After days that had stretched like a slow torture since the last, fleeting meeting at Brianna's house, each hour laden with awkward silences and shifty glances, Louie found himself on the verge of mental exhaustion. He had replayed Josephine's every word, every gesture, every nuance of her absence, ad nauseam, as if in the obsessive repetition he could find an answer, a sign that had escaped him. But he only found more questions, more uncertainty gnawing at his soul. Finally, with a crushing weight in his chest, he made a painful decision: to stop waiting.
Perhaps Josephine would never return to the dusty warmth of her home, to the familiarity of its streets, to the life they shared. Perhaps he was just desperately clinging to a fleeting illusion, to a memory that, like an old photograph faded by the sun, was inexorably fading with the relentless passage of time. If she came back, he thought with a pang of hope tinged with skepticism, he would know on the first day of high school classes, the place where their paths had always crossed, the epicenter of their small shared universe. Of course, if she came back. That small clause, that uncertain conditional, was a dagger plunged into his optimism.
The idea of never seeing her again, of her bright smile and knowing gaze becoming mere ghosts of his memory, hurt him to the core, burned him inside like a slow and corrosive fire. Every happy memory became a torture, a reminder of what he had lost, of what he might never have again. But cold, cruel logic prevailed. He had to be realistic, even though that word tasted like ash in his mouth. He couldn't continue living in this limbo of paralyzing uncertainty, waiting for someone who had perhaps already forgotten him, who was perhaps now smiling under distant skies without even a fleeting thought for him. He needed to move on, even though the idea was as bitter as forced medicine, to rebuild his shattered life, brick by brick, even if it meant leaving behind an essential part of himself, a part that bore her name engraved in fire.
In moments of solitude, which were now legion, he found himself thinking of her without being able to avoid it, his mind wandering aimlessly in a labyrinth of unanswered questions. What would she be doing at that precise moment? Would she be laughing with other friends, exploring unknown cities, gradually forgetting the days shared under the relentless sun of their land? Would she even remember him amidst her new experiences? He imagined her mischievous smile, the echo of her crystal-clear laughter resonating in his memory, the unique sparkle of her hazel eyes that had always captivated him. And then, almost inevitably, rage washed over him like a suffocating heatwave. Why had she left without a clear explanation? Why had she left him suspended in this abyss of paralyzing uncertainty, without a handhold to cling to?
Other times, a sharp sense of guilt gnawed at him from within. What if Anna, with her subtle poison and malicious insinuations, was right? What if for Josephine he had only been a summer game, a fleeting distraction in the middle of her vacation? What if all the love he felt, the deep connection he believed they shared, had been nothing more than an illusion forged in his own need to believe?
Confusion tormented him, weaving an invisible net around him, imprisoning his thoughts and his emotions.
He didn't know what to believe, what to cling to. He didn't know what he really felt, beyond a constant emptiness and a sharp sense of loss. He only knew, with a painful certainty, that he missed her to the core, that he needed her like the air he breathed, that he loved her with an intensity that scared him.
But time, that silent and implacable tyrant, continued to move at its own indifferent pace, unconcerned with his pain, his confusion, his growing resignation. And he, little by little, like a withered plant struggling to find a bit of light, began to accept the harsh and cold reality. Josephine was gone, and the possibility of her return, although still latent like an ember under ashes, felt increasingly remote, almost nonexistent.
He was lying on his back in bed, the sheets tangled around him like a reflection of the chaos within, lost in a dark and deep sea of circular thoughts that led nowhere, when a sudden impulse, a visceral need to escape the mental torture, drove him to sit up abruptly. He walked with heavy steps towards his desk and fumbled for his sketchbook, the white pages offering him a silent refuge. He needed to channel all that confusion, that accumulated frustration, into something tangible, into lines and shadows that could give shape to his internal chaos, that would allow him to escape, even if only for a moment, the constant torture of doubts and the sharp absence. He was absorbed, concentrated on the intricate dance of lines and shadows, trying to shape an imaginary world where pain did not exist, when the soft but firm voice of his mother interrupted him from the bottom of the stairs. He had a visitor.
A whirlwind of feelings instantly washed over him, a wave of hope as sudden as it was unexpected that left him breathless for a second. Could it be her? Had Josephine returned unannounced, defying all his gloomy predictions? After all, there was only a week left before the start of classes, a deadline he himself had set as the end point of his waiting. Hope, like a solitary spark in the darkness, ignited a flickering flame in his chest, briefly warming the cold emptiness that had been consuming him. He hurried downstairs, his heart pounding painfully against his ribs, anxious and fearful at the same time, his gaze fixed on his mother's face, trying to decipher from her expression who was in the living room.
