“BREAK up with him, Natalia. This is not you...” he demanded, as if he owns my life.
“No! Why can’t you just be happy for me, Nathan? Is it because it’s Tyler? If you’re thinking like that because he is known as the bad boy, then think again, Nat. You don’t know him that much. Just let him prove it to me that he deserves me... Just please give him a chance first...”
“I don’t know him? Maybe yes, and neither do you.”
I rolled my eyes upon him, getting annoyed at the fact that he’s not supporting my decisions in life anymore. And then he said something that completely changed the way I looked at him. He used my manual against me, one thing that is highly unacceptable for myself.
“How about your manual, huh? I thought there is a rule written on that shit that you would never ever date a guy? What happened to you, Natalia?!”
“I don’t really care about that rule right now. And how dare you use my manual against me? You know what, let us just stop talking about this for now. Let us just go, Nathan...” I begged him, before turning around but he stopped me from walking away by grabbing my arms.
“No! Please don’t try to escape from this conversation, Natalia!”
“Let go of me! Who are you to tell me what should I do and don’t? This is my life, Nathan! You are just my best friend, nothing more! Before trying to interfere with my decisions in life, it would be better for you to fix yourself first...” I warned him, making him look like he was taken aback by my statement. He shook his head several times, before looking at me unbelievably.
“You’ve changed a lot... You are not the same Natalia that I met before. You are not my bestfriend anymore...”
Nathan shook his head several times, before he started walking away. And just like that, he vanished out of my sight. I felt bothered by the fact that this is the very first time that the two of us had a fight like this... Something that I never thought we will have in the first place. I sighed, before finally giving up, thinking that maybe tomorrow, everything will be better than today.
A week passed since Nathan and I have fought in the hallways of this school building. Tyler and I continued dating and knowing each other more, while my bestfriend and I... We haven’t talk about anything for the past one week of being together in the student council office. We wouldn’t spoke to each other if it wasn’t for school or anything related to that. Also, if ever that we did, we wouldn’t talk that much. Our words were very limited to the questions answerable by straight yes or no... No follow ups or anything. And that’s it.
I know that Scott also noticed about it, that’s why he became the initiator of every conversation every time that the three of us is going to meet at the Cafeteria of the school or in the student council office. But it wasn’t enough. I know that I wanted my bestfriend back. So I decided to finally talk to him the next morning.
While walking down the hallway of the school, I felt something strange and weird. It feels like something very wrong is going to happened today. Something that I couldn’t stop, nor anyone else in this place. I gulped, sweat is dripping down on my forehead before I went straight to our student council office and there, I saw Scott looking down on the piece of paper in front of him.
“Scott... Did Nathan finally arrive?” I asked him.
“Nat... He’s absent. And here... He wrote a letter. He is resigning as the president.”
“What?! But why?! How about the upcoming prom and projects that we have?”
“I already called the principal about it. As a vice president, he wanted me to temporarily replace his position not until he shows up.”
I looked down, unable to understand what must be his reason for being gone all of the sudden, now that I finally decided to talk to him. And so that afternoon, I decided to use my bicycle and go to their house, despite the fact that it looks like a storm is coming in. I tried my best to use my bike faster, hoping that the sooner I could see him, the sooner I will feel relief.
That is why when I saw their empty house, I panicked, before running towards the doorstep and knocking upon it several times. When nobody answered, I backed away, trying to shout out loud hoping that they can hear me from the inside. But they were gone, and only now that I noticed the sign plastered in front of their front yard... For sale.
“W-What?” I whispered to myself, almost crying at the thought that I can never see him again.
“Hey! You! What are you doing out here? A storm is coming over! Why are you standing there like an idiot?!” one of our neighboring teenager shouted out loud.
“I’m sorry... I was just... Do you know what happened to the owner of this house?”
“Why the fuck would I care about them? But anyways, I saw a moving truck earlier this morning and the boy out there together with his mother already flew away towards the other part of the world.”
I don’t want to believe in his words, but he doesn’t look like he had enough time to mess around, so I just thank him, before picking up my bicycle as I started walking away from that place. It felt like a hug whole has been punched through my chest. The rain began to pour heavily, and the next thing I knew, I was trapped my it. My vision is getting blurry by the water coming from it and by the tears that is now preventing me from seeing anything.
“Nathan... Why... Why did you leave me?” I asked myself as I started sobbing out loud.
I sat down on the sidewalk, before letting my bicycle dropped down on the floor. There, I cried like a little child, as if I lost something very important to me. Why would they go too sudden that I haven’t even got a chance to say goodbye? Is this the reason why he wanted me to stay away from Tyler as soon as possible because he just wanted to make sure that I will be in the good hands once he left?
I feel dumb. The last thing we did is to fight. I shouldn’t have said those words to him. Maybe he’s right, I changed the moment that I had Tyler with me, thinking that I could always have a back up. But now, I don’t know what to do anymore. Until I noticed that the rain stopped pouring down in my head, so I looked up, seeing someone holding an umbrella. It is no other than Tyler.
“T-Tyler?” I trailed off, still having little sobs.
“What are you doing here, Carter? Do you want to catch a cold or something?” he asked, brows furrowed in confusion.
“I was just–”
“Wait, are you crying?!” he asked, before pulling me up.
“Tyler... Nathan is gone... My best friend is gone,” I cried out loud, before sobbing.
His eyes widened in surprised, seeing me cry once again. He pulled me closer to his body, before giving me a tight embrace, one thing that I never expected to get from him... Comfort.
“Shhh... It’s alright... Everything will be fine soon... Please don’t cry, Nat...”
“But he’s gone... Gone forever.”
He gently pulled me away from his body, before looking at me straight in the eyes. Tyler wiped away the tears in my eyes before taking a deep breath, and then giving me a forehead kiss, another thing that I never expected.
“I’m here. I won’t leave you behind, I promised, alright?”
I nodded, before I felt his hand holding mine. I feel thousands of butterflies fluttering inside of my stomach, even though the sadness is still there. His other one dropped the umbrella, letting both of us got wet under the heavy pouring rain. Then he touched my face, before slowly leaning in.
“Tyler...”
“Don’t move,” he whispered.
And just like that, his lips landed upon mine, and I got my first kiss on the night that my bestfriend left me alone. We are standing there, as his lips explored mine. It was a gentle kiss, not like what I often see in the movies but the one that is full of love and passion. Until he stopped, before looking at me in the eyes.
“I know that I cannot replace him but... I will be always here for you, Natalia Carter.”
“Thank you, Tyler... Thank you for not leaving me behind.”
“You’re welcome. Now let me take you home.”