I turned when I heard my bedroom door squeak open. A tired looking McKenzie stood in my doorway.
"I saw your light was still on, you okay?" She yawned and it was one of those contagious ones, I felt myself yawn just seconds later.
"Not really."
McKenzie pulled up a chair and slid in next to me. "Okay... what do we have here." She pulled the laptop towards her and started clicking through the tabs.
"Inca trail... climbing Machu Pee... shoe... mashooo... Much... " She stumbled. "Ok, climbing some cool mountain and looking at some awesome ancient ruins that you've always wanted to see! NEXT!"
She clicked to the next one and read, "Discover Greece; from spectacular Santorini sunsets to the whitewashed houses & windmills of Mykonos. Tour ancient Athens, Acropolis museum & more..." She clocked me. "They forgot to add, lie on the amazing beaches, swim in crystal blue waters and meet hot Greek men!"
I smiled at her and she continued. "Visit the mysterious castle of Count Dracula and enjoy a trip through an authentic Romanian village frozen in time... Ooooh, not sure about that one, but it's right up your alley! You'll love it."
She kept clicking and reading. Clicking and reading, and the more she did, the more my anxiety levels rose. When she was done she looked at me solemnly.
"So I know I've been a bit skint with the sisterly advice..."
"So have I." I added quickly.
"True!" We smiled at each other. "And I'm probably not the best person in the word to give anyone advice. But..." She paused and looked at me. It was filled with such compassion and love that it almost made me want to cry again.
"I think you know what you need to do."
I nodded at her. I did. It was just so, so hard.
"Hey, if it's meant to be, it will be. It's just a year." She was trying to sound upbeat now, obviously for my benefit. Again, I was so touched by this.
"A lot can happen in a year." I whispered.
"A lot of good can happen in a year!" She corrected me. "Absence make the heart grow fonder."
"Or wander." I quickly added.
She smiled at me, "I don't think that will happen."
"Really?" I asked perking up with that crumb of hope.
"One year apart is not going to destroy ten years together.... Maybe you guys are meant to be?"
"Do you think we are?"
She looked like she was thinking and choosing her words very carefully now. "I think you guys could very well 'be', but I think you both need some time and space!"
I nodded. The pain of my heart breaking ripping through my entire body. I knew she was right. I knew in my gut, beneath all the twisting, knotting agony that it was the right thing to do.
"Close your eyes Maria." Mackenzie said softly.
I closed my ears and squeezed my hands together in my lap. The sound of her fingers clicking the buttons of my computer felt like it went on forever and as soon as I heard the sound stop, I cried. Tears streamed down my face and I couldn't stop them.
McKenzie hugged me and then practically dragged me to bed. She propped up my pillows and thew a blanket over me.
"Wait!" She jumped up and sped out the room coming back seconds later with a hand full of chocolate bars. "From my secret stash." She said throwing them on the bed and climbing on too.
"You have a secret stash."
She nodded, her mouth full of chocolate. "Fuck yeah! How else are you meant to survive moms cooking."
"Me too!" I said, tearing the paper off a Mars bar as the tears started to dissipate.
"I know. I've stolen from it before."
We laughed and I felt a bit better. I felt like I was losing, and gaining at the same time. And what I was gaining was so precious, that I never wanted to lose it again.
Mike
I was counting the days like a criminal in jail. The only thing I wasn't doing was carving lines on my bedroom wall and crossing them out. Perhaps I should have, at least it would give me something to look at, because I was going mad staring at the celing and the walls of my room all night long.
The scout had phoned twice already this week. I had avoided both calls. My father had phoned once and my mother was acting weird. It was as if she was trying to lure me into a false sense of security and get me to open up to her by being overly nice to me. The other day she brought me breakfast in bed! Actual food to eat, in my bed.
Life felt boring and bland without Maria. And school felt even worse. Everyone was still talking about the fight video. No one would shut up about it. The principle had called a huge school assembly and threatened anyone else with suspension should they continue to share the video of Maria and McKenzie fighting on their Facebook pages and other social media. The video had been circulating for a week now and everyone had seen it. Everyone.
What is wrong with men that a video of two woman cat fighting can whip them up into a horny frenzy? Is it some primitive cave man shit? Because all of a sudden, I kept hearing people describing Maria as hot. Not that she wasn't, she was. But why had it taken a video of her fighting to get guys to notice that. She was now that hot chick that whipped
