She Will Be Loved- Ben Tyler Cook

Chapter 59

Kasey's POV

March 30, 2021

Do you ever look back on your life a year ago to the day, and think about how much has changed since then? One year ago, I was probably moping around. I probably didn't get out of bed until 2pm, I probably cried. I was arguably the saddest I'd ever been in awhile. And where was I today?

Right now, I was crammed into a car with my best friends on our way to a mountain for a day of skiing. They were giggling and singing along to Dan's road trip playlist. The sun hasn't even risen yet and normally I'd be grumpy at this hour, but right now I couldn't help but smile and join in with the singing. So much has changed in a year, and so much has changed even in just a couple of months. If I've learned anything in this life, it's that there will always be moments of pure love to look forward to. Dark days will pass and they will eventually turn into sunny ones.

I sipped the coffee we'd made a brief stop for and looked out the window- the highway was mostly empty at this time, but there was the occasional car we'd pass. 

"Croissant?" A muffled voice offered me. I turned to see Ben holding out a croissant from the cafe we'd stopped at. I laughed at his mouth being full.

"Thanks," I grinned and took the pastry. That was definitely one of the things that had changed within the past couple of months- my friendship with Ben. After everything that had happened, I finally got the closure I needed and it allowed us to be on good terms. I got the explanation I needed and it took me a little bit, but I forgave him. Maybe I'm still kind of forgiving him, but either way we were okay now. I've tried my best to be there for him as he goes through therapy and getting help for his mental health, because I understand how tough it is. 

 It's been great to see Ben make the changes he needed to make in his life- he's followed through with his word, and he genuinely wanted to fix everything. He was starting to seem like his old self more and more everyday, and it warmed me to see. We hang out more now and we're friends. A little part of me wishes we could be together again, picking up from where we left off. But so much has happened, I'm not sure if it's possible to pick up from where we left off. I'm not even sure if he'd want us to be together again. But, the bigger part of me is just happy we are in each other's lives even if it's just a friendship. We had been friends first, anyway.

"I'll bet you a trillion dollars that Sky will fall down the bunny slope," Mike teased from the front.

"Come on, we all know you won't even make it to the bunny slope," Sky shot back.

"Quiet down kids, or I'm turning this car around," DeMarius huffed from the driver's seat. 

 Kaitlyn and I looked at each other, rolling our eyes.

"I'll be lucky if I can even get my skis on," I joked, and Kaitlyn agreed. We were the only ones who had never been skiing before and even though we'd been promised a lesson, I was still a little scared. Even if I ended up being horrible, I was just glad to be here with everyone and I knew it would be fun day. The sky was turning a pretty orange-pink hue, and I found myself staring out the window mesmerized by it. Today is one of those sunny days. 

-

After a couple more hours, we finally arrived at the mountain and we were renting our skis and we got our lift passes. We sat down on a bench to get our skis on. I tried to follow everyone else's movements, but I struggled to get the clamps down on my boots. 

"Here, let me help you," Ben bent down as he noticed my failed attempts. 

"Why do our group outings always include something I'm horrible at?" I complained.