The Way We Say Goodbye

Chapter 2

I was lying on my bed, staring at the ceiling. I kept replaying what had happened with Osbourne over and over in my head. I couldn't help but wonder why he felt the need to apologize for his friends. He hadn't done anything and hadn't laughed, so why did he apologize? I had been thinking about this since it had happened.

I was pulled out of my thoughts by a pillow landing on my face and someone saying, "Earth to Delta."

I sat up, crossing my legs, and hugging the pillow to my chest. I looked across my room at Joshua and tucked a clump of hair behind my ear. "What's up?"

He raised an eyebrow at me before saying, "I've been talking to you for the past five minutes, but you've been spacing out. Staring at the ceiling."

"Sorry," I mumbled as I fiddled with the pillow.

"Okay," he huffed, standing up and walking over to me. He collapsed, lying on the bed beside me. "What's occupying that pretty little head of yours."

I looked over his face, just taking in his features for a moment. I looked away taking a breath before spilling my thoughts to him. "Okay, so, you know those guys who threw that shitty note at you in English?"

He sighed and sat up. "That's what you're thinking about. Del, you have to let it go."

I cut him off before he could start lecturing me. "No, it's not what you think." I sighed and stood up, pacing for a second before sitting back down. "They had a friend with them. He was really quiet, didn't find what they did funny. Well, after you went off to class, he came up to me and apologized for his friends. He seemed really earnest about it too. I just keep thinking about it."

Joshua looked deep in thought as he said, "Oh."

"Oh?"

"Uh...it's...just not what I expected. I thought you were still pissed."

I scoffed. "Well, I would have every right to be."

"So, who was the friend?" He redirected the subject.

"Uh, Osbourne."

"Osbourne?" He asked while standing up. He walked over to my bookshelf.

I looked at him in confusion and asked, "Uh, whatcha doin?"

"Looking for last year's yearbook," he mumbled as he grabbed a thin book off the shelf. "Here it is."

"Why?" I asked, still confused.

"Because I'm curious who he is, and he may have gone to school with us last year."

"Oh," I said, now understanding.

He began flipping through the pages to find the junior class. Once he found the page he was looking for, he stopped and looked at me. "Do you happen to know his last name?"

I shook my head and said, "No."

"Okay, this will take a little longer then. I'll just have to look through all the names."

"Or you could hand me the book, and I could find his picture."

"That works too," he mumbled as he passed me the book.

I flipped through the pages, searching for the dark-haired boy I had met earlier that day. It wasn't long before I found him. I checked the name to ensure I had the right person. The name read, "Osbourne Jackson." I pointed at his picture and turned the book to Joshua. "This is him."

"Osbourne Jackson," he mumbled. "I don't recognize him. I thought maybe he knew me from a different class or something."

"Well, he wanted to apologize to you too, on behalf of his friends."

Joshua looked up at me. "Really?"

I nodded. "But you'd already gone to class."

Joshua looked deep in thought, and he nodded. He tilted his head to the side and said, "It's a little strange that he apologized."

"That's what I keep thinking about. I thought it was weird that he apologized for his friends."

"Maybe he just didn't want to be associated with that kind of behavior? Or maybe we're thinking too much about it."

"Maybe. Maybe we should just forget about it and move on."

"Sounds like a plan," he said as he nudged my arm.