Frenemy With The Bad Boy

Chapter 29 - The Truth Untold

I was so lost.

Both physically and mentally. The fact that Clayton and I are not together anymore and him becoming a father was too hard to move on from. I hadn't been eating for the past two days, my sleeping schedule was a total mess, and school was just another hell for me. I could hardly focus in class much less my surroundings, thus I had failed to see the wet floor sign ealier and I had slipped, making my flat bottom even flatter.

So here I was now, in front of my locker, contemplating whether I should skip school for today and go somewhere else to ease my mind. If only Claire and Brody are here, they would probably make my day just a little bit better. But, last night they had to fly to New York because their father was hospitalized.

So, yes. I am alone.

I hadn't seen Clayton and his friends all day, scratch that, I had been avoiding them all day. I couldn't stand the sight of him right now. I'm scared I might break down just by looking at him. As I opened my locker and the first thing I saw was a picture of me, Claire, Dean, and Elliot, back in seventh grade. We were at the beach and our parents took a picture of us with our hands over each other's shoulders. It was mine and Claire's first time wearing bikinis and our first time building a sand castle.

Those were the days. I thought.

Then I made my mind. I slammed my locker shut and quickly ran outside.  I was skipping school on my own for the first time ever in my seventeen years of life. School was suffocating me and the thought of meeting Clayton haunted me so I'd rather be elsewhere.

I walked down the side road without a clear destination. I was going to where my mind was leading me and then I realized it has been a while since I had spend sometime alone. A time just for me. I was always busy thinking about other things and I didn't think enough of myself. The moment I stopped, I was in front of the cemetery.

Elliot. I miss him.

My mind always brought me here whenever I need to be alone. When Elliot was still around, talking to him would always ease my mind because he was such a great listener and he gave really great advices – the greatest best friend I could ever ask for. I walked to his grave and saw a bouquet of yellow tulips on it. His favorite flowers. Nobody know about this except for me, Claire, and....

"Serena?" a very familiar voice called out.

I looked behind and there stood Dean Parker wearing a black hoodie and black jeans, looking quite sad, I presume. I furrowed my eyebrows, trying to read his expressions but nothing comes to mind. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I could ask you the same thing," Dean said.

"I...I just...I wanted to be alone. So I skipped school and came here," I answered honestly. "How about you?"

"Same," He chuckled and sat by the grave, so did I. "You know, whenever I have problems and everything seems to be going wrong, whenever I need to clear my head and just need someone to talk to, I always come here. Elliot was a great friend. Fuck, I miss him." Dean let out a dry laugh as I saw tears rolling down his cheeks.

The last time I saw Dean cry was at Elliot's funeral and since that day forward, he became stoic and quiet – basically emotionless. So to see him breaking down like that, tore me apart. I felt him hurting as much as I am hurting so I didn't say anything instead I gave him a hug. "I can't help but to think it was my fault that he did what he did. I didn't listen to his stories because I was too busy talking about mine. I didn't ask him how his day went and kept ranting about how amazing my day was. I didn't do that. Was I a bad friend? Do you think I'm a bad friend?"