Last time I saw you...

Chapter 1 - Alone

In his room, there he sat on his bed in complete darkness. No light was able to enter his enclosed room, no sounds being heard at all, he was left alone with his thoughts that clouded his mind completely. He doesn't even remember how he ended up like this in the first place.

Eleven years ago, it was a typical weekday morning, so Marco was getting ready to attend school. Following his normal routine, he left home to join his friends to walk to school. Marco is someone that is conservative, but he tries to let on that he isn't that way with his friends and just other people in general. Despite having a large group of friends, Marco doesn't really want to be noticed much by people. He always ends up bickering with Zahir and that catches the attention of the people surrounding them. The people would always end up glancing annoyingly at them because they know it's nothing new between those two boys. Both boys always got in stupid little fights, and they act like they hate each other but deep down they both know that isn't true. They will both go out of their way not to say that they were probably the closest to each other than their other friends. Though, they will both never admit to that.

Once the group of 11 friends arrived at school, they went to their lockers and hung out a bit together before heading to their classes. Every school day, Marco and his friends meet at the cafeteria to talk about their day so far and then continue the rest of their day. By the end of classes, they always walk back home, until they must separate to get to their homes. This was Marco's routine almost every day when he had school. He would attend his classes, eat lunch with his friends, argue with Zahir, go to his last classes, and go back home with his friends to later get his homework done. Marco's school life was very straightforward, but it didn't really affect him. The only thing that mattered was spending time with his friends because he loved them, even though they could be irritating at times. That's all he needed to be content with his life. He didn't need anything else to fill up the happiness he had already.

His days went as usual, and nothing was going to change. Though that's what he thought until something unexpected came up and it changed everything for the boy. On a Wednesday day back home, Marco had just separated with his friends and as he approached his house, he saw something unusual in the parking lot. Apparently, his father was back home early from work, which never happens. Marco started to get anxious. He knew something might have happened to see his father home already. Since Marco's mom had passed away it was just him and his father. His father started to be a bit distant with his son but gradually started to get over his wife's passing. Marco's father had a very hard job that involved a lot of work for him. That's why Marco never really saw him because he would come home late, and he was already off to sleep or doing homework that he didn't finish earlier. As Marco entered the house, he immediately dropped his bag and went to see if his father was alright. He knocked on the door of his father's room and with no reply Marco came a sinking feeling in his chest. After many seconds of silence, the door of the room opened to show his father in a state that he had never seen him in. With the acceptance of his father, Marco let himself into his room, but he wasn't prepared for what his dad was going to tell him.

Marco's dad started to tell him that he had been fired from his job for unknown reasons. Marco was feeling very anxious. It's the first time in a long while that he was feeling this way. His hands and his face were sweating but at the same time he felt cold, and he couldn't take much more of it. His heart was beating so fast, and he couldn't understand what his father was saying to him anymore. That was until, a few seconds later he spanned back to reality and his father was saying that they would have to end up moving because he isn't going to make any money now, for a while until he found another job. Marco's dad had planned to move in with relatives because they couldn't be able to afford the house now. Marco felt broken upon hearing these words. He didn't want to leave, especially moving apart from his friends.

On the next day, Marco didn't even want to attend school. He knew he needed to talk with his friends to share the unfortunate news of him leaving. On the whole walk to school, Marco was silent. He didn't know how to tell his friends that he was moving away so suddenly. The last thing he wanted to see was the look at his friends' faces. Marco decided that during lunch time he would share the news. Once he was settled at the cafeteria, his friends all looked at him with worried expressions. He started explaining to them the issue with the same details he was told by his father. After the news was said, all his friends didn't want to believe him. Although, they knew that Marco was being genuine by the tone of his voice and the way his face was expressed by sadness.

After that day, Marco spent almost all his time with his friends. He didn't want to leave them, especially Zahir for some reason. He had a sinking feeling in his chest thinking about the possibility of not seeing him because it was part of his daily life to quarrel with him and the thought that he was really going to miss this.

The upbring of that said day arrived and Marco and his father were all packed up and ready to leave to join the relative they were going to stay at. Marco approached the saddened faces of his friends and he didn't want to say goodbye because that's like saying he wasn't going to see them ever again. Marco started to get teary eyed and then he finally let loose, and they were all crying in each other's arms. What got Marco's attention was that Zahir wasn't crying unlike the others, but he could feel that sorrow emit from the other man. They all gave a big hug while the said their last goodbyes which they all hoped wasn't the last time they were going to see each other. As Marco walk to the car, he heard the two youngest friends from the group, Logan, and Norah, scream that they need to stay in contact forever, putting emphasis on the word "forever". As they exaggerated that last part, Marco was leaving his home where he had spent his entire life, suddenly feeling very empty inside.

It's been a week now that Marco has left and every day without him was hurting his friends. The walks to school were quite quiet, during lunch times, they didn't know what to talk about. They were missing a part of their incomplete group. Although it didn't really show, Zahir has been having trouble dealing with Marco's parting. He's been barely sleeping at night and sadness has been overwhelming him. He feels like he lost a piece of himself.

Marco has been barely able to get himself together and it has been just one week since he left. Ever since he got to his relative that he's staying with his father, anxiety has been engulfing him entirely. He is not motivated to do whatsoever, and he's been just thinking of his friends. Well, someone in particular has been in his mind more than the rest. He just missed their useless fights.

It's been now a couple of months since his moving and Marco has been stuck in a dark place. His father still hasn't found a job and Macro's not doing well in school. He's been failing more of his classes because he was not attending school a lot anymore. He's been staying in his room more than he should have been and he doesn't seem like he can get out of it. Marco has lost contact with his friends. They haven't talked in a while, and it hurts Marco, but he's been distancing himself from them because he doesn't want them to see him struggle. Its pains him so much but he feels like he has no choice but to do this. He doesn't want to worry them even though he's not responding to their messages. It's already making his friends stressed out. Even Zahir has been over texting him, but he ignored them all; sadly, Marco ended up shutting himself out from the world.

Remembering everything, in his room, there he sat on his bed in complete darkness. No light was able to enter his enclosed room, no sounds being heard at all, he was left alone with his thoughts that clouded his mind completely.