3 2

I glanced to the left and caught sight of a familiar figure sprinting through the grass towards me; his presence and positive aura were what I needed now more than ever. "Damn, you look like shit?" He commented with a forced smile.

So much for that positive aura.

"You got here fast," I pointed out. "Of course, you sounded like you were about to commit suicide. If I knew you were just in your feelings, then I would've stopped at McDonald's first." He sighed, taking a seat next to me.

"So much for a caring friend." I rolled my eyes. "I was going to offer you one of my vanilla fudge sundaes, but I change my mind."

His eyes lit up when he caught a glimpse of it, "Fine, I'm sorry. Ok?" We both released half-suppressed laughter, and I handed it to him. "But for real, are you going to tell me what's wrong?"

The temporary distraction wore off, and the worries that I needed comfort from-once again flooded. He stared into my eyes, but I retained my gaze upon the pond. "I don't know where to start." I truthfully let out.

He held my hand, "How about you start from the beginning?" He suggested. I exhaled my overly-held breath and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. "I'm pregnant."

He didn't say anything, but I could feel his stunned gaze penetrate the corner of my eyes. I knew how he felt, and I couldn't blame him for being speechless. "Ho-what?...but, I thought the doctors said..."

"That my odds were slim, and if I did manage, then I would have a higher chance of miscarriage before labor." The tears uncontrollably commenced. "I'm terrified to tell him. I know he will put all of his hope into this, and what if-what if-"

He wraps his hands around my body-hauling me into a tight, emotional hug. "There are no what if's. If you're not ready to tell him, then don't. Just know that I will always be here for you." I didn't reply; instead, I just relaxed deeper into his embrace.

"I wish I could go somewhere to get distracted from this self-pity, even if it's just for a while." It wasn't my intent to say it out loud. I just mumbled the random thought that came to mind. Regardless, he instantly pulled away with that spark in his eyes that always led us into danger. "I know a place." He stood from the bench with my hands attached to his. "Let's go!"

"Where?!" I asked as he yanked me onto my feet. "It's a surprise."

"Can you at least tell me if it's illegal?" I asked as he forced me across the grass and into the parking lot. "I'm not sure."

"What do you mean you're not sure?" Despite being uncertain, I still found myself fastening into the passenger's seat. He pressed the button next to the steering wheel and sped off onto the open road. "Trust me, now that I know you're preggy. I wouldn't dare; to purposely do anything that would put you in danger."

"Don't call me preggy again." He didn't respond; instead, he just chuckled. "I'm serious!"

The car slowed to a stop when the light turned red. "Fine, I won't," He said sarcastically. "I mean it."

It wasn't until a couple of minutes that I realized; the streets in which he was veering on were familiar. "It looks so familiar..."

"It should. Don't tell me you forgot about our high school days." I quickly glanced at him after his words triggered memories from about six years ago. "We used to walk these streets to school from the day we began high school. Our parents thought we were too big for them to give us free rides," I recalled. "We used to have so much fun walking."

"And then you ditched me for the rich bad boy. Talk about cliché."

"No, I didn't! He offered you multiple rides, but you never accepted them because you so-called didn't want to be a third wheel." I reminded him, and he smiled nervously. "Don't tell me..." His car was moving in the direction of our former high school.

"You wanted a distraction, right? So what better than to spend a few hours reliving your memories," He observed the sidewalks. "It wasn't all good. There were bad times too."

"But there was more good than bad, and that's all that matters." He pulled into the empty parking lot. "There is a class reunion next month, and they said we could start decorating from now. So the entrance is open."

"A reunion?! And you're just telling me?" He parked into one of the many vacant spots. "I didn't find out until this morning. Even I was shocked." He opened his side of the door, "I haven't seen them in a long time; I wonder what they look like."

"Probably older." I closed the car door and slowly strolled on the path that leads to the main entrance. "I would've never thought." He mocked as he locked the car using the remote, and easily managed to catch up to me.

"It looks so different from the last time I was here." He was also observing the fields of grass, along with the new designs of the building. "Yea, they did a number on this place after we left." Back then, the whole structure was old and practically falling apart.

I opened the door for him, but when I entered, I quickly became clouded with flashbacks. Most of the flashbacks included Mason at my locker when we talked, cried, and kissed. Throughout the years of high school, he and Ben were the ones that stayed with me no matter what. There were lots of faults between them during the way. And gradually, they drifted from each other and never absolved their feud, regardless of my constant efforts.

"Bathroom!" He shouted, and his footsteps echoed throughout the halls. "Slow down!" I catch up to him when he finally stopped in front of the glossy black door of the male's restroom.

"I have something to show you." He told me in one of his joyful tones-which did not mean well. Yet still, I came in with him, and he led me to the last stall. "It was the second month after summer ended. We were bored with school and decided to do random dares that we would give each other." He had a warm smile on his face as he gazed at the badly painted wall.

"It seemed like it was just yesterday. I recall daring you to run around the school half-naked." It was like I was reliving every second of that day over again. "Weirdly enough, that was the funniest day of that year."

"I was mad at you for an entire week, and so I gave you a dare that was much, much worse than that. Or so I thought at the time."

"Kiss the crush." We both said at the same time, and I continued. "I did your homework for the entire week after he asked me out."

"You mean, stole my best friend from me. We had plans that same night, and you ditched me; that's the reason why you did my homework." I scratched the back of my neck. "I invited you the second time. But no matter how much I begged you to tag along, you still said no."

"Up to this day, I still don't know why you asked me." He turned at me with curiosity. "Well... I thought he wanted to have sex with me that night, ok?"

"So, you were using me; again." He made it sound more like a statement. "You were my best friend. It was your job to protect me. So technically, I wasn't using you." He laughed and pointed at some writings at the far corner, almost behind the toilet. "This was when-"

"I also dared you to kiss your crush, but instead of kissing him, you accidentally kissed that poor boy." I could still vividly remember that boy's expression when Ben stole his first kiss. "I actually thought that he was going to cry."

"That was my first kiss too." He revealed. "Wait! For real?!"

"Yes, why would I lie? He confirmed, "You never told me. I told you all about mines."

"I guess you did." He shallowly replied. I could tell he had something on his mind as he gazed firmly towards the same writing. "Are you ok?"

"Sorry, I got lost in my thoughts for a second." He said, retreating to the door. "I'm getting bored; let's go relive memories somewhere else."

We explored around the halls and classroom-stopping often to chat about our former experiences, as well as things that he never told me before. I thought we told each other everything, yet he wasn't telling me much about his experiences-only things that we both endured. I couldn't stop myself from adding it to the pile of my worries.