“Alright, alright – my turn,” Joey pushes her out the way and smiles innocently at me. “A hug for old times?”
“Oh, Joey!” I envelope him in a huge bear hug and press my face to his chest. “I’m going to miss you too. Take care of yourself, alright? And Carl, too. He’s your something special in life, and you need him by your side.”
“I know that,” he murmurs, smiling at me. “Thank you for everything, Darcy. You’re my best friend.”
We hear someone clear their throat behind me. “Um, excuse me? She’s my best friend, thank you very much.”
I laugh, and I turn around to see the most amazing person in my life. Dana smiled sadly and wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. “You’re not my best friend – you’re my sister, silly.” And I give her one of the biggest hugs ever.
“Yeah, yeah,” She teases. “I don’t even know why I’m crying – we’ll be visiting each other whenever we can. Sleepovers every weekend, right?”
“Of course,” I smile at her.
A pair of arms pull me away, and I fall into a muscular chest, a pair of sparkling golden eyes looking down at me. ”I hope I get an invite to these sleepovers as well. You know I’m going to miss you like crazy.”
“I love you,” I breathe, leaning up and giving him one of the most passionate, desperate kisses we’ve ever shared. “And I’m going to miss you too. I’ll phone every night, and I’ll visit as much as possible.”
“I know you will,” he whispers. “You know, I used to be so… empty before. I missed my dad and I was filled with blame for myself. I hid behind a player façade and I just existed with the crowd – and then came you, Darcy. You’ve changed my world, and I’ll always love you.”
“I know,” I whisper.
Someone clears their throat, and we all turn around to see the warm and kind social worker smiling at our goodbyes, the bags and suitcases already loaded in the car and ready to go. All that’s left is me. “We have to make a move, kiddo – if we don’t leave now traffic will be hell.”
I nod at her and smile brightly. “Alright.” I take a deep breath and pull away from my friends, and look at them one by one. “Don’t think of this as a goodbye,” I warn them playfully. “I’ll be back – and it’ll be like I never left!”
They laugh, and with that happy sound playing in my ears, I hop into the front seat and I close the door behind me with a thud. The social worker turns and beams at me. “All buckled up and ready to go, Darcy?”
“Yeah,” I breathe. “I think I’m ready.” Because I know that it won’t be for long. I’ll be seeing those guys again soon – very soon; because not all goodbyes last a lifetime. I guess that’s just another crazy thing about life that I’ll never understand; all I can do is live it. I know one thing’s for sure: I’m not just going to exist anymore…
Then Came You Page 17