"This story is about the boy I loved. This is about his suffering. This is about my suffering. All of it due to one thing. Affluenza."
TW : Key themes of suicide.
Sebastian Grey. Golden boy, trust fund baby, and Braylen Adams' mortal enemy. Braylen...
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I TAKE A long sip of my iced tea, enjoying the cool breeze in the restaurant and staring at all of the photos around the place. There were dozens of pictures of the ocean, from stingrays to jellyfish to people smiling with their sunburnt skin and bright eyes. It was paradise in pictures.
"So," Sebastian starts, and I turn back to look at him. His skin was slightly red from our time in the sun, but for some reason, it didn't flush him out like I knew my redness did. He looked alive, bright and happy and content. I smile softly. "Robyn. What's the story with her?"
My smile falters a bit. "Robyn...she's my best friend. She's the best friend." I chuckle softly, smile fraying. "I said some crappy things to her before I left. I know she just wants me to be happy, but she was making it seem like the end of the world that you and I are hanging out."
"Why in the hell would you choose me over her?" he asks, eyes wide. "Brayls, I'm not that special."
I grab a salt shaker, fumbling around with the top of it. "It's not that, Sebastian. It's the principle of it. She's always doing crap I don't like—sleeping with random guys and blowing me off, smoking and drinking, lying. I do one little thing and suddenly I'm the bad friend?" I set the shaker down, sighing. "I love her to death, don't get me wrong. It's normal to spend time apart, though, right? I think this is the longest I've gone without communicating with her in some way."
"Braylen, it's been two hours."
I blush. "Yeah, well, that's a long time for us."
"What do you do when you're both sleeping?" he asks incredulously.
"Oh. We communicate in each other's dreams, of course."
We both laugh and the conversation switches back to lightheartedness again. "I always thought you two had a thing for each other if I'm being honest. I think everyone did."
"No," I say. "She's like a sister to me. I never had siblings back home, so."
He smiles at me. "Must be nice...to love someone that much."
"Yeah," I mutter. "Yeah, it is."
He looks at me for a long moment before turning his head away. He almost looked wistful. I suddenly realized that even though Sebastian had all these friends, he was probably awfully lonely. Every single time I'd been over his house, he'd been alone. And most days at school he doesn't even approach his friends; they approach him.
I bite on my bottom lip. "Hey, Sebastian?"
Sebastian turns to me, blue eyes finding my own. "Yeah?"
I think for a moment before sticking my hand out. "Hi. I'm Braylen Adams. Do you...would you like to be friends?"
The corner of his lips quirks up into a smile. He envelopes his large hand in mine, giving it a nice shake. "Yes. Yeah, I think I'd like that."