But surprise hit him with the unexpected force of a cold wave. Instead of the longed-for face, the figure waiting in the living room was Anna.
Disappointment washed over him with the intensity of a bucket of ice water thrown without mercy. Why her? Why did it have to be precisely Anna, with her presence laden with insinuations and her calculating gaze? He didn't want to see her, not after her stinging words, the corrosive doubts she had so cleverly sown in his vulnerable mind.
"Hi, Louie," Anna said, her voice sweet but with a barely concealed hint of triumph, adorning her lips with a smile that didn't reach the cold gleam in her dark eyes. "Long time no see."
"What are you doing here, Anna?" he asked, his voice rough and laden with barely contained annoyance. His body tensed, preparing for a confrontation he didn't want.
"Oh, nothing special," she replied, shrugging with false nonchalance. "Just came to say hello. And, of course, to see how you were." Her gaze swept over his figure from top to bottom, lingering for an instant on his face before returning to his eyes with an intensity that made him uncomfortable.
"I'm fine," he lied with a cutting dryness, avoiding the scrutiny of her penetrating gaze. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have things to do." He turned slightly, indicating his intention to leave.
"Louie, wait," Anna said with sudden urgency, standing up with a quick and decisive movement.
"We need to talk." Her tone had lost its initial sweetness, revealing a firmness that stopped him in his tracks.
"We have absolutely nothing to talk about, Anna," he replied with a distant coldness, turning completely to walk away from her disturbing presence.
"Yes, we do, Louie," Anna insisted, grabbing his arm with surprising strength. Her fingers dug into his skin, holding him against his will. "We have a lot, a lot to talk about."
He looked her in the eyes, his brow furrowed with surprise and growing irritation. "What exactly do you want to talk about, Anna?" His voice was a warning tone.
She stared at him, holding his gaze with a chilling intensity, and a cold, calculated smile slowly spread across her lips. "I know a truth about Josephine that you don't know. A truth that will open your eyes."
He frowned even more, feeling an icy shiver run down his spine at the enigmatic and threatening tone of her words. "What are you talking about, Anna? What are you insinuating?"
He felt a painful knot form in his throat, a bitter mixture of guilt for his past naivety and growing confusion at the unexpected confession. "What does all this have to do with Josephine?" he managed to ask, his voice barely a whisper.
"Josephine told me, a few days before disappearing without a trace... 'Ha, I took him from you, Anna. And I had a lot of fun doing it,'" Anna said with a triumphant and cruel smile, her eyes gleaming with dark satisfaction. "She just used both of us, Louie, don't you understand? Brianna too, of course. She just wanted a bit of fleeting excitement, to play with our feelings. And when she got tired of her little game, she simply left, leaving us all behind."
He stared at her, his eyes filled with paralyzing disbelief. "Are you... are you saying that Josephine... used me? That it was all a farce?" His mind resisted accepting such a possibility.
"Exactly, my dear Louie," Anna replied with an undeniable tone of victory. "She used us all like pawns in her little selfish game. Brianna, you, me. She just wanted a bit of fun, to play with our hearts. And when she got bored, she simply packed her bags and left."
He felt as if the solid ground beneath his feet began to crumble, as if the whole world collapsed around him, leaving only a cold and terrifying void. Was it possible? Could Josephine, the girl who had illuminated his world with her smile, be so cruel, so calculating, so ruthless? Could all their shared memories, all their whispered promises under the moonlight, have been an elaborate lie, a cruel manipulation?
"No... I don't believe it," he murmured, his voice trembling and insecure, refusing to accept the dark image Anna painted of Josephine. "Josephine wouldn't... she's not like that."
"Oh, no?" Anna scoffed with a cynical smile that chilled his blood. "Then why hasn't she come back, Louie? Why hasn't she called, not even a message? Why has she left us all in this limbo of uncertainty and pain?" Her grip on his arm loosened slightly, but her gaze remained fixed and accusatory.
He fell silent, unable to find a logical answer, a defense for the Josephine he held in his heart. Doubt, like an insidious poison, began to spread through him, contaminating every precious memory, every sincere emotion. Could Anna be right? Could Josephine have deceived them all so easily, leaving behind only broken hearts and unanswered questions? The seed of distrust had been planted, and its roots began to penetrate deeply into his wounded soul.
