“Don’t ever change a single thing about yourself, okay?”
He bypasses my comment, pecking my nose. “I so badly want you to stay.”
My eyes squeeze shut, and I try to whisper to my heart that it’s okay; we are making the right decision. “Please don’t ask that of me, Hayden. I need this.”
“And I need you,” he replies firmly, nudging his nose against mine. “How can you not see that?”
He’s being selfish, and he knows it. It’s the who he is and who he’s always been, never having regard for other peoples’ feelings when he wants something. So maybe this won’t only be good for me but for him as well. He might have a chance to step back and reevaluate where he went wrong and try to change it.
Baby steps.
“I think the both of us can learn from this.”
The words hardly leave my lips before there is a woman over the intercom announcing that my flight is boarding, and I have yet to even go through security. I swear if I weren’t standing, I think Hayden would have collapsed. He leans his full body weight on me and breaks down into hysterics.
I rub his back soothingly, whispering comforting nothings into his ear. I’m the one who is leaving everything she has ever known and the love of her life. Shouldn’t he be comforting me? I press one last kiss to his temple, making sure he can stand before I step away from him, his touch…my home.
“I love you so much.” The words I’ve always wanted to hear come out in a raspy whisper. “Don’t ever forget you’re my first love. Keep in touch, yeah?” It’s strong, but I can see the pain in his eyes.
I can see that he’s feeling everything we’ve ever built crashing down around us too.
“You too…” is the only thing I can manage to say without completely breaking down like he had.
I pick up my luggage, sending him a halfhearted wave before twisting around to walk away from the boy who is losing it behind me, who also happens to be someone who I’m still so fucking in love with.
I don’t look back.
It’s too late for us.
Epilogue
Eight months later
She feels out of place here.
After so many months away, it feels like she might have grown detached from the quaint town she grew up in, this one place that still holds so many memories she carried with her over months, never wishing to forget them.
Of course, some of those may be bad and heart-lurching, but all in all, it’s home, and that overpowers the crummy thoughts.
Not much has changed in the place she knows like the back of her hand. After all, it had only been eight months. New faces roam the streets, looking at her like she’s the stranger when she’s simply returning until she finds herself somewhere new.
The little things pull her in like the new shops up and down the street, the bunches of new greenery surrounding the park she used to walk around to calm herself when things became too much.
Trees, flowers, and grass seem to be more vibrant than she remembers. Warm summer air that is soon coming to an end envelops her, and she basks in it, used to the chilly weather in South Africa that she had become accustomed to.
For her, it was beautiful there. In fact, she was counting down the days till she could visit again, but Elsie wanted to give herself some time home before she went jetting off somewhere else. So many things that she did there brought a smile to her face just at the thought.
She got a chance to find herself, and she surely did.
Going to a foreign place without knowing anyone was so scary to her at first, but the more she settled in, the easier it got, and the more people she met.
She helped teach in schools, fed the homeless, worked in a hospital for little kids who had malaria for some time, and helped build many homes in the area. So many other aspects of that trip made her thankful for everything that she has, not to mention grateful for her loved ones.
The hardest part, besides leaving, was the time she spent working in clinics with so many sick babies. Their parents had either passed or didn’t have the kind of finances or tools to get them out of that predicament, and it broke her a little. Watching it all unfold in front of her was tough, but she was amazed by the uplifting spirit all the natives had no matter what.
Hayden was always on her mind.
Just like they say, everything that’s good comes to an end.
Their relationship didn’t stay the same. It faltered so many times until it finally failed once and for all.
However, the love they share for each other will live on and hold a connection between the two that they’ll never be able to break or describe.
Video chatting and phone calls only did so much for the pair before it just wasn’t enough for Hayden and he stopped picking up. He distanced himself from the brown-eyed girl he still adores so much to this day. Elsie tried to understand, but that doesn’t mean it didn’t hurt.
Once she was on the phone with Gwen, only two months after being gone, and she accidentally slipped and mentioned something about this pretty girl her brother was dating. Elsie came to find out she wasn’t the first or the last. Hayden’s elder sister explained the girls never stuck for him, and he never looked at them the way he looks at Elsie.
His words always ran through her head: “I’ll wait for you.”
He didn’t.
She knows that she never asked that of him; in fact, she told him not to, but something deep down inside still wished that maybe he would wait for her. Now she can only hope that the time apart ruptured some type of change in the green-eyed boy.
Elsie sighs while walking around the town’s center with arms folded over her chest, coming to a stop in front of the very familiar coffee shop she once met Nick at a while ago.
