Four Years Later

Chapter 3

The next day, I scarfed down my breakfast in record time and ran to school faster than I ever had before.

I still couldn't believe that we were moving. I could finally get away, finally start all over. I'd never felt more relieved in my entire life.

In just one little week, I'd be away from John, Blake, Jay...and Eric.

My chest ached when I thought about leaving Eric behind. We'd never been apart for more than a few days at a time, and New York was awfully far away.

By the time I reached school, I was panting like crazy, but I kept running till I reached our English class.

As usual, Eric was standing outside the class, leaning against the wall.

"Eric!", I yelled, except it came out more like a breathless squeak.

Eric turned around, and his eyes widened when he caught sight of me.

"Kate, what happened?!", he cried, gripping my upper arms and studying my face as I caught my breath.

"Was it one of...those guys?", he asked, his eyes hardening.

"No,no!", I said quickly. "I just wanted to tell you that...I'm moving!"

Eric froze at my words. He just stared at me blankly for a few seconds before saying, "You're...moving?"

He sounded so much younger than fourteen right then.

"Yeah.", I replied slowly. "Mom got a job offer in New York, so...we're moving next week."

"Wait, next week?!", Eric said, his jaw dropping a little.

The bell rang after that, and we were shoved into the class by a stampede of the kids in our grade.

"We'll talk about this after school. The usual place.", Eric said, smoothing his face into an emotionless mask.

He was referring to the ice cream parlour we went to every Tuesday.

I just nodded silently before going to my seat.

---

After my last class, I left the school building and made my way to the sidewalk.

Usually, Eric would be waiting for me there, and then we'd go to the ice cream place together.

He wasn't there today, though.

I started walking there on my own, but it just felt...wrong.

After a few minutes, I realized that John and his minions could have easily followed me. They probably wanted revenge because of what had happened yesterday.

My heart stopped beating for a second when I realized that.

I immediately started running, and I didn't stop until I reached the ice cream parlour.

Gasping for breath, I pushed the door open and looked around. I spotted Eric sitting at our usual table. He was staring at the floor and running his fingers through his hair, which was something I knew he only did when he was really upset.

I walked up to the table, and Eric's head snapped up.

"Oh,um...hey.", he said, blinking rapidly.

"Hey.", I replied before sitting down.

"Were you running? What happened?", he asked suddenly, probably noticing that I was out of breath and my hair was messier than usual.

"Nothing.", I said quickly.

Eric frowned. "Kate, tell me what happened."

"Nothing, really. It's just...I was scared that John or Blake or someone might try to follow me.", I mumbled.

Eric paled at my words. He looked horrified.

"I'm so sorry, Kate! I should have waited for you today, but I was upset. And I'm sorry I was acting weird at school, it's just-"

"It's okay, Eric.", I interrupted.

Eric just stared at me for a moment before nodding.

"Let's order our ice cream", I said.

---

A little while later, we paid for our ice cream.

We had both eaten in silence, and it wasn't a comfortable silence like it usually was.

We left the ice cream parlour and started walking home.

After about five minutes of walking in silence, Eric stopped.

I stopped too, shooting him a questioning look.

"Kate...", he said pleadingly.

"What?", I asked, confused.

"Don't move away.", Eric blurted out.

I just opened my mouth and then closed it. I wasn't sure what to say.

"Eric, I have to. It's not like I could live here without my mom. I don't have any other relatives here. Plus, I'll finally get away from the bullies!", I said after a moment, more to convince myself than Eric.

"I know, but...we've been best friends for so long. You can't just leave!", Eric said helplessly.

I stayed silent, holding back tears and biting my lip.

Eric probably saw that I was about to cry, so he quickly wrapped his arms around me, and I did the same.

We stayed like that for a little while, and then Eric let go.

"We'll do something really fun this week.", he said in a fake cheerful voice. "We'll go to that new mall together. It'll be fun."

I nodded, not sure if I'd be able to speak.

Eric grabbed my hand, and then we walked to my house.

________

A/N: hey guys! :) yayy I have over 100 views on this story overall.

I'm having fun with it, so I hope you're having fun reading it. It's actually based on a little daydream that I had a while ago B) Btw, I changed the cover of this story. It's kinda crappy, but I made it on my phone, so... :P

I'll upload the next chapter within this week! (hopefully)