgotten that I promised my friends that I would go hiking with them today. I had scheduled to go on a hike with them a while ago, but I had underestimated how tired I would be while trying to finish my final year of school while working two jobs to try and get some money for post secondary school. I had my sights set on a university, but every time I brought it up, people gave me a condescending look, like they thought I couldn't get into it, no matter how hard I tried. Well, to prove them wrong, I had thrown myself into my studies and work, and now, I was too tired to go hiking with them. 

I let out a groan and my mom seemed to understand what was going on, so she shut my door and took a seat on the end of my bed. She put her hand on my knee and rubbed it gently in what she meant to be a comforting gesture. I wasn't sure how I felt about it to be honest. So, I just sat up and got up so that she had no choice but to move her hand. 

Now if there was one thing that my mother had taught me, it was that you cannot cancel on people when they're already at your house waiting for you. That was something that I learned at a young age, and ever since, it had been ingrained in my mind. 

With my mom watching, I threw everything I would need into a backpack that I could take with me. I threw in some snacks, my water bottle, and a few other things that my overprotective mother told me to take. I took them to appease her, but I knew that I wouldn't need them. It was a well traveled hiking path which often had so many people on it that we had to step to the side to let someone pass us. We weren't going into the heart of the forest, far from any civilization, but based on the way my mother was acting, you would have thought that I told her I was going on a climb up Mt. Everest.

Once my things were packed, I headed downstairs to where my friends were waiting. We all piled into Robert's car and we sped off to the cliff where we would be hiking. My friends were all busy talking with each other about what they were looking forward to after they finished high school. 

"What university are you wanting to go to," one of the girls in the car asked, poking me in the arm. I hadn't been paying attention.

"You already know," I sighed, leaning over to the window and propping my arm up on it. I wasn't really in the mood to talk to any of them, especially about school. 

"You still want to go there," she laughed. I didn't miss the looks that floated around the car, although I could have and still know exactly what they looked like. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the condescending look float around the car.

At least they believe that I can do it, I thought sarcastically, returning my gaze to the city that was flying past my car window. It's not like any of them were being overly ambitious with their goals. Most of them just wanted to go to some random school that was local. Whatever they could get into and still have a good enough degree coming out of it. 

Eventually, we reached the trail and we all got out of the car. Instantly, everyone else started laughing together. That was one of the things that had been bothering me a lot lately. I had been drifting from my friends, and I mean more than usual. We had drifted the entire time that we had known each other, but ever since we had been approaching the end of our high school student life, we had barely spoken to each other. I was surprised when they invited me to go hiking with them. 

As we climbed up the steep incline, I thought to myself about everything that was going on. Post secondary school, friendships, family, and basically everything and anything swirled around in my head, bouncing off the sides of them like an echo bounces off a cave. Even in the shade of the towering evergreens, a headache started to form. 

We made it to the summit after about two hours of walking and while everyone sat down on the edge to relax, I walked over to the edge of the cliff, staring down at the water at the bottom. It was a beautiful sight to see.

As I was standing there, I suddenly felt a cool breeze wrap around me, pulling me around, though it was nowhere near strong enough to pitch me over the side of the cliff. I shut my eyes and surprisingly enough, I was able to forget everything that had been giving me a headache. I let out a sigh of relief and I felt as though the wind had stolen every worry from my mind. As the wind passed I felt a smile stretch across my face. It was the best I had felt in a while.

So, feeling quite victorious, I spread my arms wide and let out a holler of joy.