She has spoken to both him and Anthea pretty much every day while being away, but she’s yet to see them. They’ve all made plans to have dinner soon before Nick heads off to Princeton and Anthea jets off to the West Coast.
Stepping into the cute little shop, she’s pleased to see that nothing has changed. Everything to the naked eye looks the same, even up to the table in the back she’s sat at, and it brings her some sense of home.
But it’ll never feel complete when he isn’t there beside her.
Waiting in line, she approaches the counter to order an iced coffee before paying and standing to the side for her drink. The barista calls her name only moments after, and she grabs it, feeling the coolness seep through the plastic to her fingertips.
She makes her way to the door, hardly making it out before bumping lightly into someone’s taut chest. Elsie can’t help but giggle to herself, clumsiness being something that will never change about her.
Elsie holds onto her drink even tighter to make sure she doesn’t drop it from utter shock when she backs up to peer at the person she ran into. It feels like the air had gotten kicked out of her, but also kind of like she can finally breathe again.
Those short wavy locks that he’d push back every single day have grown out only a few inches to give an even messier appearance. Small freckles dot his flushed cheeks that he’s acquired from being out in the sun too much. His tan skin is half hidden behind denim shorts that fall just above the knees, and a vintage Star Wars shirt clads his upper half.
Those eyes, they haven’t changed a bit.
Hayden can’t actually believe that she is finally standing in front of him again. It takes everything in him to not scoop up the oddly matured-looking girl in his arms and kiss her till he can’t breathe.
Eight months has surely changed her, but she still looks like the girl he’s so in love with.
Her thick and wavy hair has been chopped to rest just under her collarbones that protrude just under her caramel-colored skin that’s still silky and soft. Her doughy brown eyes are wide behind circular glasses perched on her button nose, and he can’t deny she looks mesmerizing.
Hayden didn’t know she would be returning, or at all for that matter.
The few chang
es on the outside and inside surely doesn’t mask the fact that there are so many unsaid things. Maybe now they have their chance.
With a lot of built up courage and a truly wide smile, he whispers, “Hi.”
The prettiest smile he’s ever seen spreads across her pink lips before she mutters back, “Hi.”
THE END
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Chapter 1
There’s something oddly satisfying about sitting at my desk and seeing the same pencil-written letter K that’s scrawled in the upper right corner. There’s always a nice feeling of familiarity to it. When I sit at my desk again today, it’s not there. The desk seems to be wiped clean; the pencil marks and eraser shavings are nowhere in sight. This bothers me. I like familiarity, and now this desk doesn’t even seem like it’s mine anymore. Even though I didn’t write the K in the first place, I became accustomed to seeing it.
Familiarity always seems to get me through the long school days. It might bother other people to see the same thing and the same people over and over again, but it soothes me. Change is something I don’t like.
It’s like walking down the hallways of Fairfield High and seeing the same groups of people standing in the middle of the hallway like they don’t have a class to get to in the next three minutes. This is the familiarity of high school. Every day, I hear people talking about last weekend’s party, the homework they had to cram on Sunday night, and who’s hooking up with whom. I push past these people to make it to class on time. Grades are all that matters to me right now. I don’t play any sports, so I can’t depend on my athletic ability to get me into a decent college. I want to get the hell out of this town, and I have to work hard to do it.
Jesus, I am a nerd.
I waltz into my last class of the day, and I pray time will go by quickly. Exhaustion has taken over my body, and I just want to go home and lay on my bed. Thankfully, class goes by swiftly, and I’m soon gathering my things. My teacher, Mrs. Clarke, stops me on my way out and hands me a book she thinks I’ll like. I thank her and walk home. I’ve never bothered my mom for a car. My house is within walking distance from the school, and I never go anywhere outside of school, so what’s the point?
As I round a corner, I open the book Mrs. Clarke has given me. I start to read the first chapter. When I hear footsteps behind me, I don’t think anything of it. But the footsteps increase in speed and sound like they’re getting closer. Before I can turn around to investigate, I’m knocked to the ground, and my book falls out of my hands onto the side of the road.
“What the hell?” I say as I frantically stand up to dust myself off. My only injury is the scratch on my forearm. No blood seems to be gushing anywhere, so I whirl around to face the person who knocked me down.
Aiden Callaway, Fairfield High’s known troublemaker, is standing in front of me and looking around wildly. His eyes travel to the ground where my book is still laying. He hastily picks it up and shoves it in my chest. “Here,” he grumbles.
