"I don't what else I can do. Worse yet I'm alone and have to live with the fact that I am never going to see you again. It's not fair. I thought that the best things in life are free, so why have I sacrificed so much for the best thing I'll ever know and now that I'm here, it's all over?" Rain was pouring down Elaine's face, as she poured her heart out to the homeless man sitting on the bench at the bus stop. It was past midnight and the rain was mixing with her tears. She couldn't tell the difference between them anymore. It wasn't like it would change anything. Nothing ever would. She was stuck in the memory of something that never should've happened.
"And what did he say?" the homeless man asked as he waited for the continuation of Elaine's heartbreaking story. If someone would've walked in the middle of the story, they would assume it was about a boyfriend problem. A break up gone wrong more than usual. After all, Elaine fit the profile: She was a teenage girl crying in the rain, waiting for the bus to arrive and take her home. Only it wasn't. It was going to take her away from the only thing she thought she needed in order to finally move on.
"He said…" Elaine tried to breathe between the rain drops. "He said that me being here won't change anything; that I should I go. Then he gave me a sad look walked away."
"But why?" the homeless man asked, anxiously hoping for her story to end differently. But unfortunately, he knew exactly how it ended. It ended with her being here, at the bus stop.
"I don't know," she answered while gazing at the rain. She finally sat down on the bench, still spacing out. Her wet bangs dripped all over her face, which looked devastated.
"Do you think he'll give her the message?" he asked. "Everything you said – she should really hear it."
"Yeah." Elaine nodded softly. A few seconds later, the bus arrived and its doors opened. Elaine got up from the bench and was ready to get on it.
"Hey!" the homeless man called. She turned around. "It wasn't your fault," he said, with his eyes glowing through his dirt-covered and bearded face. Elaine kept crying, but she smiled for a second.
"Thank you," she said slowly then walked up the stairs of the bus and the doors closed.
As she sat at the back of the bus, looking out the window she tried to smile again. As if her life hadn't been ruined that one night 2 years ago. When the 'she' who should have heard Elaine's message according to the homeless man, was Michelle, Elaine's very best friend; who Elaine watched fall off the bridge they'd crossed over every day after school. Michelle decided to stand on the barrier. She said it made her feel like she could fly. But then she lost her balance, fell and lost the ability to walk – all in just seconds. Since the accident Michelle's family moved away to be closer to a hospital. And just like Michelle's brother Sean said, her being there wouldn't change anything. Nothing would. And going on her own to see her for the first time since was never really going to make things better.