75% Chocolate

Part I- Intro

Forrest POV

I sit down on my couch and sigh in relief, taking in the silence in my small apartment. Ah, I've finally finished my work. Thank goodness. It's 2:10 in the morning and I'm not tired... Somehow... I chuckle quietly and walk into my extra room to clean some things, 'cause no, I'm not tired. I guess that's a perk of being a night owl? I enter the room and notice an old, beaten up box in the corner. Huh, I haven't noticed that before... but since when do I keep track of my stuff properly? I kneel and open the box. Some dust rises from my movement. I cough but pick up some notebooks from inside. "Forrest's diary(crossed out) journal." 

"Wow, how old is this?" I breathe out, scattering more dust. I read out the first entry. 

"April 20, 2011. Today, someone asked me if I have a crush on Ivan. I didn't know what that was so I said no. I think it's like why people have boyfriends." I laugh at my childish stupidity. "'Boyfriends are gross—' oh my god this is hilarious. Well look at yourself now Forrest, you still can't find a boyfriend." I exhale loudly, deciding to call it a night.

I change into my pyjamas, wash my face, all that good stuff and loudly flop onto my bed. I reach over to my table to turn off the lamp and finally attempt to go to sleep. My mind wanders off to my past. My heart suddenly feels tight and a small wave of sadness hits me again. It's been so long but it still hurts even though nothing happened. My black cat, Liv, settles herself near my head and helps calm me down once more. My past is so strange but I guess it's just how life is. 

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Arc 1- Elementary School

OCT 4 '11

'I miss my old school--' you know what let's start with the actual relevant stuff.

'Today dad yelled at me for fighting with Jasmine--' no I said the relevant stuff.

'I saw the Justin Bieber movie--' no what the hell.

'Today I felt like punching dad because he was being rude--' ok what the hell, me. I give up, let's just flip to a random page. Here we go. (Wait there's no date written) 'yesterday I had a dream that I was kissing a boy which was weird.' Oh my god, nevermind we're just gonna skip a few years.

Sat. Mar. 17 '12

Today was just like any other day. Also, I changed my mind about the crushes, it's just Elliot. He's just better than the rest of the class but that's just the way I think him as. I told Emily (my friend) that I have a crush on Elliot and she said that she has one on him too.

I sigh. I think to myself, 'wow look at me, I wasn't even mad that someone else liked the same person. I wish I could go back to those days.' Flipping through this journal made me realize how innocent I was. I sigh some more and Liv comes up and sits in my lap, softly purring. "How I become this mess? I'm spending time looking at memories instead of doing something productive," I wonder aloud before bringing my attention back to the journal.

'Oh no Ali likes me so that's kinda awkward.'

I stare at the entry. "WAIT WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK I FORGOT ABOUT THAT!?" I yell, disturbing my previously sleeping cat. 

"Yep ok that's enough for one day," I conclude. I walk over to my bed and flop down, staring up at the ceiling and feel myself slowly start to fall asleep when a random memory hits me again.

~flashback~

I breathe in the air in Central's small gym and look around at my classmates. It was our last class of grade 6. This meant I won't be able to see some of my friends again. Yeah, Mia and I weren't really close but I wish we were. It was a day filled with regrets for me. Everyone looked so happy and promised to keep in touch but I had a feeling they never would. I hugged most of the girls goodbye and walked slowly towards the door to leave. A small voice suddenly says something I thought I'd never hear. 'Shouldn't you say bye to Elliot?' 

I told myself I can't. I had hidden my jealousy for long enough, seeing him constantly try to get Mia's attention. I couldn't do anything. They look so perfect together and mind you, we're in grade 6 so that means a lot to past me. I quickly exit the gym but turn back in hesitation. The small voice says again, 'go say bye one last time, it can't hurt.' I go in and watch everyone else hug each other. Elliot comes up to me and looks at me with a sombre face.

"I'll miss teasing you"

"Yeah"

There was silence between us and we just looked at each other strangely. I didn't bother to leave. I felt like this would be the last time I'd enjoy his presence as a friend. We stay there for a minute and enjoy whatever that moment was. One of his friends breaks it by coming up and giving Elliot a "man hug." I laugh at his words but walk away without a word. I make eye contact with Elliot as I leave but I put on my poker face and pretend there weren't a million things I wanted to say.

Looking back on that day, there were so many things I could have said but I decided not to. I could have said "I'll see you next year" or "I hope you're in my class next year" or even a simple "see you soon." but I stayed silent. It's not like I can do anything now. I question my past self some more before laying back down and feel myself drift off to the dream world. 

Bonus

Elliot POV

Kevin embraces me and I see Forrest hesitate as she walks towards the door before she opens it and disappears off into the crowd of younger students. My thoughts are all mixed up. "Wait," I whisper quietly. 'I wanted to tell you something else,' I think as Kevin lets go of me. "Come on," he says, "let's go say bye to Mia."

I put on a smile, hoping to hide my concern. "Yeah, let's go do that."

I look back at the gym door, hoping that Forrest would come back one last time. Just so I can say goodbye to my friend.

She doesn't.

A/N:

I'm not a fan of author's notes but I'll do it just this once. Please look forward to this work :) I wrote this maybe a year or two ago but never bothered to actually do anything with it. I'd say that my writing's improved since then but I'm way too attached to this story to not share it so here it is. Part II will be up soon (all I need to do is edit it :)).