Sweet afternoons

Chapter ten

"Hello, Lena?"

Have you ever seen felt stop moving, like in pinnacle moments in films and books. The phrase seemed impossible, something made up by writers to increase the dramatics. Who knew it would be based off of a real feeling?

In that moment, though, as I held the phone to my ear, I felt time slow down. Everything around me became minuscule and unimportant, my mind only thinking about the voice on the other side of the phone. The world would start up again once I put the phone down but for a while, the world would wait for me.

Hearing the devilish man's voice brought panic into my body and breathing soon became a difficult task. Too long like that and I was sure I would faint from a lack of oxygen. Perhaps that would be for the best.

As scary as that thought was, I considered it an option for a moment, as I knew full well that I would have enjoyed it much more than I would the conversation I was about to have. There was only a brief silence before the voice began to speak again.

"Lena? Are you going to answer me?" The impatience of the man irked me and my anxiety was overshadowed with rage.

"What do you want?" I spoke with a sturdy tone, all inclination of my internal struggle was hidden away. This man did not deserve to hear the shake in my voice or the wobble of my lips.

I had hoped that this day would never come and that I would not have to face him again, I was naive to think that. He had never been the type to let someone have the last say and by leaving I'd taken away that chance. "There's no need to be so harsh to your best friend," his voice sent chilling shivers down my spine and memories of him overtook my mind.

At the mention of our former friendship, rage overtook my senses and I fought to hold back my emotions. "You are not my best friend, Ethan."

There was a sigh followed by a short silence. It seemed like my words had struck a nerve, which was strange as I had assumed he was only trying to taunt me. What reason did he have to be complacent?

There was a sadness in his voice as he spoke again that threw water on the flames of my anger. "Lena, I know you're angry, and that what I did really hurt you, but you are still my best friend, I still care about you...I still love you," my breath caught in my throat and my heart began beating dramatically fast.

As much as I was touched by his words, I could feel no joy from speaking to him. What he did...it killed the person I used to be and forced me to build myself up again.

Just a teenager and more overweight than was desirable, I wasn't anyone's favourite person. Except Ethan. He thought the world of me and was more like family to me than my own mother. We spent all of our free time together and trusted each other completely. As it turned out, that was the worst mistake I'd ever made.

I remember the day it happened, I had walked into school like I did everyday, ready to ignore the insults and name callings. However, that particular morning I was not greeted with them. Instead I was faced with intense stares, each pair of eyes looking directly at me, unwavering, an unfamiliar emotion in their eyes.

At that time, I had no idea why. I could only assume they had gotten bored of me. As the day progressed I saw people staring more frequently at me, whispering to their friends secretly. It didn't bother me at all since I was used to the gossiping about me, but I did find it odd.

I remember how I had not seen Ethan all day, and wondered if he had grown sick overnight. I had planned to call him to see if everything was alright. At the end of the day, I was almost tempted to smile; no one had said a single word to me all day.

But my mood quickly changed when I saw Ethan, I was about to walk over to him when I noticed people crowding around him. I walked enough to see him up close and I watched as he pulled out a dozen copies of an A4 picture. He handed them out and I managed to catch a glance at one of the copies. When I saw it my heart leapt into my throat. The photograph was of me, in the changing room of a store, in my underwear.