english story
STORY OF A GIRL
…In the Eyes Of Her Best Friend
I leaned on the railings, taking in the atmosphere. It was peaceful, for once. The lower years still had classes. Only us seniors were free. There was silence in the building. I felt the cool breeze on my cheek. The wind blew my hair. I felt relaxed, and I don’t usually feel that when in school. I stood there looking at the row of classrooms across from where I was. Then my eyes landed on her - my best friend. I had a good view of her. And I saw.. she was smiling; laughing even. I sighed at the sight of her. I left the railings.
I looked back. She was still smiling. I kept walking..
I was feeling rather fidgety that afternoon. I stared at the clock. It stared back at me - frozen. It was mocking me. It refused to move. “Move damn it”. Then the bell finally rang. I fixed my things. I tidied myself up, then I made my way out the room. I went down the stairs and headed for her classroom to pick her up as I always do. When I reached her room, she greeted me with her smile. Her smile that says, “my life couldn’t be better”. The smile that makes people believe that she has not a care in the world. She wears that smile every single day. As much as I love that smile, I hated it. It sends a painful feeling in the pit of my stomach. My heart aches when I see that smile, but she didn’t know.
We went to our usual tambayan. We talked about this and that. And there it was again, her smile. I felt uneasy. I think I was in pain. It frustrated me - her smile. I wanted so much for it to be.. to be real. She faked that smile. It was forced. It wasn’t real. It wasn’t real. Maybe she could fool other people with it, but not me. No, she couldn’t fool me. I saw what was behind that smile. I saw everything. I saw right through her. She couldn’t hide from me. Her eyes held the truth. Those dark brown eyes said everything. There was no need for an explanation, for I already knew. Her eyes said everything. Behind that sweet, innocent smile lies a heart of a girl who is in pain. She was falling apart inside. Nothing was holding her together. She tried to hide her pain from the world. She put up this façade. Everyone saw this happy, carefree girl, but that’s not the case with me. I saw the truth. Her eyes didn’t lie. It killed me that she had to a smile on her; pretending nothing’s wrong. It killed me that she was breaking. I knew she was living in hell every single day. If only there was a way we could trade places. I would rather it would be me. I would gladly take her place and free her from all the agony. Why couldn’t it be me? Why her? She didn’t deserve any of this. For once, just once, I want to see her smile - a REAL smile. I want to see her happy. Sometimes I cant’ sleep at night knowing that she’s miserable. Despite her best efforts to try and shield it from the world, it has no effect on me. I still see the pain. I can see it burn. I would do anything to make it all go away. I would give anything in the entire world to alleviate her from her hurt. And this is where I get frustrated, because I don’t know how to help her. How can I? When she can’t even tell me that she’s crumbling into pieces. Even from me, she hides. I’m her best friend, but still she wears a mask. If I just knew what to do to make things better, I would do it. If only I knew. If only..
Suddenly she stopped talking. She fell silent. I could tell she was bothered. She sat there, still as a statue. Her eyes started to water; not enough for the people around to be alarmed, but enough for me to see. Her eyes sparkled from the tears that filled it. My heart was slowly breaking seeing her like that. I asked her, “What’s wrong?”
She looked at me.
And again,
..she smiled.