She took my hand tighter than I expected as we inched into the water.

As soon as the icy waves touched her toes, she shrieked and jumped out of"harm's way". I laughed in pleasure, seeing her squeam at something that seemed so simple to me.

"Lily, are you coming or what?"

"EDEN, IT'S COLD! HOW THE HELL CAN YOU STAND THERE?!" Her response made me laugh harder, almost doubling over but unable to due to still holding onto her hand.

"Lily," I gasped between laughs. "How have you never been in the ocean?"

"I've been in the ocean... in Hawaii..."

"That's artificial ocean. That water's always warm. THIS" I gestured to the waves, "is the ocean!" She looked past me to the neverending expanse of water. I saw her face shift from one of fake anger to actual concern. "Hey, Lilly." She looked back at me. "It's gonna be okay. I'm right here. I'm holding your hand, and I won't let you go." She nodded in acknowledgment, but I could still see her concern.

"Are you sure we won't get stung or stabbed by anything?"

"Lily, no. It's too cold and this beach isn't known for jellyfish. Or sharks." She sighed but squeezed my hand to signal she was ready.

She stepped back into the water and, while not screaming, she tried to hold her shrieks in her mouth(which were still very audible). I turned around so she couldn't see me stifling my laughter again. While the process was very, very, very slow, Lily and I worked our way through the water. Every wave trying to push us back to shore surprised Lily, but she was determined now. When we got to waist-deep water, I stopped.

"Woo-hoo!" Lily shouted, jumping for joy. "I did it, Eden! Look at me, I'm in the ocean!" She closed the distance between us and embraced me in a strong hug. I hugged her back, hiding my red face in her neck.

It's nice to help people's dreams come true, especially for those you love.

<3

There was no one else I hated more than the man in front of me.

As we were all stuck in our seats during a boring presentation, my bladder's desire to release grew more and more painful with every word this jerk said.

Sir. You are not funny. Your jokes suck. Finish your dumb presentation.

3 minutes felt like forever, but he finally finished. He got the small round of claps he basked in, and returned to his seat.

"Alright, read the last three scenes of Macbeth and-"

The bell rang, interrupting his homework decree as I SPRINTED to freedom.

I got the dm on December 24th, 2021 at 6:00 PM pacific standard time.

My friend was dead.

My dear, dear friend who had dreams, aspirations, love, and beauty to share. My friend who loved to go on walks and hug trees, who chose to denounce her religion and go on a journey of enlightenment. My friend who I hadn't audibly spoken to for almost exactly a year. Was dead.

By her own hand.

I couldn't believe it. It's a joke. No, I could believe it. I did believe it. She's gone.

I can't count the tears I've shed or the regrets I've had. I can't express the pain I've felt added to my own depression and anxiety, something we talked about on a daily basis and supported one another in...

But something absolutely unexplainable. Is her voice in my head.

Some people talk of ladybugs or butterflies visiting them after a loved one has passed.

My friend decided to stick herself into my brain and not let go.

I can't tell if I'm possessed, or she has chosen to haunt me. Or, the opposite, she's decided to be my guardian angel.

But since she's passed, there she has stuck. To talk to me. Whether I like it or not.

We sit, curled up on the couch like always. After a petty argument of who gets to control the tv tonight, I feign disgust as she picks yet another RomCom that makes me feel like it steals hours of my life I can never get back.

Yet, here we sit, hand in hand with legs curled around one another.

"When did you know?" She asks me, pulling me out of my thoughts.

"What do you mean?" I chuckle back. Her hazel eyes are glued to the screen and she points. I look at the screen and it's one of those cliche moments in movies where the protagonist receives a huge love speech from their admirer.

"When did you know you loved me?" She refuses to make eye contact as I look back at her, her eyes glued to the screen in fear of what I'll say.

"From the moment I saw you. As you left a nibbled-on pencil in your hair heading into a job interview with enough paperwork and folders to make even me think you worked there as a CEO. As you unabashedly looked at me and asked me how you looked. That's when I knew I could never let you go." She looked down at our intertwined hands and smiled, giving me the honor of seeing her turn red. She said nothing else and rested her head on my shoulder as we continued to watch our favorite movie.

There was nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.

After all the twists and turns through this labyrinth, she found herself at a dead end with her captor closing in behind her. Looking around, there was nothing she could do but turn and face them.

“Ms.Stacy, detention is NOT over yet!“

Sigh. Three hours to go.

It went just as every other beginning to date night goes:

We get ready (my lovely Henry waits until after I take my solid hour and fifteen minutes to primp, and THEN takes his half hour to forty-five minutes to get ready instead of us both getting ready together... Always), we get in the car before deciding where we want to go to eat, an argument ensues about whether we go to a fast-food joint, an expensive steakhouse where we only order water and salads because that’s all we can afford as just-out-of-college graduates, or if we go to Olde Joes - our normal outing venue. After our argument where we inevitably pick our familiar venue, it takes Henry an extra fifteen minutes to find the *perfect* parking spot. Those fifteen minutes cause a line to form, where we are now stuck waiting at the end of it instead of already having a table my poor feet can rest at since I stupidly picked my flashiest pair of heels instead of comfier shoes.

