My jaw dropped open slightly, and Mari stayed quiet for a second. I felt uncontrollable tears run down my face, wetting my cheeks and stinging my eyes. Zeke looks at me, then Mari, his expression confused, yet concerned. He catches my eye, and stares with wide eyes. I look at him,  his dusty colored hair and pale skin. I shake my head, breaking our gaze. Mari stands, her hair flying back to rest on her back, and she brushed a strand out of her eyes. She turns to me and Em, tears streaming down her cheeks. I step forward, ready to comfort her, but she steps sideways, and I notice her shaking hands. I reach out my hand, hoping that she'd come over. She blinks, and turns away, walking toward the door. She swings it open and she disappears, the last thing I see is the tip of her braid. I feel a reassuring hand on my shoulder, and I turn to see Em's dark blue eyes, like the middle of  an ocean, waves lapping over each other, spraying white foam at their edges. She smiles a little, and brushes away a small tear that formed at the tip of my eyes. 

She pushes me towards the door, and I catch her sneak a glare at Zeke. I walked out, casting a quick glance at Zeke before heading out. The hallways seemed dim and depressing now. The glass reflected my tear stained cheeks as I passed. I knew it. I knew they shouldn't of given him those meds. I knew something was going to happen. Now we've lost a friend. It's almost like he died, but he didn't. He'll never remember the first time we met, when we went to the cafe countless times. He won't remember the times when we  felt like rebels, and when we were angels. Our inside jokes, and when we laughed in the middle of something serious, recalling memories. I stopp walking as I became flooded with memories, good and bad, and it felt like I was swimming, or drowning. I blinked back another round of tears, and falter forward, stumbling a little. We soon reach the cafeteria, it's empty self now having a few people in the line ups, some patients, some not. I scan the crowd for the girl with a night black braid, and eyes that shine like stars. I found the girl, but her eyes were dull, and her hair rested on her shoulder. 

I poke Em inbetween her two shoulder blades. She tenses up a little, and turns to look at me. I point to Mari, and she taps her foot on the ground and nods. She puts her hands into the pocket of her puffy, black jacket. She blows out a little, her lips puckered slightly. I could tell her head was swarming with thoughts and decisions. I grab Em's wrist and wrap my hands around her bracelet, the cold metal chilling my skin. I step towards Mari, and she nods and gets pulled along easily. As I get closer I notice Mari has white earbuds in, and she's staring in the other direction, as if waiting for a miracle. I hesitate before pulling out a chair, making a screeching sound as it slid back. Mari's gaze flickers to me, and her fingers tap on the wooden table. Em mutters that she's going to get food, and she shuffles away. I dig through my purse that sat on my lap and pulled out a small ear phone splitter, which had my ear phones attached to it. I pulled out her headphones softly, and attached them to the splitter, and push it back into the small hole in her phone. I push the earbuds into my ears, and music softly flows. The first lyric, And just because it hurts, doesn't mean it's not worth it. I feel my hands begin to shake as the music continues. 

I look over at Mari, who's returning my gaze with a sad smile. I curse my muted voice, as I open my mouth to say something. That was the first time I'd done that, but then again this is the first time I'd have a friend completely forget about their life. I smile like her, and Em returns with a parfait. It swirls as she uses her spoon to stir it. Mari watches Em's spoon, then looks up at Em. Em looks at her, and smiles. I look at both of them, and blink. Once Em finished, we stood and walked toward the doors. 

_-_-_

"Okay, thanks, I'll go get my stuff, then come back." Mari promises, halfway out of the door of my house. Mari disappears behind the scarlet door. Em smiles and pads over to the couch, sitting down. I sit beside her, my head against her chest, and her arm wrapped around me. After a minute of silence, Em pulls out her phone and plays some music. We listen in silence, and soon enough, Mari's back. She had a sleeping bag cradled in her arms, and a backpack swung over her shoulder. I glanced at th clock, and greeted her. It was a quarter past 7, and we all hudleded around th flatscreen tv. Em scrolled through the channels for a while, then Mari got impatient and stole the remote, choosing Elf. We watched, and I got up part way through to microwave popcorn, and get some drinks. 

By 11:00, we were wiped, and ready for sleep. I snuggled against Em, her body heat warming me.  Mari was on the floor next to us, and I could hear her gental snores and soon Em joined her in dreams. I soon followed, relieved to be away from reality.