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The lightning flashed brilliantly outside. Just like the scene of any supernatural horror movie. The rain pelted noisily down my window. It could not stop my reverie about my best friend, Ellie.
Eleanor James. Ellie, for short.
My partner-in-crime and life adventures, as far as I could remember. My most vivid memory of a young Ellie, running towards me, with her golden hair braided into two. Her aura; a beacon and sunshine. I was a contrast of dark tresses. Similar to the present-day, ominous storm clouds, that crept outside my window.
I remember looking down my dark curls. They were open and abandoned. I decided, then and there, that I didn't like Ellie's hair being tied up. I tugged open her braids, and her hair cascaded open like two golden waterfalls. She looked stunned for a moment, then she threw back her head and laughed like the beaming sun.
Eleanor James and Cassandra Grace. Ellie and Cassie.
Two girls that looked so apart, yet were like peas in a pod... like SpongeBob and Patrick: her favourite mischievous best friend duo from the cartoon show.
"Oh Cassie, my pineapple!" she exclaimed, with her favourite expression. "Why did you do that? Why did you open my braids?"
"I can't see the wind blow your hair around when it is tied up like that," I replied, impatiently. "Don't be a gold-i-locks." My young self chimed with a know-it-all air, as if that settled the matter. "I want you to be free, Ellie."
It was only with Ellie that I could do such a thing. Being around her made me bold, like she wasn't a different person, but simply an extension of me, or the person I could be. When she dropped out of high school, I didn't think twice. I wanted to be wherever she was. Go wherever she went. She had her dreams of being a star. I had no clue what I wanted to do.
"Why do you want to be a star?" I asked her for the umpteenth time, thinking that maybe her answer would set off my own inspiration. Her eyes sparkled, like she had been waiting for the question. She had only answered me many times before. "Because I can choose to be anyone I want," Ellie said.
She did her best impression of royalty, waved her hand imperiously to an invisible audience, and I imagined witnessing the public screaming, and calling her name: "Eleanor! Eleanor! Eleanor!" Her legions of adoring fans waiting tirelessly for her every word, searching for her in every street, and copying her every gesture. Their new darling, and Hollywood's latest obsession.
I never got jealous of the great things that were surely destined for her. For me, she was my Ellie. My anchor while I drifted through life. Drifted aimlessly, to find a purpose, a reason, a calling. Floated away in the endless expanse, while she held me, and bound me to this earth, like a lifeline. A warmth, a hug on a cold day. Ellie, my best friend.
She never braided her hair again. She left her hair open in golden waves. She said that she did it for me. Whenever anyone wanted to braid her hair, she would say that her best friend wanted her to be a mermaid, with beach waves for hair, and not a Rapunzel in her locked tower. I guess my reason made sense to her as a kid.
It was times like the present, when I thought of Ellie the most. As the storm outside grew louder, I wanted to call her, and hear her voice.
Where would she be right now?
Probably somewhere outside, warm and sunny. Most likely at a rehearsal, or audition somewhere, lined up with countless other hopefuls to catch their next big break. We had never been separated by this much distance before. Apart in different cities, stretched across the globe. No, I won't break her focus with yet another call for support. Cassandra Grace, friend-in-distress. A clingy, hopeless, depressing shadow.
No, I was ok. I will wait. Wait for her next call, telling me excitedly about her latest acting gig. Her voice, alive and bright... bringing a smile to anyone caught in her whirlwind of energy. Her laugh trickling down your soul. This time, I will only listen.
Listen to her thoughts, uninterrupted.
I had stopped going to her auditions with her. Not that I didn't want to go. I just didn't have her boundless energy, and I had my menial job. A way to pay the bills. At first, she went to the local theatres. Then, she went to the aspiring actors’ hot spots in major cities. Further and further grew her circle, like a bird spreading her wingspan, until I couldn't keep up with her pace, or flight anymore.
So I stayed.
She would call every so often, and I looked forward to her visits. My small, dingy apartment seemed brighter and bigger with her presence. No matter how far she went, she came back the same girl. For her, my place became a place to stop and recharge. A refuge to be Ellie. Not almost famous, Eleanor James. The actress who starred in so and so.
A rising sensation.