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“Owwww,” Sufi exaggerated. “Are you done yet?” The sun was setting, laying a perfectly orange warm glow over Pearl's backyard.
“Almost. I'm just putting in the hair tie, you're fine.” Pearl reached over to the pile of bright and colorful hair ties to finish off the braid they had just put in their friend's hair. “I'm assuming you want the green one like normal?”
“Actually, can I have a purple one?” Pearl could hear the smile on her face. Part of Pearl's heart felt a little warmer at the request. They grabbed one of the purple bands. Their hand hesitated before bringing it back to put in Sufi's hair. Pearl grabbed a second tie, a green one.
They quickly finished the braid, putting both the purple and green hair ties in. Their colors overlapped, dancing together in a beautiful twist atop of Sufi's blonde hair. “I did both, green and purple. Can't have one without the other, now can we?” Pearl didn't need a response, they were just happy to be with their best friend.
Sufi toppled back, knocking Pearl down with her. “Nope! Green and purple should always be side by side.” Her smile was bright as ever.
The two of them laid there for a few minutes, just enjoying the sun set. Eventually they got up though, deciding they were finally hungry enough for some dinner. Pearl cooked a frozen pizza while Sufi sat at the counter, talking about nothing and everything all at the same time. Life was perfect.
Once the pizza was done, Pearl brought it upstairs to their room before returning for Sufi. “Think you can walk up them this time?”
“Oh come on, I could run a marathon if I wanted!” It was a blatant lie, but it made Pearl giggle nonetheless.
“So… no piggyback ride then?”
Sufi glared at her friend before responding. “No, I would like the piggyback ride. But that doesn't mean I can't walk up the stairs on my own!” Pearl rolled their eyes with a smile before grabbing Sufi's cane and kneeling down.
Sufi hooked her legs around Pearl as she had many times before. They walked up the stairs, slowly, making sure there was no chance at tripping.
Sufi was light on Pearl's back, reminding them how much smaller she was. Sufi was surely smaller than Pearl, but she was also smaller than any other kid in their grade. Remembering this made Pearl's stomach drop, as it always did, but they didn't say anything.
Once upstairs, Pearl let Sufi down, handing her back her cane. They watched as Sufi walked ahead into their room. They tried shaking the fear in their chest. It was fine, they still had years.
After taking a breath, Pearl followed behind, joining Sufi for some pizza.
They sat on the floor, laughing the night away. Everything was as perfect as it could be.
“She's your cat! She can't even respond!”
“I don't care if she's a cat, Blumble gives me the best advice—” Sufi started coughing, she coughed more than normal. When finally done, she looked at her hand and saw red. Pearl noticed at the same time. “—that's not good. Can you hand me a tissue?”
Pearl just stared as their hand reached to their side, looking for the tissue box. “... You- you don't cough blood.” They sounded unsure, but it wasn't a question either.
Sufi looked at Pearl, confused, as she grabbed the tissue box. She wiped off her hand and before she could ask what Pearl meant by that, Pearl continued to talk.
“You never have. Never did… This isn't real, is it?” Pearl took a look around, it was their room, but they hadn't seen it in a while. They were finally starting to catch on.
“Does it need to be?” The voice was still Sufi's, but those weren't her words.
Pearl started to tear up. “I miss you. Every day.” They reached out to Sufi, becoming confused when she leaned away from the touch.
“You should probably wake up now.”
“Can't I stay with you? Just a little longer? Please?” Their voice was heavy but desperate as they let tears fall down their face.
“I'm not real. You know that.” Sufi looked into Pearl's eyes with a smile that felt familiar yet forgotten.
Pearl moved their hands up to their eyes, trying to wipe away the tears. When they were done and re opened them, they found themselves back in their room. Not the same room, this wasn't the comforting place of their childhood, but rather their apartment room.
They started crying more knowing they didn't even have the fake Sufi anymore either. Through their blurry vision, they checked the time on their phone. It was just past two thirty. Way too early to wake up, but Pearl knew they wouldn't be able to sleep again after crying.
Pearl slowly got out of their bed, using the moonlight from their window to find their way around. They didn't bother getting out of their pajamas, deciding sweats and a random t-shirt to be good enough.
They grabbed their jacket off of the hook by their door, knowing their keys were in the right hand pocket. They let their hand graze the top of a cane, Sufi's cane, by the door. It was a habit by now, whenever they left their apartment, they would touch the cane, hoping it would feel a little like Sufi would be with them while out.
It wasn't a quick drive to the cemetery, but it wasn't a long one either. It was just a city over, and by now, Pearl had the roads to it mapped by heart. They noticed the streets were nearly empty as they passed by another car only every other light or so.
Pearl finally arrived at the cemetery after weaving through back roads in the dark. They didn't know if they hated the fact the city put the newly built cemetery all the way on the edge of the town, or if they liked the fact it got its own special area.
They parked their car in the small yet empty parking lot. It honestly wasn't surprising considering the hour and the sheer lack of headstones in the field. With it being a new cemetery, very few people had been buried there so far.
Pearl walked over to where Sufi had been laid to rest. She was the only one in that whole section. Pearl couldn't help but think Sufi would feel lonely.
Their face was wet with tears that they didn't bother whipping away anymore. They weren't even sure why they were crying exactly. There was nothing they could do about their best friend being six feet deep. There's nothing they could've done, nothing anyone could have done. This was an outcome well expected since childhood, it just somehow still hurt.
Pearl hurt every single day with Sufi gone.
They laid down onto the grass surrounding her headstone. They felt a new wave of tears rushing in as they stared up at the stars. Pearl had been convincing themselves that Sufi liked it up there. Somewhere she could walk without pain, somewhere she could grow normally, somewhere she could live like everyone else.
Pearl curled up, trying to keep warm in the night's cold winds. They took off their jacket before laying it over themselves like a blanket. A perfect purple blanket to match the green grass below. Those colors always did feel more fitting when together.