He runs into me and has the nerve to snap at me? I feel like giving him a piece of my mind, but I decide against the idea. He isn’t someone I want to be acquainted with in any shape or form. His whole demeanor screams trouble. Instead of yelling at him, I simply walk away without saying a word.
“What? No ‘thank you?’” I hear him ask me.
“Thank you,” I say without turning around. This ends up being a big mistake. I know when to pick my battles, but he clearly doesn’t.
My shoulder is yanked back, and I’m facing Aiden yet again. The irritation on his face is evident as he says, “You don’t have to be bitchy about it.” He glances around suspiciously before looking at me again.
I scoff. “I think I can. You’re the one who ran into me and never bothered to apologize or ask if I was okay.” The nerve of this guy!
“Stay out of my way next time.”
“Or next time you can run around me like a normal person would.”
“Like you would know anything about being normal.”
“Excuse you?” I say loudly. “You’re being rude, and just for that, you’re not a normal person either!”
He stares at me, and I’m immediately embarrassed by my lame comeback. He bursts into laughter, and I feel my cheeks heat up even more. “Wow,” he chuckles. “You really aren’t normal.”
“There he is!” someone yells in the distance. I glance behind Aiden’s tall figure and see two guys running in our direction.
“Shit,” Aiden mutters when he sees them. He grabs my arm and starts to run, bringing me along with him.
I run with him until I realize what a stupid idea it is. I try to pull my arm away, but his grip tightens. “Let go!” I yell at him.
“Stop struggling and run!”
A car halts and the passenger side window rolls down, revealing a driver with sunglasses and a baseball cap. “C’mon, Aiden!”
Aiden jerks the door open to the backseat of the car and the panic rises in me. I try once again to tug my arm away from Aiden’s grip, but I can’t match his strength. He pushes me into the backseat and flings himself in next to me. The car takes off, and Aiden quickly shuts the door.
I sit up in the seat and start to breathe heavily. I glance around, thinking of ways I can escape. There is no way in hell I’m getting kidnapped today.
“Jesus, calm down,” Aiden says to me. He leans back in his seat, seemingly unbothered that he was just chased down by two crazy people.
The anger wells up inside me, and my fists connect with his arm repeatedly. “Do not tell me to calm down. I just met you, and you pulled me into a speeding car while being chased by two maniacs! This is practically kidnapping!”
My small hands do little to no damage; he doesn’t even flinch. He laughs instead then says, “Relax. Those guys are gone.”
“Why were they chasing you in the first place? Who were they?”
“Just some guys I owe money to.” He casually shrugs.
I look out the window and see that we’re going in the opposite direction of my house. I groan and slump into the seat.
If you enjoyed this sample then look for Outcasts.
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Acknowledgements
Firstly, thank you to the Blvnp team. It’s been a crazy ride, but I owe lots of it to you guys. You all have made me feel comfortable and secure with putting my book in your hands. So, thank you for making my first publishing experience great.
Again, thank you heaps to my mom, my best friend, and my rock. From the start, she’s been my biggest fan—even when I wouldn’t let her read my books—and she’s been patient. Thank you for crying with me, smiling with me, and being extremely jittery over this whole experience.
It wouldn’t feel right to not mention my friends: Kiersten, thank you for being just as excited about this whole process as I’ve been; you always keep me on my toes. Braiden, thank you for not letting me become a hermit throughout editing. Carlos and Miller, thank you for constantly asking for updates and begging for a signed copy; I’d be lost without you guys.
To the rest of my family, I’m more than thankful for all the kind words, smiles, and excitement. I’m so grateful to have you all in my life to make things that much better.
<
br /> Last but certainly not least, my Wattpad friends. My roots are on that site, along with some lifelong pals. Thank you so much for “screaming” with me over messaging, endless congratulations, and being happy for me as if it’s your own book. I owe so much to you all, and I don’t think I’ll ever be able to repay you. Talking with you guys has been a gift in itself, so thank you for standing by my side.
I love you all too much.
Author’s Note
Hey there!
Thank you so much for reading The Best Friend! I can’t express how grateful I am for reading something that was once just a thought inside my head.
I’d love to hear from you! Please feel free to email me at [email protected] and sign up at ally-williams.awesomeauthors.org for freebies!
One last thing: I’d love to hear your thoughts on the book. Please leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads because I just love reading your comments and getting to know YOU!
Whether that review is good or bad, I’d still love to hear it!
Can’t wait to hear from you!
Ally Williams
About the Author
Ally Williams is a coffee-loving student from Virginia. She discovered Wattpad at a very young age and now collectively has over eight million reads. When she’s not going to class or spending time with friends and family, she’s glued to books and writing in her free time.
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