The Red String

Chapter 3

friend (noun)
frend/
1. a person whom one knows and with whom one has a bond of mutual affection, typically exclusive of sexual or family relations.

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Two weeks have passed since Maria and Eloise officially became friends. Though they mainly spend their time together at the library, they engage in converstion a lot. That's what Eloise loved about Maria, she could go on and on about a certain topic until she reached a new topic.

She loved to talk to Maria.

At school, it was just the two of them, no matter how big the crowd, they always felt alone with each other. They sit at the farthest table in the corner at lunch, they'd pass notes in class, they'd partner up in gym, they were inseparable.

Eloise still preferred to be alone, only if it was with Maria.

Today was sunday, and the two girls were walking home from the school, plus a trip from the library. Maria always walked ahead, while Eloise followed close behind her. They were walking on a sidewalk, with rocks leading down hill at the side, and Maria was balancing herself on the edge.

"Ugh, that quiz in science didn't make any sense! Like I didn't even know half the stuff on there." Maria babbled, looking straight ahead.

"That's probably your own fault then," Eloise replied, eyeing her closely, "Be careful Maria, you could easily-"

"Ah, you're probably right," She giggled, ignoring Eloise's warning, "I'm stupid."

"Don't say that," Eloise frowned, feeling a slight sting in her chest.

"I'm stupid. I'm stupid. I'm incredibly-"

She suddenly stopped walking.

"....stupid."

"Maria?" Eloise murmured, stopping along with her, "Be careful.."

After a short pause she heard Maria laugh, "Hey Eloise, what if I just fell off this bridge right now? I mean, those are some pretty nasty rocks down there, do you think I would die instantly? Or would I die slowly?" She smiled.

"Maria, g-get down." Eloise whispered, a dark feeling lodged in her stomach.

"Oh and how would you feel? Would my death haunt you? Are you already this attached to me that if I died here and now, it'll hurt you? Would you stay up late at night wondering what you could've done to save me, would you ponder about what we could've been? Would you really care if I died?" Maria laughed and turned around carefully.

The red haired girl spread out her arms and grinned down at Eloise sickly.

"I know I wouldn't."

Eloise stared at her.

And when Maria started falling back, her heart dropped.

"M-MARIA!" Eloise screamed, dropping her things quickly and grabbing onto Maria's waist, yanking her down instantly.

Maria fell on top of Eloise, both girls breathing heavily. Neither spoke for a minute. Eloise felt her cheeks warming up and her heart beating even faster, not sure if from the physical contact, or the fact that Maria almost..

She suddenly heard a sniffle

"So you do care, that's a shame," Maria sniffled, sitting up. Her eyes watering and her voice cracked when she spoke again, "Because I'm really stupid."

Eloise threw her arms around the girl, holding her tightly, her hearting beating fast and her eyes wide with fear. Maria hugged back instantly, burying her face into her shoulder.

There wasn't a single noise that could block out Maria's sobbing, not the passing of cars, not the chirping of birds, not even the sound of the train passing by.

Maria was lovely, however, even the loveliest things aren't perfect.

The two girls walked home in silence, side by side the whole way. The noise of birds chirping, passing cars were their words. Eloise glanced at the sky, looking at the clouds and how the sun enlightened them.

The sunset was nice.

She glanced at Maria's hand, which didn't seem to stop twitching. Gently, she reached for it and held if in her hand, giving her a soft squeeze.

The red head looked up, smiling gently and giving her a squeeze back.

Eloise thought that Maria was quite pretty.

Once they reached her house, Eloise let go of her hand.

Eloise then walked alone, replaying the moment over and over. What if she hadn't caught Maria in time? Surely Maria wouldn't survive that fall, and if she had, what would happen?

Eloise didn't want to think about that anymore.

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The next day, everything went back to normal. When Eloise knocked on Maria's door, there she was, wearing a happy girn and a bright outfit.

"Hey Loise!" She chirped and walked out, closing the door behind her, "You ready?"

"I've been ready ever since I came here."

"Haha I love your sarcasticness."

"That wasn't sarcasm."

They both started walking down the sidewalk, bickering and chatting along the way. Eloise was glad that Maria didn't bring up the bridge incident, in fact, it seemed as if she had forgotten about the whole thing. She didn't know if that was good or not.

Along the way as they crossed the bridge, Maria walked on the sidewalk this time, while Eloise watched her carefully. Maria was lovely, but unpredictable.

The two girls continued walking their regular route to school, talking along the way.

Once they arrived, they began their way to the main courtyard, where they wait for the bell to ring. They both sat at a wooden table, making small talk.

"The sun's white?"

"You didn't know that?"

"Uh..not really but it makes sense! I mean whem you look directly at it it looks kinda white!"

"Maria you're not suppose to look directly at the sun."

Maria threw her head back and laughed. She laughed awfully loud, causing stares from other students. Eloise covered her face with her hand and shook her head, laughing softly.

"You're so loud."

"And you're not loud enough!" Maria looked back at Eloise and grinned.

"I suppose that a resonable retort," She straightened her back and smiled.

Maria nodded and stared at her before speaking again, "Do you wanna come to my house?"

Eloise blinked, processing what she said, "Uh..sure, when?"

"Today, after school!" Maria replied, "We can watch romcoms and eat food and gossip and we can dance to pop music and we can draw and oh- if you spend the night we can stay up super late doing crazy things and we can walk to the store in our pajamas and buy ice cream and cookies and then watch more romcoms and-" She stopped to breath before speaking again more calmly, "And we'll have fun.." Maria awkwardly smiled.

Again, Eloise blinked and thought for a moment, before smiling.

"We certainly will have fun."

Maria perked up and gave Eloise the biggest smile, and Eloise could swear, she saw a glimmer in her eyes.

"Yay."