Eventually we are seated with a beautiful view of the parking lot, paired with our table being surrounded by drunk college students, extremely loud families with tiny children that like to run everywhere, and a couple who decide to make some sort of scene.

You guys. This is EVERY date night we ever have.

Anyways, Henry, who is a gentleman, pulled my seat out so I could sit, and he pushed my chair in. I surveyed the entertainment we had for tonight: an unruly family of five with two toddlers who were already fidgety even though they were sat down at the same time as us and a baby who was still too small to be in one of those child seats, a middle-aged couple who refused to look up at each other, and a student with their food untouched and pushed aside while they stared at their textbook with the familiar expression of confusion I knew too well and was glad to be over with.

Sally, our waiter, came up to our table and gave us her weekly exhausted smile.

“Hey, sugars. Sorry Alanah gave you menus, she’s new. Will you be having the usual?” The usual being Henry ordering a rum and coke while I get the cocktail of the day, and our food choices of a barbecue burger for Henry and a rib rack for myself. We nod, Sally nodded right back, and she reached to take our menus.

”Actually… I think I’m gonna try a new food item this week, Sally” Henry sheepishly muttered as he pulled his menu closer to his body. Sally and I shared a look.

“Henry. Are you sure?” I asked. “You know what happens when you try new things.” Henry rolled his eyes and shot me a look. He then looked back to Sally.

”I’d really like to try something new.” Sally gave a nod, took my menu, and scurried away to prepare our drinks. Henry went back to his phone, and I went back to people-watching.

The toddlers were reaching for silverware as the parents, clearly not prepared for their children in the wild, continually pushed the silverware farther seemingly unreachable into the middle of the table. The student was using their silverware to try and make some sort of diagram, food still untouched. And back at the couple, they were now leaned in towards one another in some sort of heated discussion, seemingly cutting and biting their food for emphasis.

I myself sighed and closed my eyes, exhaustion from the day slowly sending me into a zen state.

CLASH

BANG

SMASH

SHRIEK

I awoke to a catastrophic horror film! The spaghetti-stained toddlers had ripped the entire table cloth from their table in some sort of collusion against their parents, pieces of glass were thrown everywhere from the impact of the fall. I aimed my gaze back at the student, who was just as confused as I am.

Looking back at Henry, he was staring at the couple. I looked back at them, realizing that was where most of the noise was coming from.

“JERRY, YOU DON’T DO ANYTHING FOR ME AND YOU HAVEN’T FOR 20 YEARS”

”DENISE, YOU PICKED THE RESTAURANT TONIGHT. YOU PICKED MY CLOTHES. YOU PICKED OUR CHILDREN’S NAMES AND COLLEGES. I CAN’T DO ANYTHING FOR YOU.”

”YOU PICKED YOUR MISTRESS”

”YOU KNOW THATS DIFFERENT, DENISE. SHE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THIS”

I was so mesmerized by this argument unfolding, I didn’t notice Denise’s arms.

”WELL, JERRY. JUST LIKE YOU PICKED YOUR MISTRESS, I’M PICKING HOW LARGE YOUR BILL WILL BE TONIGHT!” And with that, her hands now on each corner of her end of the tablecloth, she yanked her side of the tablecloth up with as much force as she could. Before I could see the aftermath, Henry’s body was rammed into mine, sending my chair backwards and my head right into the cement ground.

Once again, I was lost in a sea of darkness, unable to open my eyes but could hear the chaos of the restaurant. Sally was screaming at Alanah to assist her, the parents were yelling at probably their toddlers to come back to their table, and the couple were still arguing. I could hear Henry calling my name, but I couldn’t respond until I felt a large jolt of cold air.

I tried to sit right up but my position in the chair kept me on the ground. Instead, what I saw made me go white.

Sticking out of Henry’s shoulder. Was a knife.

“Eliza, thank god you’re alright!”

“Henry. You… what? What the hell is happening?”

”I have no idea, I’m pretty sure an ambulance is on it’s way. You should lay back down, your chair’s legs broke after I jumped in front of you.”

”Henry.“ Kneeling on top of me, he tried to bend down to kiss me but I put my hand on his non bleeding shoulder. He gave me a quizzical look, looked down at his shoulder, and just stared. It took a minute or two, but we were both mesmerized by this piece of silver protruding from my boyfriend’s body.

“It’s… it’s not that bad,” he said as he shook off the confusion.

“Henry? That’s a knife. Sticking out of your shoulder.“

”Yeah… yeeeeeeah.”

“Are we really gonna sit here and wait for police and ambulances?”

”Eliza. I don’t know about you, but I’ve got some serious debt. I don’t wanna pay for this doctor visit. Do you?” I attempted to nod, but searing pain shot through my entire head. I felt his hand reach out to let me rest my head on it… the hand that wasn’t connected to the bleeding shoulder.

Looking past Henry, all the kitchen staff had come out to subdue the still fighting couple - which had gotten violent and equally matched - and I could see the police and ambulance lights flashing on the wall, as I was still on the ground.

Henry and I looked back at each other once more and smiled, knowing this was a date night we would and could NEVER forget.

I had no idea how peaceful the sky could be, but here I was:

Quickly dropping to the ground, death looming closer every second.

But.

All I could do was smile as the wind caressed my drugged body back into a comfortable state. The only thing waiting for me?

Death.