Anna seized his silence, her face lighting up with cruel certainty. "You know, Louie, I happened to be talking to Josep a few days ago." Her tone was casual, as if sharing unimportant gossip, but her eyes closely watched Louie's reaction.
The name resonated in his mind, evoking a wave of warm and now painful memories. Josep. His childhood friend, the first to introduce him to Brianna and then Anna. Before Josephine came into their lives, before the five of them became that inseparable group. Josep always spoke of Josephine with an almost palpable devotion. 'Louie, you have to meet Jojo,' he would say with eyes shining with brotherly affection. 'She's special, really. We've known each other since we were kids, we have a connection… I don't know how to explain it, it's like we understand each other without words. She's the most loyal and genuine person I know. I swear I'd kill if anyone dared to hurt her.' Louie remembered those words with surprising clarity, the intensity in Josep's voice, the unwavering sincerity in his gaze.
Two years after those conversations, Louie finally met Josephine. And instantly he understood the admiration and deep affection Josep felt for her. Everything his friend had told him was true: her radiant smile, her free spirit, her innate kindness. They soon formed their own bond, different but equally significant. Josep had left unexpectedly that same year, without saying goodbye, just as Josephine was starting at the same high school as Louie, Brianna, and Anna. His departure had left a small void in the group, but Josephine's presence had quickly filled it with her light.
Now, Anna's voice brought him back to the present, cold and accusatory. "With Josep? How did you talk to him?"
Surprise and confusion mixed in his voice.
Anna smiled smugly. "Oh, you know, we have mutual friends. And he told me some... interesting little things about Josephine." She paused dramatically, savoring the growing confusion on Louie's face. "He told me that when they met again in Paris... well, it seems things between Josephine and him took quite a romantic turn."
Anna's words hit him like a punch to the stomach, shattering the idealized image that still clung to his heart. His breath hitched, and he felt a sudden dizziness. "Romantic?" he stammered, disbelief etched on every feature of his face. Josep? His childhood friend, the one who had always spoken of Josephine with such brotherly affection? Was it possible that...?
"Yes, Louie. Romantic," Anna repeated, enjoying his shock. "It seems that while you were here, waiting for her, Josephine was starting a... relationship with Josep. He was very clear about it." Her smile widened, revealing a cold and triumphant cruelty. "So, you see? I was right. She used you. And while she made you believe in a 'us,' she was already with someone else, with your old friend."
Louie stared at her, a knot of disbelief and rage tightening his throat, preventing him from articulating a word. She held his gaze, and in a honeyed and affected tone, continued her venomous tale: "I didn't want to tell you this so directly, that's why I always said those things about her, you know? I didn't want to hurt you with such a cruel truth. She only got together with you and Brianna to hurt me, to have fun at your expense."
Louie watched her, tears pricking his eyes at the harshness of her words, struggling to reconcile that dark image with the Josephine he knew. Inside, Anna celebrated triumphantly, feeling her carefully crafted plan bear fruit. Then, softening her expression, she looked at Louie and caressed his face with calculated gentleness. "Honey, don't cry for her anymore. Not because of that person who didn't know how to value you and who only used us for her little selfish distraction. I have a proposal for you, Louie: let's be boyfriend and girlfriend. Forget about her once and for all.
Use me, if you want, to get her out of your heart. Let's live the true love that she didn't let us live."
Anna's words echoed in Louie's mind like a distorted echo, sowing even more confusion in his wounded heart. Was it possible that everything had been a farce? Could Anna be right in her somber tale? Could Josephine have deceived them all with such cruelty? Confusion and pain mixed within him, creating a whirlwind of contradictory emotions that left him paralyzed.
"I... I don't know, Anna," Louie murmured, his voice trembling and insecure. "I need time to think. This is too much to take in right now."
"There's no time to waste, Louie," Anna insisted, moving closer to him, her warm breath brushing his cheek. "Josephine is gone, and she's not coming back. We can be happy together, honey. We can have the love we always wanted, a real and true love."
Louie looked her in the eyes, feeling a disturbing mixture of a fleeting desire for comfort and a sharp revulsion at her obvious manipulation. Could he find happiness in her arms, forget the pain in her closeness?
"I don't know, Anna," he repeated, looking away, unable to hold her scrutiny. "I simply don't know."
"Think about it, Louie," Anna said with a seductive smile that didn't reach her cold eyes. "Think about everything we could have together. Forget the past and build a future with me."
