Part 58

Josh's POV

The next day at school, I noticed that Justen wasn't there. But, to my luck, I didn't notice until the end of the day.

"It's just like my dream," I whispered under my breath.

"What are you talking about?" Nathan asked.

"I have to go," I said as the bell rang signifying that school had ended.

When I got into my truck, my phone started ringing.

"Hello?" I asked, answering the phone.

"Can you pick Michael up from school? I'm not feeling very well and can't leave the house right now," my mom said.

"Yeah, I can pick him up," I said.

"Thank you so much," my mom said before she hung up.

I hung up the phone on my end and drove to Michael's elementary school. Without a word, Michael got into the truck and I drove him home.

"Hey," I said as Michael got out of the truck. "Can you let mom know that I'm going to be home later?"

"Are you going to hang out with Justen?" Michael asked.

"Yeah," I said.

"Okay," Michael said. "I'll see you later."

"See you later, little buddy," I said before Michael shut the door and walked inside the house.

I reversed out of the driveway and sped to my and Justen's special spot, praying that he was still alive.

When I got to the special spot, I saw Justen's bike.

"Please be alive, please, please, please," I silently begged.

I turned off my truck and got out. As soon as both of my feet were on the ground, I ran to the tree. That's when I saw it. Justen's backpack.

I shook my head.

"No," I said, not recognizing my own voice.

I looked up into the tree and saw Justen hanging off of one of the branches.

"No," I cried, feeling as if my heart had been torn from my chest. "Justen, no!"

By that time, I couldn't see anymore because my own tears had blinded me. I fell onto my knees and cried into my hands. The love of my life was gone. I spotted Justen's backpack and grabbed it. I held the bag to my chest and barely noticed when a plain white envelope slipped out.

I grabbed it and saw Justen's handwriting on the front. I opened the envelope and pulled out a letter and a keychain. I looked at the keychain and read the cursive letters that were embedded in it:

"𝓘𝓼 𝓲𝓽 𝓽𝓸𝓸 𝓼𝓸𝓸𝓷 𝓽𝓸 𝓼𝓪𝔂 𝓘 𝓵𝓸𝓿𝓮 𝔂𝓸𝓾?"

- Justen

I held the keychain close to my heart and grabbed the letter. I knew I wasn't ready, but I had to read it. If I didn't, it would eat me from the inside out. I opened the letter and saw Justen's handwriting once again. It read:

𝘑𝘰𝘴𝘩,

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯𝘴 𝘐 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘺𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧. 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘣𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘢 𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘧𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘱𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘱𝘶𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦. 𝘚𝘰, 𝘐 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘨𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦. 𝘐 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘰 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐'𝘮 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘉𝘶𝘵, 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘥𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦.

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘦𝘤𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘐 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯.

𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘮𝘦 𝘶𝘱 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰𝘭𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯. 𝘈𝘴 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰, 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥. 𝘠𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘢 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘨𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘦𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘧 𝘸𝘦𝘦𝘬𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘐 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘻𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 𝘩𝘪𝘮 𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘐 𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘥. 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘺𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘢𝘷𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘧 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘥𝘢𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘮𝘦 𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘶𝘵. 𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘴𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘐 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶. 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘴𝘢𝘧𝘦𝘵𝘺, 𝘐 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘯.

𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘐 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵. 𝘐 𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘫𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐'𝘮 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘥, 𝘥𝘰𝘦𝘴𝘯'𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘬𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳. 𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳, 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘮𝘰𝘮, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘴.

𝘊𝘢𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘔𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘦𝘭 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 𝘣𝘳𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦? 𝘈𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘏𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘕𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯. 𝘔𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘬 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳'𝘴 𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧𝘧 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘪𝘥𝘥𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘞𝘢𝘵𝘤𝘩 𝘉𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘨𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘊𝘢𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘰. 𝘐 𝘥𝘰𝘯'𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘥𝘰𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺'𝘳𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩 𝘴𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘰𝘭.

𝘖𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘢𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘐 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘐 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘢𝘺 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘣𝘺𝘦.

- 𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘯

By the time I had completed the letter, I was bawling my eyes out. I couldn't hold them in anymore so I just sat on the ground and cried. When I was done, I grabbed my phone and called the police to let them know what Justen had done. They said they'd be there shortly and I gathered the letter and keychain before grabbing Justen's backpack and walked to my truck.

When I walked passed Justen's bike, I grabbed that too. I placed Justen's bike in the bed of my truck and placed his bag, the letter, and the keychain inside of my truck. That's when I saw red and blue lights flashing out of the corner of my eye.

I flagged them down and the police stopped by my truck. They got out and everything was a blur. The police asked me to lead them to where Justen was and without a thought, I did so. When they saw Justen, they called an ambulance. However, both the police officers and I knew that there was nothing that could be done. The police asked me tons of questions and I answered every single one of them as the ambulance came and the paramedics jumped out to go get Justen.

Everything continued to be a blur until I saw Justen's dad walk over to me.

"What happened to him?" Justen's dad demanded.

"I... I don't know," I stuttered.

"Why don't you know?" Justen's dad asked.

"Because he wouldn't tell me, okay?!" I said before running to my truck, starting it up and driving away.

I felt so lost without Justen. Like, I was unstable and needed help. But I didn't help, I need Justen. Oh goodness, I need Justen. I need to see his smile, I need to hear his voice, I need him. Tears started forming in my eyes again and I knew it wasn't safe to drive how I was, so I pulled over. I leaned my head on the top of the steering wheel and cried.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

𝘼𝙣𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙨 𝙎𝙪𝙣𝙨𝙚𝙩 𝙞𝙣 𝙋𝙖𝙧𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙨𝙚! 𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙚𝙣𝙟𝙤𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙞𝙩 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙪𝙨𝙚 𝙄 𝙨𝙪𝙧𝙚 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙬𝙧𝙞𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙞𝙩. 𝘼𝙣𝙮𝙬𝙖𝙮, 𝙥𝙡𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙚 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙗𝙚 𝙩𝙤𝙤 𝙢𝙖𝙙 𝙖𝙩 𝙢𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙮 𝙄 𝙚𝙣𝙙𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙨 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮. 𝙏𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙠 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙙𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙄 𝙡𝙤𝙫𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪 𝙖𝙡𝙡 𝙨𝙤 𝙢𝙪𝙘𝙝! ❤