Silence by the M(in)ute

17

Connie's car led her to the gas station. She got out angrily and stormed into the store to buy a pack of cigarettes. They were the only thing that calmed her down at the moment while her head was foggy. She went to the back of the station and lit a cigarette loving the feeling as she blew it out.

Cherry knew about Connie's past and didn't bother to tell Connie. She knew all this time.

She blew out a puff of smoke.

Her father, that she loved and looked up too, cheated with a woman who worked with him on drugs.

Another puff.

Her mother, was a drug addict, and found out about the affair so the only way she thought to get back at him, was to call both of them out on their awful job. The job that Connie helped out in.

Two more puffs came out into thin air.

Cherry said she loved Connie, but she hid so much. Now Connie knew why and she hated it. She hated everything bright now because she didn't know what to do or where to go anymore.

One long and drawn out puff.

The car crash. Because of this, Connie couldn't talk; couldn't do anything she wished she could. She thought life was being unfair to her and even though Mrs. Swan explained a part of the puzzle Connie didn't know, she's still completely lost.

Connie ends up finishing the whole pack and the darkness took over as she got in the car to drive to the hospital.

She didn't go inside, she just sat outside waiting for something to happen. She waited for her mom to walk out okay just so Connie could yell at her with her fingers about everything.

Other than the feeling of being drained and confused; she felt empty and hollow. Everyone she ever loved and cared about betrayed her; her parents and Cherry. Connie couldn't talk to either one because one is dead and the other is only halfway there.

Connie began to cry. She didn't want to go back home so she drove to the park and went up to the little palace in the middle of the park. She let her feet hang down from the opening and wrap around the pole that dived the castle. She leaned her head back until she completely laid down on the cold metal.

All that plays through her mind was wishing she could talk so she could curse at the world around her and scream at the top of her lungs about how it has treated her unfairly. Though instead, she got another cigarette and let her words come out in puffs of smoke into the night sky.

"There you are!" Cherry hops up beside her and Connie rolls her eyes scooting away. "I thought I might find you here."

Go away.

Cherry frowned. "Connie please don't be like this. I love you." She said those words as if they were going to solve all Connie's problems.

You betrayed me.

"I did not!"

Connie snapped her head in a quick motion towards Cherry.

Yes you did! You did not tell me about a part of my past that you knew!

Cherry sighed. "It didn't matter to me. That was your past, now you're in the present. I only care about that and your future. You can't change the past Connie, okay? That's why I didn't tell you. It wouldn't change anything except make you more upset."