The white light above buzzes. 

The elevator hums a peaceful tune. 

The clouded sky stretches for miles. 

Though, maybe it's because it's above the clouds now...

Rain gently rests against the elevators glass. It's being sent higher and higher. For the first time since it's firy birth, the cold lifeless glass is met with the comforting warmth of a young hand. Though a child being met with the view of a lifetime, the young girl does not stare at the clouds beneath her, nor does she stare at her own reflection. This glass... Is it here to protect her? Or the world outside? And this warmth in her left hand...

Her soft blue eyes peer to the side, gazing at the somewhat older woman stood next to her. Her hand is warm... The woman looks to the young girl with a soft smile, the kind you give to someone who's about to hear bad news. The little girl furrows her brow... "Akane... I'm dying, aren't I?"

The elevator comes to a stop

"We're here."

No longer floating graciously through the sky, the door opens into a school hall. There's no one around... Akane steps into the halls. The shift in weight causes an odd 'bounce' in the elevator. After a few steps, she stops to turn around. "Aren't you coming, Tanaka?" The multi-paneled windows breathe light into the room. She looks beautiful here.

Akane looks at the young girl, Tanaka... She's older now. Though, how old...?

Tanaka steps outside, taking a look around. "That's right...! This is where we met." She perks up a bit hearing Akane's bubbly laughter. There's something nostalgic to it, like the scent of an old car. For an adult she really does seem like a kid. "Actually, we were thirteen... You were new, remember? And I-"

"You offered me a cigarette..."

"That's right!"

Tanaka can't look at Akane right now. Why not? She kicks her foot. Her shoe squeaks against the waxed floor, echoing throughout the hall. "And I turned it down..."

Akane smirks. She must've started really young... "Wasn't the last time either, right Tanaka?"

...

 "Oh, because we started hanging out after that..."

If you spot this story on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Tanaka sits on the cold, wet floor below. The halls have changed to a dark attic interior. Rain finds it's way through a crack, right on top of Tanaka... How old is she now...?

The dark fades away, as a lit cigarette lights the scene. Akane huffs, and puffs...

Tanaka looks at her for a moment, catching glimpses of her face somewhere between the dark, the light, and the smoke... She's still beautiful.

"I remember when things would get really bad anytime you'd visit. My parents didn't like you, but they didn't want to hurt my feelings...

We'd come up here, and I'd read you my stories. I thought you liked them. You *did* like them..."

Drops of rainwater seep through the cracks, falling onto Tanaka's head. She looks up... "You found meaning and purpose in them. You thought they were the greatest. And that scared me..."

The darkness burns away, being replaced by the comfort of a bedroom light. The room is... Pink. Stuffed animals, posters, a computer...

The two girls are sat on the pink bed opposite of one another. Tanaka's nearly all grown up. Neither of them can look at each other.

Akane's eyes are filled with hurt... "You told me that you didn't want to be together. That you wanted to have a genuine connection with someone. That I was the only person you *could* connect with. And that if we were together, you'd risk throwing all of that away."

Tanaka softly sobs. Her laughter is chopped between sob-hiccups. "Actually... It was because I figured you'd be happier with someone who liked cigarettes. Happier than you'd be with me..."

She wipes away the snot...

Akane finds herself in tears. "Why didn't you come around anymore after that...? Why did you become so distant? So cold...?"

The two lay next to one another in a grassy field, beneath the starry night.

"Because I was right... And I didn't want to be."

Her voice trembles. Akane tries to look into her eyes, but she finds them turned away still. Tanaka shakes...

"You found someone else. Someone who did like cigarettes. And you were... Happy. But I wasn't... I wanted to be with you, I just didn't think I deserved it. Being around the two of you... It made me sick.

But, I needed you... I figured if I was around you, I'd only be thinking about my own feelings the whole time, when all I wanted was for you to be happy.

Isn't that like, totally fucked up? Like I'm some sort of parasite, or a disease... Bringing down everyone around me. Even myself."

She grunts, jumping to her feet. She kicks at the dirt. Tanaka's all grown up... "But you could never understand! If I told you, you would've thrown everything back at me. About how great I am. About how deserving I am of having someone to be with! When I never could be happy with anyone but you!"

Her tears stream down her red face, falling to the moonlit grass beneath her. Her legs struggled to keep herself up, as though she could blow away with the wind at any moment.

"I was selfish... That's what I never could tell you...

You read the stories I made, and you found meaning. And even though I was able to put meaning into those words... I knew I'd never be able to understand them the way you could... You saw things... Differently. I could imitate the world you saw. But I never could've lived it...

I wasn't good enough. No matter how badly I wanted to be, I wasn't... I could've loved you. But I was too busy hating myself. That's why... That's why-"

"Tanaka..."

The two are back in the halls. They're small. So small...

"Do you want this cigarette?"

Her tears fall away. She stares into Akane's soft, blue eyes.

She takes the cigarette into her hands, holding it to her lips. Akane takes out a lighter, holding it to the cigarette.

Flick.