Perfectly Ordinary // Shawn Mendes

goodbye to my beautiful best friend

claudia

Soon enough, it was time to say goodbye to the only person I had left.

I stand outside my house, watching my aunt and uncle pack the car with my suitcases. They flew in to get me and take me to my new home.

I see Shawn walk up my driveway, a forced smile on his face. We hug quickly, and my aunt nods at me when I tell her we are going in the garden to say goodbye.

Shawn doesn't look like he got any sleep. He has dark circles under his eyes and his hair is messy. I probably look the same way.

We sit on the benches, and I feel like crying all over again. The sobs from the past few days have left me dehydrated and tearless.

"This is it," I say, my voice quiet.

After a few silent moments, Shawn speaks.

"Clauds, this isn't it. We will stay friends, okay? I'm already saving for a phone. I can use my neighbor's until then," he begins, and a silent tear slides down my cheek.

"Hey," he says softly, taking my face in his hand and wiping away my tear softly with his thumb. "Everything's gonna be okay. A friendship like ours...it's one that lasts forever, Clauds. You just have to trust me. We can get through this."

I look up and meet his gaze. His eyes are filled with sadness, but they have tiny specks of hope. Hope for us.

Meanwhile, my hope is fading away slowly.

"Okay," I whisper.

"Claudia!" I hear my Aunt Diane yells from the front. It's time to leave.

I look at Shawn, who looks at me. He leans in and kisses my forehead softly as I hug him tightly around the waist.

"I love you, Claudia. I promise we will stay friends."

Before we begin to walk off, he hands me something. The book I gave him. It was titled "Summer Romance" in sparkly letters, but Shawn crossed it out with a black sharpie and wrote "For Claudia."

"I know I don't have a lot, but I did have this. So I decided since it was a terrible book anyways, I'd write some stuff in here for you to read when you're upset. I put a lot of memories and inside jokes in there. It's all in the margins of each page," Shawn says, and my fingers trace over his new title.

He holds my hand as I cry, and I can see tears glisten on his own cheeks. We walk to the front, and I step in the car and close the door behind me. As we begin drive away, my eyes are locked with Shawn's.

Shawn. My perfect best friend with an angelic voice. I absorb every last bit of him so he could be permanently remembered in my mind forever.

His messy hair, his smile. His lazy eye, his contagious laugh.

Who knows if I would ever see my best friend again?