Riley

Riley

Jessica Silvia was taking a walk in the park, her eyes on the ground as her feet scuffled against the pavement. Around her, a crisp, cool wind blew, disturbing the once still orange and red leaves around her. Jessica shivered and pulled her coat just a little bit tighter around her before continuing on her way.
         She found herself looking around at the familiar surroundings. A little girl with pink mittens was being pushed on a swing by her mother. An old man was sitting on a park bench enjoying the afternoon. A beautiful tree stood a little way off.
         Jessica stopped abruptly at the sight of the tree as a wave of memories hit her. Who knew that one little tree could bring back so much laughter, so much happiness, and so much pain?          
         Jessica started toward the tree, her feet moving without permission. She stopped right in front of it and gazed up at its branches, putting her hand on the strong trunk. It was this very tree that brought her to Riley, her best friend. Jessica remembered the memory perfectly.
         It was a warm, sunny day. A small girl with long, straight brown hair and big, brown eyes was running around the park, laughing with delight as she kicked around her favorite bouncy ball. She tapped it lightly with her foot aiming a sharp kick its side and watching it as it flew all the way to the other side of the park. The eight year old Jessica gasped and ran after it.
         The ball landed at the trunk of the tree before stopping.  Little Jessica bent down and picked it up, and almost turned to run back to her spot when she caught a flash of red in the tree. She looked up and saw a young girl, around her age with curly red hair and green eyes looking down at her.
         Jessica thought about leaving and pretending she didn’t see the strange tree girl, but curiosity got the better of her.
         “Hey!” Jessica called. “What are you doing up there?”
         “Sitting in a tree!” the girl called back with a grin. “You can see everything up here! It’s really cool! Climb up!”
         Jessica looked up hesitantly. This did not go unnoticed by tree girl.
         “You scared?” She called down, a mischievous glint in her green eyes.
         “I’m not scared of anything!” Jessica yelled back up defiantly.
         “Then come on up!”
         Jessica’s pride got the better of her, and she began her climb, climbing higher and higher until she was level with the girl. Then she climbed one branch higher just for good measure, smiling triumphantly. The girl with fire red hair smiled and held out her hand.
         “I’m Riley.”
         “Jessica.” answered the eight year old with a smile, taking the hand. She looked around at the park. Riley was right! You could see everything from the birds flying nearby, to the bench across the park. She could even see her house, which wasn't to hard to find. She lived right outside the park anyway.
        "Cool huh?" said Riley with a smile.
        "Yeah!" Jessica agreed. She was beginning to like this girl
        "Jessica!"
        She snapped back to reality looking around. Her mom was calling her. Uh oh!
        "I have to go! My mom's calling me and I'll get in trouble if I'm found in the tree!"
        She climbed down with as much speed as a little eight year old could muster. When her sneakers hit the ground, she turned to run in the direction of the voice when Riley called her name from up in the tree. Jessica looked up at the girl with the fire red hair.
        "Meet me here tomorrow, okay?"
        Jessica smiled. She had made a new friend! "Okay! Tomorrow!" Then she ran of to find her mother.
         From that moment on, the two were as close as can be. The encounter at the tree lead to many fun filled sleepovers, inside jokes, and giggles over cute boys. They did everything together. The tree became their place. They would go there after school and do homework, or on the weekends when they just needed to escape from family for a bit.
        Not too far away, Jessica heard laughter. She looked up. Two boys were racing each other from one end of the park and back. Jessica smiled and shook her head as yet, another memory hit her.
        "Dad finally bought me those new runninng shoes I wanted!" said Riley one day as they were walking home from high school. She had been begging and begging for those shoes for ages. They were white, Nike running shoes with a sparkly purple check on the side. Jessica and Riley went to the mall a few weeks back and saw them. Riley was instantly in love. She held up her foot to Jessica to show off her brand new foot wear, wiggling her ankle around, as if that were going to make her feet more attractive.
        "Arn't they cute??" Riley squealed. Jessica shoved her foot aside playfully.
        "Sweetie, it doesn't matter what shoes you wear. I'm still faster then you." said Jessica with a sweet smile.
        "In your dreams, Silvia!" Riley smiled back. Jessica laughed
        "Ooh! is that a challenge i hear?"
      "You bet it is! I can take you any time, any where!"
        "Right here, right now Hummel!"
        Three minutes later the girls had marked their finishing point. Whoever got to The park bench up ahead was the winner.
        "On your mark... GO!" Yelled Jessica taking off.
        "What happened to 'get set'? called Riley taking off after her.
        Jessica was ahead. She knew she was going to win! That bench wasn't far off. Almost there...
        Suddenly Jessica heard a squeal of pain behind her. She turned to find Riley on the ground clutching her knee in pain.
        "Riley!" Jessica ran back. "Riley! Are you okay? What happened?"
        "I fell! I'm fine. Just I bruise, I think...Ow!" Riley clutched her knee again.
        "Riley! Let me help you up!" Jessica held out her hand. Riley looked at her and took it. Then with a triumphant smile, yanked her down into the grass and ran off to the bench.
        "Cheater!!" Jessica yelled getting up and running after her.
         Jessica sank against the trunk, remembering. She and Riley were so protective of each other. Jessica could remember freshman year when Andrew Hummel asked her to homecoming. Andrew Hummel! Mr. Tall, strong, and handsome! How lucky could one girl get?
