The hazy glow of the sun and the exhaustion from the morning brought an uncertainty to my eye. It couldn’t be true, it was an illusion, but oh how I wanted to believe it so badly; the golden curls, the eyes bluer than the sea that splashed at her ankles, the perfect way that the white dress fell on her seemless body. It just simply could not be true.

And yet as I took each step forward, the image did not fade; her angelic smile that could cure my sorrow in seconds, her freckles that danced like stars across her pale face, her eyelashes - dark and curled as if she had spent hours working on making them perfect, when in reality she simply woke like that.

And then she was looking at me too, her smile softening, sympathetic but kind. I was not in control of the clear drops that ran across my cheeks and fell onto the fine sand beneath by bare feet, but neither did I mind them. She outstretched her hand and I hestiated, terrified that if I touched her skin that she’d disappear forever.

But I did, and she pulled me into a tight embrace, holding me close as if the world would end if she let go. “Victoria!” I sobbed, unable to control the euphoria that I had been holding back in complete fear of the devastation I’d have if she had just been the trick of the eye. “Victoria!”

She was crying too, I could feel her tears soak into my shoulder but she remained silent, perhaps scared to show her broken voice. My best friend was back, in all of her singularity, and I would not let her leave again. Summoning all my strength I took her by the shoulders and pushed her back to look at her angelic face.

“Victoria, where have you been? It’s been two years. I thought you were dead.” An uncomfortable look twisted onto her friend’s face and her eyes dropped to the water that brushed both their feet. I waited quietly, hoping for an response that would answer all my questions.

The chilled morning breeze brushed at my straight brown hair, drying the tears on my cheeks. My nose and ears had reddened in the cold. A strangled noise of frustration sounded from my throat, surprising us both.

“Victoria,” I pleaded, now desperate for any response, “Give me something! You left me without a word. Was it because you couldn’t shake the stigma that this tiny stupid town attached to you? We could have run away together. Was it because of your mother? Was it because of me-“

“No,” Victoria finally said, a face of defiance forming at the idea that her closest friend was what chased her away. “No. My dearst Chloe, I wish I could tell you but I can’t. I’m leaving again. Soon. I just had to see you.”

I could feel all the colour drain from my face. It was so unfair. She couldn’t do that to me. I had just begun to cope, to move on, to live my life again. And then she was here in front of me, telling me I’d have to go through it all again. “You are so selfish,” I whispered and though I could see my words stung, it was clear Victoria had expected it.

“I have the day,” she begun again, a saddened tone sounding, “Please, let us spend it together.” There was look to her eye that I couldn’t place and though I knew it’d be more painful than anything I had experienced before, it was an offer I could not refuse.

I took her hand and she smiled, thanking me silently with a look only I could understand.

——

I will always miss my dearest friend, and I will always wonder what happened to that perfect girl.