Growing up is 2 hard

"I love you, I'm sorry, Chandler Brown we all failed you"

(July 28th, 7:46pm , Monday)
TW: suicide, blood
Johnny's POV:
I wish I could make the summer go by slower. School starts back Monday. What the hell? Where did it go? And even in college school can't seem to be escaped.

Everyone's out on the beach, watching the sunset, acting like it's not hotter than hell still. We probably look crazy all of us right on the shore in a line side by side.

I hear Mr. And Mrs. Randle get up, "we're gonna get all the kids to bed." Mrs. Randle announces.

We all nod, nobody's gonna disagree with that.

A few more pieces of silence wave by before Darry speaks, "I wonder where Chandler is right now?"

Who's Chandler? And what's the wonder?

"Darry." Soda says his name like speaking of this, Chandler, is forbidden.

"What you really think he never crosses my mind?"

"I tried to forget about him." Pony looks like he's staring straight at Chandler. He has a look full of a lot of things.

Tracy takes the turn of asking, "Who's Chandler?"

"Someone everyone failed." Mr. Curtis nodded.

"He was my best friend, I'd known him since kindergarten." Darry began, "He had depression, maybe since sometime in middle school. He was bullied in middle school for a lot of stupid reasons. The first two years of high school weren't any better." I reckon this is where the real story begins, because he lets out a sigh only sad people can let out.

"Prom night, senior year. We partied like hell, and caught an Uber to his house. I looked at the clock 1:56 in the morning. Drunk as I don't know what, he was too. I said, "Brown, I'm going to bed. In your bed." And he laughed his little laugh I'll never hear again and he said, "naw man I'm getting in the shower, but night Curtis." And then I fell asleep, well I laid first. And as soon as I really felt my eyes not open I heard a bang. And I was up, full sprint to the bathroom, I heard another noise more like a fall. And when I got there he was already halfway gone.

Blood everywhere. And he was crying. Something Chandler didn't let himself do enough as someone would was struggling, because they'd bully him for that too. And I ran back to his room and I called 911 and he said, "I love you, I'm sorry." And then it was all over. There was nothing anyone could do, he shot himself in the neck. And that was Chandler Brown.
A tragic memory."

"I hate thinking about him, because I'd do anything to see him again. He was a person, alright." Mrs. Curtis laughed a sad laugh.

"People always asks me why the bruise on my neck doesn't go away, but it's not a bruise. It's a tattoo of where he shot himself. I also got one of my thigh, because summer was his favorite season, and you can only see it during summer. But you to have read it a certain way. '"I love you, I'm sorry"'- Chandler Brown 'we failed you.'" He shrugged.

"It's not your fault, you did all you could. You weren't any smarter than him." Steve reminds.

"Yeah, but I really sat there and watched it happen. I was the one who found him." It's obvious Darry feels guilt for this.

"I'm sure Chandlers having a great time.
He always was. Or at least making sure someone else was." Soda suggest.

"Yeah." Darry basically whispers it. "Who do y'all miss?"