They Know The End

Russell

11:09 am

We trudged out of the house, the mood obviously down. Many people were still staring at us, mostly at Matt. I stared daggers back at them to intimidate them a little.

It was easy to feel something else. To distract myself from what I was actually feeling.

We passed by the group of guys who stole Matt's money and attacked me last night. They were talking among themselves when we passed. Now they were staring at us.

We both didn't say anything until we were on the other side of the road. The sun was beating down on us, but I paid it no heed. I didn't need the sun to feel hot.

We began walking back to the direction of the mall. We were both silent for a while.

"Do you. . ." I cleared my throat. "do you regret this?"

It took some time before he answered, "No."

I stopped walking and faced him. "What?"

"Yeah, no."

"Why?"

"Because. . ." He managed a small smile. "well, you're my Last Friend and we're gonna stick to each other until the end."

I huffed. "I hate it. I hate me."

"Don't say that," he replied, his voice taking a more gentle tone. He awkwardly reached out with his hand, but drew it back last minute.

"No, you don't get it!" I screamed. "My family has always been like this. You're just a Last Friend. You wouldn't get it."

An emotion unfamiliar to me passed by his face. Maybe it was because it was a combination of some others.

He sighed. "My parents are like that too. They keep fighting each other all the time. Now, every time they could, my mom would try to get away from my dad, saying it as an excuse for work."

I didn't say anything. He didn't get it still. He wouldn't understand. No one would. No one will.

We both stood there motionless on the sidewalk. At this time of the day, the road became a desert, the sun ray's colors creating that effect. That, and the obvious lack of people.

Matt sat down. He looked tired, and every inch of his skin was red from the heat. I watched him rummage through his backpack. "So what are we gonna do now?"

"We can go to the mall. . ?" I suggested. "I've always wanted to know what's inside those malls."

"Okay." He grunted as he stood up. We began walking. "What do you want to do in the mall?"

My cheeks burned, which was saying something, because everything was burning. "Well. . .I've wanted to try something for a while."

"What is it?"

"You'll find out when you get there." Meanwhile, I was praying to whatever what was above.

"Oh, okay," he answered.

"Have you ever wanted to try something?"

"Yeah. Like ride a bike."

"You haven't ridden on a bike? What?"

"Heh. I've always been afraid of getting into an accident."

I almost face-palmed. "Please don't tell me that you don't know how to swim as well?"

"I've always been afraid to drown," he replied, matter-of-factly.

If it were any other day, if it were any other person, I would've urged him to learn to bike and swim.