Friendships

“This isn’t fair,” Ethel whispered under her breath. I was beginning to get concerned. She didn’t speak at all during the walk home. When we arrived, she stormed into her room. “I better leave her alone,” I said. Despite me telling myself to leave her alone, I went to her room and knocked on the door. “Ethel? It’s me, can I come in?”

I waited for a reply, but she didn’t answer. I opened the door slowly to indicate that I’m coming in. She was sitting on her bed. She didn’t seem to react when I entered her room. I put my hand on her shoulder. “Ethel, are you okay?” Her eyes were closed, so I assumed she was sleeping. I moved away, scared I might wake her up. I was about to leave, but heard a loud thud. I looked behind and saw her on the floor. “Ethel! Are you okay?!” She still didn’t open her eyes. I got worried. “Open your eyes! Please, snap out of it!” I called an ambulance.

She was taken to a hospital. “Ethel has taken a lot of sleeping pills. A drug overdose. She’ll be fine in a couple of hours. Please take all the sleeping pills away from her to prevent this from happening again. You can go see her now,” the doctor said. I thanked her and went to Ethel.

“Ethel? It’s me, Aiden. I’m coming in,” I announced as I opened the door. She looked at me with a smile. “Aiden? Y-You’re here?! Why are you here?” Silence filled the room. I was so angry, yet so relieved. “You Idiot! Why do you take all those pills?! How did you even get them?! Do you have any idea how worried I was?” I yelled at her. She was smiling even as I yelled at her. “I’m sorry, Aiden. I didn’t think I’d worry you that much. I’m happy to know you worry about me. I thought I was nothing but a burden to you,” she said. She’s been hard on herself because she thinks she is a burden to me. What do I do now?

I took her home once the doctors allowed it. I asked her to sit in the living room while I bring her something. I checked her room for any sleeping pills. I looked at the bed and found a small box. Sure enough, it was sleeping pills. I headed back downstairs. “Ethel, you forgot something. Here.” I handed her the phone. “Your friends wanted to talk to you. They kept calling over and over.” She had tears welling up in her eyes. “How did you get the sleeping pills, Ethel?”

She started crying. “I-I f-found them in my room. It was in the drawer.” She said with a cracked voice. I comforted her. I didn’t think it was the right time to ask her why she took it. “The doctor said you aren’t allowed to take them anymore. Well, let’s forget all that, shall we? I will start preparing lunch. You go on and change into something more comfortable. Oh, and also, call your friends back. They must be worried.”

I started to prepare for lunch. In less than a minute of me being in the kitchen, Ethel came up to me and offered to help. I told her to talk to her friends while I handle everything here.

The next day, Ethel went out to the movies with her friends. As usual, I had to stay nearby. I probably looked like a stalker to those around me. During the intermission, Ethel called. “Aiden, are you doing okay? You know, if you want, I can come and go back home with you.”

“No need. You enjoy yourself. I’m having a good time here. I probably would’ve procrastinated if we were at home, but I’m actually catching up on homework here. Enjoy yourself and take as much time as you need. I’ll be here. Okay, bye!” I hung up. I banged my head on the table. I was so bored. I already finished my homework ages ago. I had to lie to her, or else she would’ve come back. I decided to sleep. There really wasn’t much I could do.

I woke up to someone shaking me in an attempt to wake me up. I jumped up from my seat and looked at my phone. 4 missed calls? From Ethel?! This is bad! I was about to run, but I saw her standing next to me. She was the one trying to wake me up. “Let’s go home,” She said with a huge smile plastered across her face.

The next day, Ethel refused to go to school. I had to go without her. Honestly, I was kind of scared that she’d burn the house down by the time I came back. I reluctantly went to school. At school, not many people asked about Ethel which was normal. Her friends seemed like they didn’t care much. I headed home early to see how she was doing. I didn’t want her to know that I came back early, so I carefully entered the house. I heard crying coming from upstairs. I darted upstairs to find where it was coming from. It was her room. I leapt into her room. “Ethel? What’s wrong?”

“A-Aiden! You’re back early. What’s wrong?” She said wiping her tears. She tried to hide the fact that she was crying. “Why are you crying? What’s wrong?” Ethel started to cry once more.

After she finally regained control, she decided to tell me. “At-At the movies yesterday... None of them could see me, even when I came close you! I’ve lost my friends, Aiden! I’ve lost them...”