"Angie" is playing in the background. I sit in front of her
and try to understand what she is saying to me through the
curtain of tears streaming down her face. I catch only a few
words, "over" and "why" and then nothing. I know her too
well to think this is anything but serious. Switching to
autopilot I go to the kitchen and put on the kettle to make
her some coffee. I go through the shelves and find her some
chocolate. This isn't my house, but I know it just as well.
After she has some coffee, she calms down. He broke up with
her. I knew he would. He got back with his old girlfriend.
Figures.  
They met in a city-wide ceremony to celebrate us leaving
elementary school. It was 8th grade, but in my town
everything was different. She saw his hair from far away and
had this sudden urge to talk to him, and then show him to
me. Our friendship was never hurt by the fact that we went
to different schools, and this time was not different; I saw
him during general rehearsals. I didn't like him, and I told
her that. Something about the way he looked at her, at me,
told me he was no good. Or maybe it was the fact that he had
a girlfriend.  She took his ICQ number and they started
talking online. A week later he broke up with his girlfriend
and Lily became his new official girlfriend. She was
ecstatic and didn't see the flaws in him. "I don't like
him," I said, "but I'll put up with him for you."
She takes the chocolate in her hand and starts unwrapping it
slowly. The sound is driving me mad, but she needs the
distraction and I keep quiet. She gets into this storm of
words, trying to analyze what had just happened, to see
where it came from. She keeps talking on and on, and I just
sit there and listen. The song in the background is on
repeat, I notice. I go up to the radio and press the forward
button. "You are so beautiful" by Joe Cocker starts. Knowing
the tears would soon start flowing I go up to her and make
her lay on the sofa with her head on me.
About an hour later she falls asleep. I stick around until
Natalie, her sister, comes home, and then leave. We will
analyze all of this tomorrow, I know. Right now she just
needs to feel like a person again.