Yelling in the distance vibrated on her ear drums. Yellow hair cascaded down her shoulders, yellow ribbon untied on the floor next to her.
"And only if you could keep your hands off any man coming by-!"
"You're never home! I need love!"
"I'M PROVIDING SECURITY FOR THIS FAMILY!"
"WELL THIS FAMILY IS FALLING APART FASTER THAN YOU CAN SELL RINGS!"
Heather covers her ears with tears streaming down her cheeks. She tucks her body into herself as close as she can. She looks into her bathroom and sees a pill bottle laying on the counter. She stands up and walks towards the glow of the bathroom lights when the ring of the landline snaps her out of her trance. She quickly dashes to the phone next to her bed and picks it up.
"Hello?"
"Hey, you want to go shopping tomorrow? Kurt and Ram are meeting with us, too." The voice on the other end was Heather Chandler. Her best friend from kindergarten, since she was the only kid whose name she could remember easily.
"Hey Heather, yeah sounds great, but I'll need you to come pick me." She breathed a sigh into the phone, something to look forward to.
"Cool, I'll come motor you over aroun-" A crash rang through the receiver. "Heather, what's going on?"
Shit. McNamara stayed silent to hear her mother crying and the sound of a door slamming. "Probably nothing, so what time?"
"Heather," Chandler's voice became strict, running a chill down McNamara's spine. "What's going on?"
She began to choke up, her throat becoming tight. "Just a fight, my mom got caught with another man again, same old. The time?"
Chandler stayed silent, silence clouding up Heather's mind. Worries and anxiousness swimming through her head, finally Heather spoke up again.
"Heather, I know more about you than anyone else. I know you like to play softball, your favorite dish is smoked salmon with crackers, and I know when it isn't okay."
She couldn't hold it in anymore, Heather knew her so much, so much it scared her sometimes. She began sobbing into the phone, uncontrollably.
Between hitches of breath, outcries of sobs, and voice cracking, "my parents are getting a divorce." McNamara was finally calming down, her sobs becoming quieter. "Heather?"
"When I broke up with my first boyfriend, what did you tell me?" Chandler's voice was soft, a hint of tears and a strained voice.
"Your first? What are you talking about?"
"You told me 'guys like that don't mean anything, friends that stay matter though. Focus on those.'" Heather's voice got higher, trying not to show her tears, her cracked voice. "And I'm telling you now, I'm not leaving you. Ever. Don't worry about your parents, me and Heather will always be here for you."
McNamara started crying again and laughing in the tears. Hearing those words reminded her that Heather was there for her since day one, from the first fight to the very last. A friend that she had, this was the side that not many see.
"Promise?"
"Of-fucking-course, pick you up at 11 tomorrow."
The telephone rang early on Monday morning, waking Heather up from her dream. The conversation she had with Heather sophomore year, a cherished memory.
"Hello?" McNamara spoke into the phone, still drowsy from her sleep.
The voice on the other side was crying, only certain words making it through the tears. "Heather."
"Sunday."
"Suicide."
She dropped the phone, hanging from the cord the woman's cries could be heard.
McNamara curdled into a ball, whispering.
"You promised, you promised always."