Left Behind

• Anna Pavlou, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2018

The footy was our place. We sat there every weekend, together. We'd make up names for the players, crack jokes and talk footy. We'd share pies, hot jam donuts and secrets, while watching our beloved Cats. The team that brought us so close together.
She'd teach me everything I needed to know about being 10, then being 11, and 12 and 13. I'd teach her everything she needed to know about footy. The hard-ball gets, the inside 50s and the clearances.
We were like two peas in a pod. She was my mentor, my cousin. The sister I never had. She was the one I looked up to when I didn't understand things.
Looking back, she taught me more than I could have asked for. And I watched her. I watch her grow up. I watched her change her hairstyles and clothes, and I watched her become someone different. It was eye opening, and it prepared me for my changes.
The footy days went on for years, along with the pie sharing, joke cracking and secret telling.
Then one season, she didn't show up. I had that weird feeling of being lost. But it was like she wasn't coming back. And I knew that. I hated to feel like that, but I just knew.
Time passed. Lots and lots of time. The whole footy season passed and I realised that she wouldn't be coming back. I felt like a sheep who had lost its flock. But my flock was her.
I remember the time she came to the footy after I hadn't seen her for ages. It was awkward. Awkward like ripping off a band-aid. I didn't know whether to jump into it from where we left off, or to go slowly until we were warmed up. I ended up giving up.
At first, I didn't understand why she left. But then I did, and I knew I had to be strong.
I understood that she had different dreams and a different life, and I understood that maybe I wasn't going to be part of it anymore. Her road was leading her somewhere I was not destined for.
I realised that I was okay. But at first, I wasn't. Without her by my side, pulling my arm along I felt lost. Forgotten, even. That was hard for me. I felt like I had lost a big part of myself.
We don't go to the footy together anymore, we don't share pies and secrets and jokes. We don't teach each other things or make up silly names for the players. But I do want to remember those joyous years.
I hadn't really stopped to think about how joyous those years really were. But I've realised that some people come and go from your life.
And it's okay for them to do that.
As long as you've got some of the best memories together, you never really feel like you've been left behind.