BEWITCHED - L. GARMADON

GOODBYE

Three days before Lloyd had to leave, the two were found play-fighting with a couple of wooden swords they had found. It had been Lloyd's idea—another one of their pretend battles where Lloyd was the evil overlord and [Name] was his right-hand warrior. The plan was simple: practice for when they'd take over the world, together. But something was off. Even though he suggested it, Lloyd was barely keeping up. He kept spacing out and reacting way too slow to [Name]'s jabs, yelping every time she poked him with the wooden sword.

He knew he had to tell her soon, but it was hard. Lloyd didn't want her to treat him differently, to be awkward or nicer to him just because he was leaving in two days. He liked her for her, not to change how she was. Lloyd wanted to tell her, so bad, he just didn't know how to confront her.

Normally, Lloyd would be jumping around, trying to win and shouting for a rematch whenever [Name] beat him. But today, he was quiet, nervous even, and it made everything feel... weird. The more he missed her strikes, the more frustrated she became. Why was he acting like this? It wasn't fun when he wasn't really playing.

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The sun was beginning to set, casting a warm orange glow over the monastery steps where Lloyd and [Name] were now sitting. After the awkward sword fight, Lloyd had suggested watching the clouds instead. Even now, the atmosphere between them was thick with unspoken tension. [Name] kept glancing at Lloyd, frowning as she noticed how fidgety he was.

Lloyd stared at his cape, nervously picking at its edges. He knew he had to tell her soon, but he didn't know how. It felt too hard, and every time he tried to think of the words, his stomach got all knotted up. What if she got upset? Or worse—what if she got all sad and weird around him? He didn't want to ruin their last days together.

"Hey, [Name]," Lloyd mumbled hesitantly, glancing at her sideways. "There's uh... there's something I need to tell you."

[Name] looked at him, her brow furrowing slightly as she noticed his unease. "What's wrong?" She asked gently, confusion swirling in her eyes. "You've been acting... weird."

Lloyd took a deep breath. "I'm... going back to Darkley's in three days."

[Name] froze. She stared at him, her face scrunching up as she tried to understand. "Wait. You're... leaving?" Her voice wobbled, and she frowned harder. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I didn't know how to!" Lloyd blurted out, his face turning red. "I didn't want you to be sad or act different around me. I thought... if I didn't say anything, we could just have fun like normal."

"Fun?" [Name] stood up, her small fists clenched at her sides. "You think it's fun when you're acting all weird and not telling me anything?" Her voice grew louder, hurt creeping in as she realized how long he had been keeping this from her. "We're supposed to be best friends, Lloyd! You're—" She faltered slightly, "You're my only friend you—you can't just not tell me you're leaving!"

Lloyd's eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet, panicking. "I didn't mean it like that! I just... I didn't want to mess things up. I didn't want you to be upset!!"

"Well, I'm upset now!" [Name] shouted, her voice cracking as tears started to form in her eyes. "You've been hiding this from me, and I thought you trusted me! Now I feel like you didn't even care!"

Lloyd felt a lump rise in his throat. He didn't want to make her cry. That was the last thing he wanted. "I do care! I just... I didn't know how to tell you without making everything worse!"