My mind was racing with thoughtless thoughts and my arms were trembling with each box I lifted. The sun was out and the sky was a brilliant shade of blue with fluffy white clouds you wish you could take a nap on.Today is the day, the day I finally get to move on from my mediocre high school life. I’m headed off to college where I can forget about my past, hopefully. I carefully lift the cardboard boxes that held my belongings and relocated them closer to the door. I skimmed the room to see if I had missed anything. My eyes landed on a small, cardboard shoe box, the box. It was faded brown with a thin layer of dust resting on top of it. The corners were dull from being thrown around over the years. The last time I had seen or even opened it was the last time I saw them.  I hesitantly walked over to the box and slowly slid the lid off. Wait, do I really want to do this? The lid was already half way off. Do I want to rekindle all those memories that I had buried deep inside that small shoebox so long ago? I had thrown everything we had away because that’s the kind of person I am. I pushed away the people that cared about me the most and for that I could never understand why. Don’t do it. Ignoring the fact that my subconscious was telling me to put the box back or maybe even bury it, I continued to slide the lid off and there laid the five objects I never thought I would have to look at again.
“Come on El we’re going to be late if you don’t stop messing with your make up.” I yelled as I was putting my coat on. I looked into the mirror and brushed through my long, thick, black hair one last time.
“I’m coming Rose, calm down. You leave ten minutes late but arrive five minutes early,” she smirked at me while grabbing her coat. El was my best friend at the time. She was somewhat taller than me and had a slim figure much like myself. Her hair was long and brown with a slight red tint to it that just made her blue eyes even bluer. We were complete opposites and to tell you the truth, I honestly didn’t know how we became best friends in the first place.  She continued walking out the door and I quickly followed behind her.
That was possibly the worst motto to live by. If only I had listened to my subconscious instead of El.
We are halfway to our destination. I couldn’t tell you where we were going; I was too distracted by how fast El was driving. She scared me so much when she drove, my anxiety was at an all time high back then. I looked over the dash and saw that she was going sixty-five. “You do know the speed limit is only forty-five, right?” I questioned her hesitantly. My breathing started to increase and I could feel my heart beating out of my chest. Even the cold air coming from her car couldn’t keep me cool.
“Yeah I know, but like I said, ‘Leave ten minutes la-‘”
“Yeah I know arrive five minutes early.” I cut her off quickly, I was getting tired of hearing that same saying over and over again just as an excuse for her poor time management. “Just be careful, we don’t need to be pulled over and be even more late.” I continued. “Could you at least slow down a little bit?” I practically begged her.
“We will be fine, Rose.” She let up on the gas pedal a little, we were only going fifty-five now. Great. “Just relax a little, let loose. It wouldn’t kill you to live on the wild side every now and then.” El said playfully.
She was right. Even back then, El was always right. She may not have gone about it the best way, but she was always right in some shape or form.
“Alright, alright I will ‘loosen up’.” I laughed a little as I quoted her.  I looked  out the window and took in the trees that we were passing by rather fast. The colors were all blurred together and I could smell the scent of burning leaves from a house we passed by. I started humming along to the song that was playing on the radio. We talked for a while and I finally found myself calming down. El was right. It never killed anyone to break a rule every now and then, as long as you don’t get caught. That’s when I heard the sound that I had been dreading since the second I stepped foot in her car, police sirens.
A small tear rolled down my cheek as I put the ticket back into the shoebox, letting out a breath that I had failed to notice I was keeping in. I really do miss them, but I mostly miss El. That day we, technically El, had received the ticket was just the start of all of the fun adventures I had with her. She taught me that it was okay to have fun and let loose. That breaking a rule or two wouldn’t hurt you, after all ‘you’re just making some memories’ as she had once put it.
I sat the box down beside me and sighed. The sun was shining through the windows, illuminating the room. I picked the box back up carefully, treating it as if it was buried treasure. I lifted up the next object that came in contact with my hand, a magnifying glass. Casey.
“Rose, come check out this shop with me!” Casey exclaimed as she tugged my arm and dragged me beside her. For being the same exact size as me she was dragging me along as if I was a rag doll.
“Alright, alright take it easy there. I’d like to keep my arm in its socket, thank you very much.” I responded sarcastically. I hadn’t known Casey long, she was a year older than me, but we clicked instantly. She had known El for some time now and El introduced us at a party. Her hair was short and black that was cut into a pixie cut. She had a small nose piercing that was hardly noticeable and bright green eyes.
We walked into the little boutique and wandered around. I had never been to this part of town and I was feeling a little adventurous. The store had tons of little trinkets that were just waiting to be explored and the smell of cinnamon and sugar filled the air. I was looking at some vintage jewelry when I heard my name being called, “Rose, come here.”  I looked into the direction where my name was being called and my eyes met with Caseys. She motioned me over and I obliged.
“Look,” she held out a magnifying glass that had a silver handle with an intricate design covering it. “It’s a magnifying glass.” She smirked at me.
“ You don’t say?” I responded, we both laughed and continued to look at the magnifying glass.
“You see there’s two sides to it,” she paused for a second and I waited for her to continue, “one that magnifies things only a little bit, and another that magnifies it a lot.” She handed me the magnifying glass and let me see for myself. I flipped it over back and forth examining each side carefully.
“It’s just a magnifying glass, why are you so interested in it?” I questioned her. She took the magnifying glass from my hands and held it up.
“What do you see?” she said, aiming the glass at a peacock feather she had found laying next to her.
“A peacock feather.” I responded as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. She grinned and flipped the magnifying glass over.
“Now what do you see?” I looked carefully and saw the bright colors that I had failed to notice before. I stood there in awe and ran my fingers over the delicate peacock feather.
I twisted the magnifying glass in my hand like I did that day. I looked through both sides of the glass, a smile crept across my face. The sun reflected off of the glass creating a faint rainbow of light. That was the day Casey had taught me a very important lesson in life. She taught me that there are always two sides of the story, you just might need to look a little harder for the other one. I will never forget that day or Casey for that matter. I gently set the magnifying glass back into the box. I shifted my weight away from the wall that I had not realized I had been using to support myself and walked towards the edge of my bed. I sat down on the floor with my back pressed against the side of my bed and took a deep breath. What was it about me that always managed to mess everything up?