The Life You Take

She stood in front of the mirror. She never looked at herself for too long but today it was different. She stared so deeply into her own soul she started to wonder what she was looking at. She was always too afraid to stare at herself for too long because she would lose herself in the reflection. She would start to wonder if what she was looking at was real, or just an image. She would start to question the meaning of life, and what would happen once life would no longer be a part of her. What would come after, what came before? She didn’t know, and that scared her.

She had to look away from the mirror as the tears started dripping down her face. She grabbed her hands and touched her face, making sure she was real, making sure she was alive.

Everything had changed, and it changed so suddenly. Daisy couldn’t accept it. She was lost and hopeless, she didn’t know what to do nor where to go. When Sofia left, she became silent.

What they had was wonderful. It was a deeper kind of love that one didn’t find very often. The two girls always thought they were connected. They had the same thoughts, the same reactions, the same feelings. They would experience the same things; it was like they were living the same life. When they spoke, it was with excitement and passion. They loved each other.

The two girls were happy, they were happier than ever and couldn’t ask for anything more. One Friday evening, when the two girls usually met, Sofia was late. Daisy had waited over 30 minutes for her at the town center. She was upset and obviously annoyed, yet all that went away when Sofia arrived with nothing but excitement and happiness on her face.

“You won’t believe what just happened!” Sofia exclaimed.

“What happened?” Daisy asked with such curiosity.

“I met the most wonderful person. I was at the library and this boy came talking to me. He was asking about the book I was reading and how he was looking for it. I offered to lend it to him when I was done” Sofia started “He asked me if instead of lending it to him when I was done for me to explain to him over coffee, I said no originally but then we started talking and wow Daisy, he was so amazing and interesting and I lost track of time and well, that’s why I was late so sorry about that.”

“I want to be mad at you but Sofia that’s amazing! So, when are you seeing him again?” Daisy asked.

“Tomorrow!”

Daisy was happy for her friend. Sofia was never the type to open up to the idea of going out with just anyone. She was always so picky about the people she hung around with and the people she talked to.

The girls kept on meeting each other every Friday and Sofia would tell Daisy everything about the boy. She spoke about how he really understood her. Sofia felt as though he was the first person that she was actually able to connect with other than Daisy.

The Friday of the week after Daisy waited for Sofia to come to the town center where they usually met. She waited twenty minutes, thirty minutes, until a whole hour had finally passed, but Sofia never showed.

Daisy wanted to keep on waiting, but something wasn’t right, why would Sofia not show up like she usually did. And so, Daisy went back home, disappointed and sad. What had happened to Sofia?

The Friday after that Daisy went back to the town center. She bit her nails and looked at every passing person hoping it would be Sofia, yet, once again, she did not show.

Daisy didn’t go back home, she walked around the town her mind filled with ideas and thoughts about where her closest friend could be. Was she with that boy? Had she forgotten about her already?

There was a sound that made Daisy stop for a moment, it was the sound of crying. She turned a corner and there was Sofia, sitting on the steps of the library with her face in the palms.

“Sofia? What happened? Where were you?” Daisy asked with such worry as she grabbed her friend in her arms.

“It’s him Daisy. It’s so fucked up!” Sofia started sobbing

“What did he do?” Continued Daisy.

“I think I love him Daisy, but he doesn’t think he can love me. He said he was incapable of love and so I tried to leave. If he didn’t love me then why should I stay with him, but he told me no, not to leave. He said that I was the reason he was still alive” Sofia was sobbing

“What do you mean?” Daisy was trying to understand, but Sofia was having a hard time pulling herself together.

“He doesn’t want me to leave him, but it hurts for me to stay, because I know he doesn’t love me back” Sofia finally said

Daisy let go of Sofia and grabbed her hands. She looked her straight in the eyes and said, “You need to get away from him Sofia, he’s no good for you, he’s hurting you”.

The two girls stayed together that night. Sofia didn’t say a word, she didn’t want to talk about the boy anymore. Whatever he had said to her, done to her, it had affected her.

Daisy thought that this day would be the last time Sofia would ever see the boy, but she was wrong. This day was the last day Daisy would ever see Sofia. She went back, Sofia went back to see him afraid that he had tried to hurt himself. When she saw he was okay, she tried to leave him once again, yet this did not make him happy. He got aggressive with her, he grabbed her and when Sofia tried to fight back, he pinned her against the wall. She yelled and spat in his face begging for him to let her go but that angered him more. He pressed hard on her chest and throat without realizing the damage he was doing, the air had finally cut and was no longer making its way to her lungs and she fell on the floor breathless and when the boy’s anger finally passed, he looked at Sofia’s body and walked away.

Daisy fell in a panic of anger and anguish at the news of her friend's death. She had just lost her other half, a part of her soul... And the boy, where was the boy? He was walking free. She didn’t know what to feel, what to think. She couldn’t believe that death was real and that one day she would never be able to hug her best friend ever again. Sofia was taken from this world, and Daisy didn’t know what to feel anymore, what was real anymore, what being alive really meant anymore. She always felt the most alive with Sofia, and this boy, he took that away from her, forever.