my childhood best friend that almost got away!!!

Chapter 1

I got off of work and headed home. Some days are just so tiring and long. I work as a psychologist at Terry's Clinic. It was my high school dream to be able to work as a psychologist. I wanted to help people feel better and receive the guidance and treatment they needed. I wanted them to know more about themselves, to know that how they felt wasn't a crime, that they were valid. I wanted them to feel heard and safe, that was my major motivation for studying psychology. Before I knew it, I had become a psychologist at my dream clinic! Now, most of my days were spent talking to people. As much as I loved it, I'd rather be alone for a change. I always grew up avoiding people, it's really ironic my job involves people.

"Ouch," I said as I felt a sharp pain at my heel. I looked down to see my high heels digging into my heels. "F*ck," I cursed under my breath at the pain.

I was stuck walking home because my car was at the mechanic's. My place wasn't that far away from the clinic, but walking in heels was definitely a no-no.

I looked down at my bleeding heel that burnt with each step. Would I rather deal with this sh*t and get home late, or would I walk barefoot home? I thought to myself. It seemed like walking barefoot was a way better idea.

I took my heels off and held them as I walked barefoot. I could honestly care less about the fact that I was barefoot, by now, I've done it hundreds of times. I've always been bad with heels, or I should say ever since I stopped wearing them. I used to wear them a lot in junior high, I was super good with heels. However, that was years ago. A lot has changed since then. I smiled as I thought of all the faint memories of junior high and my childhood. It truly was something, I thought to myself.

I was so immersed in my thoughts, that I didn't realize I walked into someone. My head slammed right into their chest, snapping me back into reality. I quickly moved back and apologized. As I moved back, I got to look at the guy. He was really tall and oddly familiar. I couldn't quite remember who he reminded me of though.

He looked at me and smiled, "Y/n, is that you?"

Y/n? How'd he know who I was? Is he one of my clients?

His smile disappeared when he saw my confused face. "I suppose you haven't realized who I am."

I smiled awkwardly, "Yeah...not really..."

"It's okay, It's been many years. I didn't think you'd forget your best friend so easily though," he grinned.

BEST FRIEND??!! THIS GUY, IN FRONT OF ME, IS AARON HAMPTON??

My eyes widened in shock, "Don't tell me you're -"

"Aaron Hampton, yes, that's me," he grinned ear to ear.

I ran and gave him a big hug, "Oh my god, it's so nice to see you again," I looked up at him. The guy standing in front of me was Aaron Hampton. The guy I was hugging right now, was Aaron Hampton.

I don't remember much about the past now, but I do have some vague memories. I met Aaron on the first day of school. I just came back from my France vacation after 2 years, it was grade 4. I went to the same school but wasn't put in the same class. I was put with people I didn't know, which was hard. A few people stood out to me though, one of them being Aaron. There was also my best friend Cristina, but Aaron stood out much more. I walked into the classroom feeling scared. Cristina reached out to me first and became friends with me. I remember this one guy, I thought he was super cute. In gym class, I got to know his name. We were supposed to stand across someone and pass the basketball. I stood across two guys, Aaron and Nathaniel. I didn't know what his name would be, so when the teacher asked me who I wanted to be with, I said Nathaniel. Aaron was a foreign name to me, I never heard it before. However, that was the day I fell in love at first sight. Throughout the year, we ended up becoming really close friends. It started because Aaron used to bully me as a joke. However, through all that, he was the only person who understood me. In grade 5, I got put back in my old class, so I wasn't with Aaron anymore. In grade 6, he moved away, and I didn't see him again. Until junior high, I remember the shock I had after seeing him in the same class as me in grade 7. He told me he moved provinces, so I never thought I'd see him ever again. However, there he was. In grade 7 though, I never tried talking to him. We talked a few times, but not that much. It wasn't until grade 8 that things were back to normal. We were stuck sitting beside each other coincidentally, but I'm grateful for that opportunity. We started talking again, we were way close this time. He had a girlfriend though, and I never knew how I felt about him. Things were well, super well until we developed this weird friendship, a flirty friendship. That's where everything went downhill. I got so used to that friendship that I finally realized, I liked him. It wasn't good, we had been super close friends since childhood and he had a girlfriend. Yet he was so sweet to me and so perfect, I didn't want to ruin what we had. So I bottled up those feelings and pushed them away, I never confronted them once. That was until he told me my best friend confessed to him. They didn't last for long, but they were both my best friends, so I had to be happy for them and support them. That summer, I went back to France, so I came to school late. It was October of grade 9 when he suddenly told me that he missed me, and wanted me to come to school already. We didn't talk the whole summer and only started talking on my birthday. He would tell me about how we were sitting together again, that I should come back soon. I used to be so happy about how he missed me. Eventually, when I went back to school, we hung out. My two best friends at that time were in France, so the only friend I had was him. He kept me company though, I would never be lonely with him. He told me that he knew it was hard for me to be at school without my best friends, and that he would be with me. I had never been so thankful in my life, for being able to find someone as perfect as him. That was until I realized, he'd changed. As the year went on, Aaron kept getting worse and worse. I used to be able to tell him everything, he used to be my reason to keep going, but suddenly, I could tell him nothing. He wasn't the same sweet guy I had been in love with, he was a guy that talked to several girls at the same time because his ex annoyed him. He stopped caring about me in general but regarded me as his best friend. My feelings just grew and grew for him. I remember always texting and hanging out with him, trying to convince myself that he was still the same guy deep down, but he wasn't. He'd changed for the worse. Then once we had graduated and went to high school, we completely lost touch. We'd text like once a year and call it a day. I would always text him on his birthday, yet he never texted me on mine. I remember this once I went to visit my dad in Ontario for the summer and we were on the same flight back home. I had never expected him to end up in Ontario now as well.

It still didn't click to me that this guy was Aaron, he had hurt me so much, yet loved me so deeply. He made me feel so useful but so used at the same time. It took me a while to get over him, I mean, I liked him for 7 years, but of course, it was hard. I found better people though, in my memories, I chose to forget the bad about Aaron. He was my first love after all.