Folklore

Going home

James POV
As I rushed out the door I grabbed my skateboard, which was covered in stickers and drawings. I hopped on it and started to go down the street and taking a right.

Today is the day that I get to see Betty and I've never been more excited. Well actually this is sort of how I feel every time I see her. It's the best feeling in the world. Trust me if I could describe it I would but then again love is a difficult thing to describe and I'm failing English class anyway so no one will be getting any type of grand description of how it feels.

But I can tell you that it feels like there's butterflies fluttering around in my stomach, my knees go weak, and I feel slightly light headed. Sort of like a rush adrenaline. I don't ever feel that way unless I'm with her. I feel it from the top of my head to the tips of my toes. It's like the rest of the world is silent.

But like I said, no one's getting any impressive description. Besides I'm not much of a romantic so.

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Knocking on the wooden white door I fix my shirt in an attempt to look a little nicer.

"Hey." She says as she swings the door open to greet me. She's wearing her favorite blue dress with her white cardigan that had matching blue stars on it. She always looks beautiful, I missed her. How did I get this lucky?

"Hey." I respond grinning down at her.

Betty POV
Yellow light washed over the bar that sat on the corner of Water St. Hooking my arm through James' we walked through the wooden, creaky door.

The great thing about the bartenders here was that they didn't ask for any ID. It had become one of me and James' favorite spots. It didn't feel like I had to be "Mrs.popular" here. I didn't have to worry about people whispering about how I was dating someone who wasn't good enough for me. I didn't have to deal with people telling me I could do better than the man I loved. No one cared who we were when we came here. It was nice.
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James stumbled out of the bar onto the cobblestones outside, nearly tripling down the stairs. Giggling, I follow him out into the street. Tipping his head back to stare at the sky, the streetlights washed his face yellow. I really missed him.

The summer had changed him a bit. He now had small freckles that were spread across his curved nose. He was tanner than he had ever been. But his smile, the one that I loved more than anything, was still the same. His dimples and green eyes hadn't changed, even if he had grown his hair out more and put different stickers on his skate board. He was still James. My James.

Stepping forward I looped my arms around his waist to hug him, burying my face into his broad chest which was covered by his favorite hoodie. I loved that hoodie, it always smelled like him. Like cologne and smoke, like home. He tilted his head back down and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, pressing his cheek to the top of my head. I missed this.

"You know we're both too drunk to drive." James says, slightly slurring his words.
"Yeah." I respond
"Wanna wait in the car until we get sober? I mean it could take a while, but I have all night."

Sliding into the drivers seat of my car, I watch James climb into the passenger seat. Once he gets in he looks over at me and smiles. I swear he has the prettiest smile ever, like if the whole world went dark his smile could still light it up. He has prominent dimples and when he smiles it reaches his eyes. His pretty green eyes.

"I love you." I whisper.
"I love you too." He whispers back.

As he leans over to kiss me softly I realize we'll probably be here for a while. And I'm okay with getting a week of grounding for this.

Augustine's POV
"What happened?" My best friend, Lyra, asks me with a concerned look on her face.
"I don't really wanna talk about it." My voice is muffled by the pillows my face is smushed into. I haven't really moved much the past few days. I felt like shit. But at least my bed was comfortable.

"Well deal with it, you haven't moved in five days." Has it really been five days?
"We're going to go to a party."
"God no!" I groan into the pillow. I hate parties and she knows it.
"Come on your going. I already picked you out an outfit."
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It's 11:34 pm and I'm at some random persons party who I don't even know. The only good thing here is Lyra and the alcohol supply they have. That and the outfit Lyra picked out for me, it was a long sleeved tight black dress. It was simple but I felt pretty in it. Plus she did my makeup the way I like it and put a big black bow in my hair. It matched my mood.

I never really got good at makeup because I didn't have a big sister and well my mom was... well let's just say she wasn't always present enough to care about those sort of things.

I had drank a lot. I guess I sort of wanted to drown out the pain and guilt for a little bit. Probably not the best coping mechanism but it was the only idea I had at the time. And right now it seemed pretty good, but I knew I would be feeling it in the morning.

Right now I'm slumped against the cold metal railing of the staircase as I sit on the 5th step of the wooden stairs.
"What are you doing?" I see Lyra's shiny black hair appear in front of me as she towers over me.
"Me? No idea." I slur my words as I speak and shrug my shoulders.
"Okay. Your really drunk, what the fuck is going on with you?" She demands. I knew she would suspect something, I mean I never drank. Obviously.

And all of a sudden it's like I couldn't help but want to tell her everything. I mean she's my best friend after all. So I do. I tell her everything.

I tell her about the boy I met over the summer who I had been a secret to. I tell her all about his pretty smile and his nice green eyes. I tell her how he made me feel special and he actually listened to me. I told her how he had broken my heart when he confirmed that he did, in fact, have a girlfriend. I told her how guilty I felt that I had been fucking around with another girls boyfriend. I told her how stupid I felt for believing he might choose me.

What I didn't tell her about was the little things. Like the ice cream shop, the books we both enjoyed, and the car rides to the mall we took. Those things were just for us, even if he had betrayed me. Besides, those things somehow felt more painful to talk about than the bigger ones. Maybe because they meant more.

Finally it felt like a weight had been lifted off of my chest. For a moment Lyra just stared at me, but then she launched herself at me and threw her arms around my neck. As she hugged me I began to cry.
"He's an asshole and it's not your fault that he's a cheater, okay? You didn't know he had a girlfriend, what he did to you wasn't your fault." Lyra assured me. This is why I loved her. I didn't even have to mention to her that I felt like it was my fault that he did everything he did, she just knew that I would be feeling that way. Because I always felt that way, about everything. The tears began to flow down my face more steadily now.

After a little more time on the stairs I begin to feel better about everything.
"He probably has a small dick anyway." Lyra states with a straight face. Now that's something I can laugh at even though my face is blotchy and covered in snot.
"Let's go home and watch rom coms and eat food." I laugh and cry at the same time as I say it. Emotions are a weird thing. But right now that sounds like the best possible thing we can do.
"Let's go." Lyra says with a smile on her face, happy that she could make me feel better.

30 minutes later and Lyra has passed out while 'pretty in pink' plays on the television.

I may not have James anymore but I still have people who love me no matter what, even if I'm just now realizing it. I have Lyra and Sam and all my other friends. I may not have many but the few that I do have are the best people I could ask to ever be surrounded by. I couldn't ask for anything more.

That doesn't stop me from missing him. But it helps. And I know that one day I'll forget what it feels like to feel this kind of heart break because I'll have found someone who was made exactly for me. I know that one day I'll have forgotten what I feels like to be sixteen and heartbroken. One day I know that I'll forget James Warner ever existed.

And what a lovely day that will be.