         Jessica immediately ran over to tell Riley the exciting news. Riley, who was happy for her, did not completely share her enthusiasm. Riley thought homecoming was stupid, a waste of time, and no matter how much Jessica begged, Riley refused to go. However, after school Riley did march straight over to Andrew Hummel and congratulate him for being such a lucky guy for taking Jessica to homecoming. Then she told him if he broke her best friend’s heart, she would break his face before smiling sweetly, waving, and skipping off.
         But Andrew didn’t listen. The night before homecoming, he walked over to Jessica to let her no that he was no longer accompanying her to homecoming.
         “He what?” Riley demanded.
         “For Cindy Brown!” Jessica cried. They sat under their tree that afternoon. Jessica was in tears.
         “Well you don’t need him! Your way out of his league anyway!” Riley declared, but this only made Jessica cry harder.
         The next day, Andrew Hummel showed up to school the next day with many bruises, a broken nose, and a black eye. Riley insisted that she had nothing to do with it, but Jessica knew better. She was always so tough that Riley, so strong. She could take on anything! Well, almost anything…
         “I have to tell you something.” said Riley, staring at the ground. She and Jessica were once again under their tree.
         “What is it Rye? You know you can tell me anything!” Jessica insisted, but Riley still wouldn’t look at her. Jessica was becoming increasingly worried by the second.
         “What’s going on? Riley look at me! Is it your family? Are you moving?”
         “No.” Riley’s voice was steady, but when she looked at Jessica, her eyes were full of tears. Jessica’s eyes widened. Riley never cried about anything! Ever!
         “Rye…?” Jessica’s voice trailed off.
         “I’m sick Jess.” Riley’s voice broke. “I have cancer.”
         Jessica was shocked. Was this some kind of joke?
         “But… Rye… No…”
         Riley bit her lip and nodded.
        "Remember that bruise I got that afternoon when we raced? It never went away, and my parents got worried and took me to the doctor. He tested me and... and..." Riley couldnt go on.
        "Well, what... what happens now?"
        "They said I can try treatment, but i've had it for so long, they don't think it'll do much."
         “Riley are you…?” Jessica took a deep, shaky breath, her eyes filling with tears of her own now. “Are you going to die?”
         Riley shook her head, tears flowing down her cheeks. “I don’t know Jess. I don’t know.”
         Suddenly they were both in each other’s arms, sobbing.
         “I’m so scared!” Riley managed through her sobs.
         “Me to.” cried Jessica.
         Jessica didn’t remember how long they sat there, crying in each other’s arms. Could’ve been minutes, maybe it was hours. She didn’t know.
         Jessica felt wetness on her face. Only then did she realize she was crying. She hastily wiped away the tears. Once she started crying, she knew she wouldn’t be able to stop. But it was too late. The tears kept coming. And Jessica kept remembering.
         Time went on. Riley grew weaker and weaker until she could hardly move and had to be put in the hospital. Jessica remembered seeing her in the hospital. It was probably the hardest thing she ever had to do.
         Jessica walked quickly toward Riley’s room, a get well soon card clutched tightly in her hands. It had been weeks sense she had seen her best friend. She walked into Riley’s room and stopped abruptly. She didn’t know what she was expecting, but this certainly wasn’t it.
Jessica hardly recognized her best friend anymore. Her fire red hair had gone strangely dim. The sparkle in her green eyes was gone. Her skin was so pale; Jessica swore she could see right through it. What had this sickness done to her best friend?
Riley saw her, and tried to smile, but this only made things worse, for Jessica could see the effort it took her for that one thing. Her eye’s filled with tears. Without a word, Jessica walked to her best friend’s bed side and handed her the card.
Against Jessica’s protests, Riley sat up and read the entire card out loud. When she finished, Riley smiled again and slowly opened her arms. Jessica ran in to them, trying her best not to hurt her.
         “I love you, Jessica.” Riley whispered. Jessica began sobbing uncontrollably; the nurses had to escort her from the room.
         Riley died that night, shortly after Jessica left.
         Jessica began sobbing at the memory. She turned around and punched the tree, not even noticing the pain in her hand.
         Why?? Why did it have to be Riley? She was so strong, so beautiful, and so full of life! Why did it have to be her? Why not someone else, anyone else?
         Jessica was sobbing uncontrollably now. She buried her head in her arms, her silent cries causing her shoulders to shake.
         At the funeral, people were sympathetic. They patted her shoulder, and said “I’m sorry child.” But Jessica knew that in the end they would expect her to forget, and move on. But how could she? Riley was her best friend!
         Jessica’s tears finally stopped. She looked around. The park was empty; she was alone. She hadn’t even noticed how cold and dark it had gotten.
         What if she just stayed here? She heard freezing to death was one of the best ways to go, nice and peaceful. What if…?
         “No!” came a voice from beside her. Jessica gasped and looked next to her to find a girl with fire red hair looking at her.
         “Riley?” Jessica’s eyes widened. Riley smiled.
         “Hey Jess.” She whispered softly. Jessica stared.
         “I know you miss me. I miss you to. But I don’t want to see you again, not like that.” Riley smiled sadly. Jessica almost began crying again.
         “Don’t cry sweetie.” Riley said. “It’s not forever after all! You have so much ahead of you. And I want you to promise me that you won’t end it for yourself. Promise me Jess!”
         Jessica nodded and wiped her nose. “I promise Riley.”
         Riley smiled. “I’ll be watching over you Jess.”
         Jessica smiled, and opened her mouth to say something, but when she blinked Riley was gone. Jessica knew she wouldn’t be coming back.
         Finally she got up and began to walk home. Time would heal, Jessica decided. After all, like Riley said, its not forever! She would be with her beset friend again someday.
         Someday.