A girl was running, running as fast as she could. Her long, wavy golden hair whipping in the wind as she raced down the track. Her strong, fast legs a blur as they carried her closer and closer to the end. Her slender, graceful arms, pumping in a fast rhythmic motion as she finally dashed across the finish line. Slowing her pace, the girl ran back the way she came, slowing, slowing, stopping beside another girl who had a timer in her hands.
"Nice job, Anna!" The timer girl told the blonde, who was sprawled on the ground, panting. "A new record!"
"How.....long", Anna huffed between breaths.
"Three minutes and twenty two seconds. For going twice around the track, that's sure impressive."
Anna grinned as she rose from the ground and picked up her water bottle. Gazing around her at the empty oval running track, she chugged her water bottle and gestured to her friend to follow her.
"Thanks for doing this with me, Faith. Having you encouraging me while I run is really nice," Anna told her friend.
"Hey, anytime!" Faith beamed. "I enjoy it."
"Ice cream?"
"Definitely."
They started waking down the street, breathing in the fresh, summer air, and observing all the nature around them. Trees, grass, a couple flowers here and there. They lived in Saskatoon, a city right in the middle of Saskatchewan.
Faith looked over at her friend as they walked. "So, remind me again how much money you'll get when you win this track meet?"
Anna smirked. "If I win this track meet, I'll get 10,000 dollars to put away in my savings account so I can go to university. You know, the same one you're going to, that Marina's going to, that my dad went to..."
Laughing, Faith gave Anna a gentle shove, and Anna retaliated with a slightly harder shove.
They walked down the street together, and Anna smiled to herself as the two fell into comfortable silence.
The two girls were best friends, always together, always laughing, almost never fighting. They were like twins, although they looked nothing alike. While Anna had long golden locks going down to her waist, Faiths light brown hair stayed just below her shoulder blades. Anna's body type was slender and muscled, while Faiths was more skinny and graceful.
However, the two were both tall, friendly, and had a certain sparkle in their eyes that gave them the look of mischievous siblings. Anna and Faith loved each other dearly, and knew that no one could replace each other as best friends.
A couple minutes later, they were walking up the sidewalk to their favourite place to hang out, Asya's Ice Cream Shop, a little shop full of delicious treats ran by a woman named Asya, who was somewhere in her late 50's. She was never married, and she always said she preferred music over men.
Anna and Asya were both singers, and sometimes they did duets in the shop while people ate, earning applause when they were finished. Faith was their biggest fan.
The little bell on the door tinkled as they walked in, waving to Asya behind the counter.
Faith raised one eyebrow. "The usual?"
Anna grinned. "You got it."
They split, Anna grabbing their usual booth at the back in the corner, while Faith went to the counter to order. Their booth sat next to a nice big window that showed cars passing by, and Anna and Faith had made up a game to play with the cars. They placed a napkin in the middle of the table, shut their eyes, and one person named a colour. Then they opened their eyes, and the first person to spot a car with that colour and grab the napkin wins that round.
Anna smiled, remember the time they had first made up and played the game when they were 11. The girls had met when they were 9, and even now that they were 16, they were still just as close, and definitely just as immature. Most of the time.
Faith came back with their orders, and sat down. Digging into her double chocolate ice cream, Faith gazed out the window.
"Ah, summer break. How I love it." She looked at Anna's concentrated gaze. "Whatcha thinking about, Angel?"
Anna smirked at the nickname Faith had been calling her since the fifth grade, and took a bite of her Cookies 'n' Cream ice cream.
"Do you remember the first time we played the car game? With the napkin? I was thinking about that. And how cute and innocent we were."
Faith laughed bitterly. "If I was anything, it wasn't cute and innocent. More like cute and sadly oblivious to the fact that Robert was beating my mother until the point where she and my sister up and left without saying goodbye."
Anna looked down at the table. "Sorry", she whispered.
Faith looked up in surprise. "No, no, it's okay. You didn't say anything wrong." She sighed. "I've just been thinking lately."
"About what?"
"Just about... them. My mom, my sister. Robert." Faith spat out the last name like it was something rotten. Faith only called her father by his first name, and instead of taking his last name, took her mothers maiden name, Karol.
Anna looked concerned. "Are things getting worse at home?" There were a couple of times where Robert got so drunk that Faith had to stay at Anna's for up to 4 days at a time.
"As bad as they've always been." Faith sighed. "I just... I've also been thinking about your dad, Anna."
Anna's head snapped up. "My dad?"
