How To Be Perfect {Discontinued}

Chapter Eighteen

I stared at the notification, stopping in my tracks. Kai was the first to notice, turning around and giving me a confused look. "What's wro-"

I cut him off,"I've gotta go." I grabbed the strap of my bag tightly and ran as fast as I could. I could feel the other's watching me, but I ignored it. 

The message echoed in my head, beckoning for my anxieties to show themselves. The message flashed in front of my eyes,'We need to talk. Important.' 

"Did I do something?" I whispered, but it was lost in the air as it rushed past me. I kept running until I reached the park, where we always met. It was a small abandoned kids playground surrounded by forest. A couple years back, we had found a small glistening lake. We had promised that we would show it to no one. It was just for us. 

I skidded to a stop when I got there, looking around to see if she was there. I spotted her dark hair skimming the ground near the edge of the lake. I felt my heart racing, my palms sweating, and my eyes watering. 'It's just from the running.' I told myself, but I knew it was more than that. 

Slowly, she turned her head. Even from far away, she looked exhausted. The girl got up, walking over to me with a drawn-on smile. "Hey." She seemed to breath.

"Hi." I mumbled, meeting her halfway. 

Her eyes resembled the rough ground beneath us, the light color fading into a darker shade as it reached the pool of darkness in the center. The shine within her eyes always reminded me of the way a child might laugh. The wrinkles beside her eyes were light, the evidence of all the genuine smiles she passed out as if they were candy, when really they were as rare as diamonds. The darkness beneath her eyes was meant to be hidden with concealer, but Audre never wore makeup. "I'm sorry I haven't talked to you in a while." She spoke breathlessly, like she was using all her energy just to speak. 

"Audre," My arms wrapped around her,"are you okay?" I whispered, letting the breeze carry my words. 

She seemed to fall limp in my arms, her head falling onto my shoulder softly. "No." The one word resonated, lingering in the air. It was so wrong, it didn't belong. It wasn't supposed to fall out of my best friend's lips, not when she answered that question.

I lifted her gently and took her hand, pulling her toward the lake. She tripped over each step, barely catching herself. My lips parted lightly as a breath caressed the air, trying to keep from tearing up. I put down my foot roughly, leaving a dent in the dirt as I turned around. I tried to push the tears back, but they fought and one fell. "What happened? What happened these past couple days?" I seemed to lose the words even while they were rolling off my tongue. 

"Huh?" She moved forward and sat down at the edge of the lake. I groaned quietly and calmed myself before saying it again, sitting down beside her. She closed her eyes and tilted her head back, breathing in and enjoying the breeze. She was wearing a light pink tank top with a light grey knit sweater and blue jeans. "So, one night I was lying in bed and, like every night, my thoughts got dark and I started to wonder why my family didn't have a religion. We believe that there is god, but we don't have a religion. And then, anxiety took over. I thought, if there's a heaven and hell, would I go to hell for not trying to figure anything out?" She let the words roll off her tongue slowly, not opening her eyes. "Then, I decided that it wouldn't hurt to try to find out which religion I believe is right."

I nodded lightly, gazing at the glassy surface of the lake. "So what did you do?" I studied a swan as it broke the smooth surface of the water. 

She lifted her head and turned to me, a genuine smile pulling at her lips. She opened her swirling, warm hued eyes. "I did research. I stayed up constant days and nights because I felt like my heart was empty, like something was missing in my life." 

I turned to her and nodded, acknowledging her excitement. "Yeah... I get that feeling too."

"Well, I established some guidelines, then I started with the most common religion: Christianity. I went to a church and blah, blah, blah. The point is, the only religion that made my heart feel full and whole. The only religion that made me feel like I had a purpose, like everything was at peace was Islam." Her words began to clump up as her pace sped up. "I think I want to convert to Islam, Sophie." 

I shrugged lightly. My family had never put any importance on religion, so we never really talked about it. I always believed in God, Heaven, and Hell, but I never really cared much about religion. "Audre, I don't care what you believe as long as you're not a murderer." I gave a silly smile, my eyes almost closing.

"Will you come with me?" She asked quickly.

"Huh?" For a second, I thought she was asking me to convert with her.

She laughed softly,"Come to the mosque with me so I can convert."

I let out a breath. "Oh, yeah, sure." I let out a laugh and got up. "When?"

She took my outstretched hand and got up,"Tonight."

A/N What is your hobby?

Answer: Uh, writing?