"Best friends forever" - It's been a long road for the two teens but their friendship has only grown stronger through the years. However, when other hidden feelings come to surface will they be able to save their friendship or will they have to face...
It was one of those weeks where everything seemed to be falling apart.
Candi-Rose had found a barely noticeable zit on her forehead and was now going through an intensive skincare routine each morning, which in turn led to the usual bathroom queues getting longer and longer. Mike had managed to shrink my tracksuit top whilst doing the laundry and didn't seem the least bit apologetic about it. May-Li still hadn't gotten around to shopping for cereal and Finn was hogging the TV with his new video game.
And Ryan had left.
No one had paid much attention to it at first, given how swift and lowkey his exit had been, but over the following weeks we all began to feel his absence and it wasn't a nice feeling. None of us were willing to admit that we missed Ryan. We missed his snarky remarks, his couldn't-be-arsed attitude, and his general unflinching aura.
Yet Chloe seemed to be able to justify it somehow; the sudden visit from their mother had allowed Ryan to put away his demons and focus on what was right for him. He was now working part-time at the constabulary and had applied for a course at college.
In a way, it was rather amusing how I'd gone from hating his guts to actually managing to respect him. He'd stood up to his mum the same way I'd stood up to Kingsley all those years ago.
Except I hadn't been able to offer him my apologies.
During the days leading up to his departure, I'd lashed out at him and found his behaviour to be completely irrational. Of course, now I knew that he'd intentionally tried to make us all hate him in order to leave the DG with a foster mother, but I supposed I was still holding a stupid grudge.
I'd forgotten about all the times he'd tried to help me and instead we all had to face the morning after, reading our individual letters solemnly and absorbing the fact that another one of us had disappeared into the outside world. No party or celebration.
Just silence.
"How come you're not upset?" Floss asked Chloe, as we had lunch the next day.
"It is sad," she commented, "But he was never really welcome here, was he? He'll be a lot happier now."
I couldn't help but feel a twinge of guilt. Ryan had never been one of the easiest people to get along with but we'd never really given him much of a chance. The whole time he was here, the only person he really seemed to talk to was his sister.
No friends, nothing.
But then again, maybe he was busy fighting his own battles. He'd won the war and now it was safe for him to move on. A new life.
Tyler POV
I kept my head down and flung up my hoodie as I walked briskly out from the DG. As far as anyone else was concerned, I was on my way to the radio station to volunteer some of my extra hours, but the reality was different.
The stench of poo hit my nostrils as I walked into the stables near the constabulary. Ryan and I had been texting continuously since he'd left, something which neither of us were prepared to inform the others about. He didn't want Chloe to think he cared less for her phone calls and texts, and I didn't want Jody to think that Ryan was still meddling about in DG affairs from the outside.
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