ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ sᴇᴠᴇɴᴛᴇᴇɴ

727 39 81
                                    


17 | ALL GOOD THINGS MUST COME TO AN END, RIGHT?

"john, it's time to go! do you have your cap and gown on?" the boy's mom shouts, making him groan. it's graduation day and he's really not looking forward to seeing jaren there. they hadn't talked in weeks because jaren hadn't been at school.

"i'm coming, mom!" john yells, staring at the brown gown laying against his bed. he slips it on, grabbing the cap from his bedside table. he throws it on his head, making sure the tassel is to the right side.

walking to his bathroom, he grabs the anxiety pills from the sink. they have become his only coping mechanism since the breakup, which was still eating at his soul. he wonders what his friends think of him at this point. do they hate him for not trying to fix things? are they mad that john was too scared to work things out for the second time in his life? is jaren even okay?

he needs to stop thinking. that's what the anxiety pills are for; they bring all the terrible thoughts out of his head. his mind was always sprinting like a cheetah but his pills were able to calm it down every once and a while.

"john, are you actually coming?" his mom yells again, snapping him out of his thoughts. he sprints down the stairs, giving his mother a big fake smile when he walked into the kitchen. his mother didn't know about the pills or about why jaren left the house. things were just better that way.

"hi mom, how do i look?" john says, giving a twirl when his mom gestured for him to do it. she smiles, giving him a slight nod and a thumbs up.

"do you want to invite jaren over for pictures or no?" his mom asks, not noticing the flash of pain zooming over john's face.

"no, it's good," john whispers, frowning at his mother. it's not her fault that she can't see his pain; john has never been broken over a relationship. everyone thought of him as a player, without even knowing how deep it actually went.

but it was okay; players are always fine and don't give a shit about any of their stupid relationships.

"ok, let's get going," his mom speaks, looking confused at john's previous response. maybe she actually noticed something for once. she still never calls him out on his feelings though.

he doesn't have emotions anymore.

☎️

ever since the break up, jaren has been living with tyler and craig. they always insist that he's not a nuisance to the but jaren knows the truth. they can't plan their wedding or adopt a kid because he's here now. like an anchor, jaren's sinking.

he walks toward his seat with his graduation cap in his hand and gown swaying against his small body. he's excited for college; he'll never have to see this wretched town again.

he couldn't lie to himself though. part of him still wished that he could wake up next to john everyday. he still wanted to see the boy's soft smile and receive his emotional kisses. truth is, jaren would never stop wanting john. the boy had become apart of his life a couple months ago and he missed it so fucking much.

"hi jaren," brian says, walking over with a broken smile. jaren tries to recognize why he is an a sour mood but really can't.

"you okay?" jaren asks, grabbing onto brian's shouder.

"yea, i'm good. brock and i had a really bad fight last week and i just want to know if it's the end," brian frowns, looking up at the sky. rain splashes on his face, running down his cheeks and onto his neck. jaren could paint this.

"everyone please get to your seats!" a woman at the podium yells, causing jaren to quickly turn around. he bumps into something, falling and mumbling a bunch of cuss words.

"god damb it, i'm so sorry," jaren says, standing up and putting his hand out. he opens up his eyes, seeing the boy in front of him. he quickly retracts his hand because the boy in front of him is someone he knows way too well.

"don't worry about it jaren. wouldn't want you to get your pretty body damaged now, would we?" anthony laughs, moving towards his seat while giving a wink towards jaren.

this was going to be a shit day, wasn't it?

☎️

"john keyes," the lady announces, causing the boy to stand up. he's glad that jaren and him don't have the same starting letter for their last names. he doesn't think he could see the boy without having a breakdown right now. he makes his way onto the stage, smiling at his fellow peers.

"thank you very much. as class president, i would like to congratulate every student here!" john yells, watching his graduation class clap and scream, "but most importantly, i want to thank some people who made this year worth it."

"to my two best friends, evan and jon. thank you for being the two goofiest lovers i have ever met. when i felt bad, they would always be the first ones there. also, i'm so glad that you two started dating," john smiles, looking over at his two best friends holding each other's hands.

"to my new friends, brian and brock. i hope you two always stay together; please don't let little fights get in between you two. you both deserve to be happy, even though sometimes you may have hurt me," john laugh, tears forming in his eyes. he takes a deep breathe, catching eyes with one specific person in the crowd.

"and finally, i would like to thank jaren smith for making this year the best it could possibly be. you taught me that it was actually possible to love someone so much; you taught me that love was real," john stares at jaren, tears leaking down onto his cheeks.

"and despite what you may think, i still want you back."

☎️

thanks for reading the first chapter of part two! also i don't even like the song at the top, but it's such a perfect song for this book.

song: noob by ksi

SCARED ➼ krii7yWhere stories live. Discover now