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Chapter 40: Life's Too Short

Chapter 40: Life's Too Short

"Like goodnight, guys! Me and Blubber are like just going to do some like heavy petting on your couch," Stacy confidently informs us.

"We are?!" Blubber asks jubilantly. "Baby, you're the gift that keeps on giving!"

I snort in amusement. "That's Grey's couch," I murmur under my breath. I pick up a sleepy Slobber and head to the door leading to the bridge. I turn my head to see that Lai's still following me. "Really?" I question.

"I'm not tired yet," he complains, keeping up with me. "Besides, do you really want to cross that bridge in the dark by yourself? Need I remind you that your knight in shining armor isn't here."

No reminder needed.

"Lai..." I drawl hesitantly, still contemplating it.

I really should try and sleep.

"Also, you're still out of it, what if you wobble right off of the bridge and straight to your death?" he reasons. "I can't have that on my conscious."

Like he even has one.

"Fine," I motion with my head for him to cross over first, throwing him a bone. "You can continue to annoy me with your company."

"Yes!" he punches the air in victory before leading the way.

I think it's normal in everyone's life to feel closer to certain friends more than others during specific periods of one's life. And I also think it's normal for that to continually change. There have been times where Bell was my closest friend, and then Max, and then Mase, and then Laiken, and then Ben, and then Ry, etc.

At this point in time, Laiken feels like my closest friend again. He's made a real comeback. This is all aside from Jay, obviously – he's my constant, and constants don't change.

The second we enter Aqueela's Cove, Laiken flops down onto the trampoline. He scoots over and pats the spot next to him. "Come and unleash your secrets."

A smile creeps onto my lips. He's endearing, sometimes, and I don't think he even knows it.

I sit down beside him and cross my legs, much to his satisfaction. I place Slobber down onto my lap. He curls into a little ball, continuing to sleep blissfully, undisturbed.

"I didn't know that you love animals so much," Laiken observes.

I think of the pup at the vet and my heart drops a little. I hope he's hanging on so that he can come home soon.

"I always have," I reveal to Lai, running my fingers through Slobber's coat. "My dad, and then my stepmom, never allowed me to have a pet."

"Look, everyone has always known that your dad's a jagweed," thanks, Laik, "but what happened to your mom? You've never told me, not even while we were in New York. Why?"

I lift a shoulder in a half-shrug. "'Cause it makes me sad," I confess, showing him a more vulnerable side to me. "I don't want to dwell on her absence."

I don't think that I'll ever really move past her death.

"Right. Sorry. Mase mentioned that she passed away," he says apologetically.

I nod. "She died in a car accident. My dad was driving. I was young, so I might be remembering wrong, but I'm fairly certain that he was drunk."

Laik winces. "Jeez. That's rough."

"It was even rougher when he abandoned me with my stepmother," I add, leaving out the details of her abuse. "I blame her for some of my weirdness in high-school."