I Fell in Love with Hope - Lancali

Neo took to Hikari the day he met her. He said she was a genuine
kind of girl. He never put a guard up around her. That means it’s not
difficult for her to notice things: the pills he tucks behind his gums
and the bathroom trips he takes to spit them out–the sweaters, no
matter how thick, that can’t hide the sinking skin beneath his cheeks
or the wobbly nature of his legs.
“You know how Neo writes?” I ask. Hikari nods. “He wrote once that
‘ clothes are a strange and clever hiding place. Bruises, scars, odd
complexions,
insecurities– we hide them all if we choose to, the essential parts of
us kept only for the gazes of mirrors and lovers.’”
“That’s nice,” she says, toying with the band on her wrist. “Even if it’s
sad.”
“Everything Neo writes makes me happy. Even if it’s sad.”
“Because he’s your friend.”
“Because he’s at peace when he’s writing.”
“He’s at peace when he’s with you.” Those words alone go deeper.
Hikari smiles. A smile that always finds a way of tilting the glass till it
looks half full.
“We can make our own heaven,” she says. Her fingers glide over the
slightly protruding rawness on her neck and the scars on her arms.
She touches them like paint, as if it could rub off on her, were she
not careful. “You know Sam, loneliness spares me none of its
kindness, so… Thank you for giving me yours.”
Nights till the escape: 2
I help C up the stairs. He pants with an open mouth till we reach the
roof.