"Yeah. He was always so nice to me, and, well... he felt more like a father figure to me than anyone ever has." Faith looked guilty down at her ice cream. "Sometimes... sometimes I even wish that... that cancer had decided to latch onto my dad instead of yours."
Anna was silent. What was she supposed to say to that? I'm sorry that my dad died and left you with that sorry excuse of a father? Real comforting. Looking out the window so Faith couldn't see the look in her eyes, Anna guiltily pondered the thought that maybe she felt the same way. What if Robert had died instead of her dad? Would she have be sad? What about Faith?
Faith looked at Anna with a sad look in her eyes. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."
Anna looked away from the window. "No, it's okay. I've come to terms with it, and there's nothing I can do, so there's no use sitting here feeling sorry for myself."
Faith smiled softly. "This is why you're my idol."
Anna looked up in shock. "Wh-what?"
"My idol. I look up to you. You're so sweet and nice to everyone, and even though you have so much to be sad about, you don't let anything ruin your spirit. You really are amazing."
Anna blushed. "Wow. I... I don't know what to say."
"Just keep it in mind, okay?"
"O-ok."
"Now," Faith said, once again eating her ice cream with gusto. "What do you think about being a junior when we go back to..." Faith gagged. "School".
Anna laughed, and the conversation carried on from there. Talking about school, summer plans, friends, and the worst baby names ever. Before they realized it, it was starting to get dark out.
"We should probably go", Anna said, picking up their trash to throw out. "It's almost 9:00 and I'm not sure what time my mom wants me home."
"Got it." Faith stood up. "Don't forget your water bottle. And do you need a ride?"
"If it's no trouble."
"Yeah, Angel, you're such an inconvenience."
"Shut up, Favy."
The two laughed as they walked back down towards the track, to Faiths old Toyota Camery, which was parked a while away from the track, but not from the shop. Once they hopped in, they put on their seatbelts and cranked up the radio.
High Hopes by Panic! At The Disco had just started, so the two girls belted out all the words, waving their hands (only when they were at red lights of course), and shook their heads to the beat.
At some point, Anna looked over at Faith, who was singing her heart out, and felt a sudden surge of love for her best friend. The person who had been there for her when she needed it most. The person she could laugh with, the person she could cry in front of. Through thick and thin, they had always been there supporting each other. Faith had been Anna's rock, and vice versa.
On top of that, Anna's dad had really liked Faith as well, treating her as if she was his daughter as well. He was good at judging character, and Anna didn't think he had ever liked one of her friends as much as Faith.
The song finished, and Faith pulled into Anna's driveway. Anna's house wasn't huge, but it certainly wasn't small. It was white, with a two car garage space, a cute little flowerbed in the front, and the front door was painted a dark turquoise colour.
"Thanks for the ride, Faith!" Anna said, unbuckling her seatbelt, reaching over and one arm hugging her friend.
"Talk to you tomorrow, Anna!"
"Yup, bye!"
Anna waved as her friend pulled out of the driveway and drove down the street and turned the corner. Sighing happily, Anna started walking towards the steps to her front door.
She had had a crush on Faith since around seventh grade, but hadn't said anything for fear of rejection. Or embarrassment. Or both.
Anna pulled out her keys and unlocked the front door. Whatever, it didn't matter anyway. Right?
Walking inside her house, her fluffy white dog, Loki, came bounding to greet her with his tongue out. Ruffling his fur, Anna took a deep breath, taking in the smell of chocolate.
"Mom must have been baking again", Anna thought, taking off her shoes. She walked into the kitchen searching for the source of the delicious scent, Loki close behind.
"Mom?" She called.
No response.
Finding brownies on the stove, she looked for her mom. She wasn't in the living room. The only thing on the couch was a hand knit blanket and Anna's sleeping cat, Missy.
Opening the door to the T.V room, she found the T.V playing, and her mom sleeping in the recliner. Except something was very, very wrong.
~ • ~ • ~
As Faith pulled into the apartment building parking lot and parked, she rested her head on the steering wheel. No doubt her fathers "friends" were in there, on their way to being very drunk and definitely not leaving anytime soon.
With a large sigh, Faith grabbed her keys, stepped out of her vehicle, and entered the building. Hitting the 3rd floor button in the elevator, she wished it would take forever and she wouldn't have to go "home".
Unfortunately, the ding of the bell let her know she was wrong.
Exiting the elevator and walking down the hallway with the weird carpet that looked like it was from the 80's, Faith reached door number 358, took a deep breath, and opened the door to her own personal hell.