And with those words laden with promise and manipulation, Anna left, leaving Louie alone with his stinging doubts, with the crushing weight of his pain, and with the tempting but dangerous offer of a new love.
Louie remained lost in his turbulent thoughts for a long time, until finally a decision crystallized in his mind. The first day of classes would be his turning point. If Josephine didn't appear, if there was no trace of her, he would stop clinging to vain hope. He would try to rebuild his shattered life, even if it meant living with an indelible void in his heart.
The day arrived, cold and gray as his mood, and with it, the sharp hope of seeing her cross those doors again. But Josephine did not appear. He walked through the high school hallways, his gaze lost and his heart heavy, desperately searching for her familiar face among the crowd of students eager for the start of the new school year. But she wasn't there.
That day, with a painful but firm resolution, he decided to let her go. It wasn't easy, every memory of her smile, of her laughter, was a dagger in his heart, but he knew it was necessary.
He needed to close that bittersweet chapter of his life, even if it hurt to the bone, even if it left an indelible scar on his soul.
Before heading home, with the weight of defeat crushing him, Louie decided to switch to the classroom where Anna was supposed to be. For some reason, the idea of facing Brianna, of seeing the disappointment in her eyes, was unbearable. Although Brianna approached him with her usual warmth and asked what was wrong, he explained in a subdued voice that Josephine hadn't arrived, that he didn't think she was coming back, and that he was thinking of forgetting her and giving Anna a chance, a chance that Josephine, according to Anna's venomous words, had stolen from him.
Brianna stared at him, with palpable disbelief and a shadow of sadness crossing her face. "What are you talking about, Louie? Today they're just giving out schedules and telling us which group we'll be in to know the classrooms. Not everyone comes today, it's just an informational meeting."
Louie didn't let her finish speaking, his mind clouded by pain and the influence of Anna's words. He told her with a forced firmness that he had already waited too long, that if two and a half months, almost three, weren't enough waiting for her, they were for him. Just at that moment, as if she had been waiting for the opportune moment, Anna approached Louie, and he, with a sudden determination and in front of an astonished Brianna, said to her in a firm voice: "I accept your proposal, Anna. Let's be boyfriend and girlfriend."
Louie with eyes full of deep disappointment and growing concern, while Anna smiled with an unsettling mixture of triumph and satisfaction. Louie, for his part, avoided Brianna's gaze, feeling a painful knot in his throat and a pang of doubt in his chest. Was he making the right decision, or was he committing the biggest mistake of his life, blinded by pain and manipulation?
Anna smiled triumphantly, hugged Louie tightly, gave him a quick and possessive kiss on the cheek, took his hand with obvious possessiveness, and said with forced sweetness: "I promise you, honey, we're going to be very happy together. You won't regret this. I would never hurt you the way she did." She gently pulled Louie away from a petrified Brianna, her eyes filled with silent tears, who thought with a pang of desperation: "Friend, please, come back now," letting out a sigh laden with sadness and foreboding.
The classroom, which moments before had been filled with the nervous anticipation of the new school year, now felt empty and cold to Brianna. She watched Anna lead Louie away, feeling a bitter mixture of disbelief and a sharp pain in her chest. How could he do this? How could he believe Anna's obvious lies, blinding himself to the truth that she and Josephine had always shared?
Anna's venomous words echoed in her ears like a chilling echo: "I would never hurt you the way she did." Didn't Louie realize that Anna was precisely the one manipulating the situation, weaving a web of lies around him? Didn't he see that he was falling directly into her trap?
Brianna felt an oppressive knot in her throat, tears threatening to overflow. She wanted to scream, wanted to run after Louie and shake him, make him come to his senses and open his eyes to the truth. But she knew it was useless. He was blinded by recent pain, by justified anger, and by the desperate desire to forget Josephine, clinging to the false promise of comfort that Anna offered him.
She stood there, alone in the silent bustle of the classroom, watching the couple walk away, feeling betrayal and loss tear at her heart. "Friend, please, come back now," she thought, her voice breaking with anguish. "Come back and save him from her before it's too late."
A sigh laden with sadness and despair escaped her lips. She knew her words were useless, that Josephine couldn't hear her silent plea. But she couldn't help it. She needed her friend to return, not just for Louie, but for all of them. They desperately needed their friend to return and give them back the lost hope, the fading joy, and the deep friendship that Anna, with her subtle poison, was slowly stealing from them.