always // chandler riggs

n i n e t e e n

"Dude, have you heard from Chandler? He hasn't been coming to school this past week." Josh asks all of us. I shake my head, and everyone else does too.

"Where do you think he is?" Mingus asks, a concerned look on his face.

"I don't know, but he's missing in on a lot of work. That dumb b¡tch got himself into trouble for not coming." Ally adds, and an involuntary laugh escapes my lips.

"Look guys, you're just getting worked up over nothing. Chandler's probably home sick, why don't you go ask his girlfriend anyways?" I say.

"Already did, she's just as clueless as us. But she seems way more worried than us, like
no joke. When I asked her about it, she literally almost passed out." Josh says, causing all of us to burst out laughing.

"Guys I gotta go, me and Zach are walking home and hanging out. See ya laters!" I say, and begin to walk away.

"Don't forget to use protection!" Josh yells. I flick him off then send him a playful smile. I go to my locker and wait for Zach to arrive.

"Boo!" someone yells, causing me to jump up. I hear cackling behind me and turn around to see a laughing Zach.

"Looser! You scared me." I say while punching his arm.

"Sorry, just wanted to surprise my bae." he says, and presses his lips against mine. I pull away and send him a weird look.

"Did you just call me bae?" I question, trying my best not to laugh.

"Yes I did, and I regret it." he answers, and I crack up laughing. "Are you ready to go?" he asks, offering me his arm.

"Ready as ever." I answer, and wrap my arm around his. We walk to my house while talking about the most random things ever. "No! Underwater hotels are real-" I start, but am cut off by the ringing of my phone. "Excuse me." I say, and take out my phone. The caller ID reads a random number, so I hesitantly answer.

"Hello?" I say into the phone.

"Hi, this is Gina Riggs. I'm Chandler Riggs' mother. This is Abbie right?" the person at the other end of the line says, and my eyes widen.

"Uh yes, this is Abbie." I answer, and hear her let out a sigh of relief.

"Great, I need your help. Well, Chandler does. He's here with us and I don't know what's wrong but-he needs you." she says, catching herself out of breath. "Can you come over?"

"Y-Yes don't worry. I'll be there as soon as I can. See you in a bit." I say, then hang up. "Zach I am so sorry, but Chandler's mom just called. She said Chandler needs my help, do you mind if I go?" I ask, taking a hold of his hand.

He smiles warmly, and gives my hand a tight squeeze. "Don't sweat it, he needs you. Go to him, we can hang out another time." he says.

"Thanks babe, you're the best." I say, then kiss his lips. After saying our goodbyes, I start making my way towards Chandler's house. I knock three times on the door, before Chandler's mom opens it with a worried look on her face.

"I'm glad you're here." she says, while pulling me in for a hug. "Chandler's been...a bit out of the weather these past couple days." she explains. "And since he's very fond of you, I was wondering that maybe you could bring him out of the small funk he's been in."

"Of course Mrs.Riggs, I'll try my best. If you don't mind me asking, what caused Chandler to be in this funk?" I ask politely. She grabs my arm, and takes me over to her couch.

"I don't exactly know what happened. All I know is that he went to go visit a girl, he left really excited and happy. But then came back upset. And that's all I know." she explains, a worried look on her face.

"Don't worry, teenagers are like that. In a day or two he'll be alright, I promise. May I go see Chandler now?"

"Of course." she answers, taking me to his room. She knocks softly on the door, but gets no response. "Chandler, honey, you in there?"
she asks, but all she gets is a groan in return. She looks over at me, then slowly opens the door.

I take in this scene, and it's not a very happy one. His room is a complete mess, and by the looks of it, so is Chandler. He's laying in bed, his hair all messed up, and his face plopped against his pillow. I hate seeing him like this, it actually hurts.

"Chandler, someone's here to see you." his mom says softly. stepping closer to him, while motioning me to join her. I hesitantly walk towards his bed.

"I don't wanna see anyone." he says, his voice deep and raspy. What happened to the happy Chandler I know that loves pudding and hanging out with his friends? This is definitely not him.

"H-Hi Chandler." I say, in a very low tone. His head shoots up, and we interlock eyes. His eyes are red and puffy, was he crying? "Are you okay?" I ask, walking closer to him.

He moves back, almost as if he doesn't want to be close to me. I send him a confused look, whirl he just glares at me. His soft and sad face turns into a mad expression.

"What is she doing here?" he asks through greeted teeth, not breaking the stare.

"I just thought that you should have a friend over. She cares about yo-"

"No she doesn't." he cuts her off. "I want her out of my room."

"But honey-"

"She needs to leave, now." he exclaims, getting angry. I try to reach his hand, but he yanks it away.

"Chandler? What's wrong?" I ask, a sincere look of worry and concern on my face. His expression softens, and I begin getting closer. But once my skin comes in contact with his, his eyes turn cold.

"Just leave! You've done enough damage." he says, and turns his back to me. I open my mouth to say something, but no words seem to come out. I just silently walk out of the room.

"I'm really sorry, I didn't think he'd act that way." his mom apologizes, obviously surprised at her son's actions.

"It's totally fine. He's just in a bad mood, I understand. He just needs time, but I should really get going. Have a good day Mrs.Riggs." I assure, sending her a weak smile.

"Thank you for coming anyways, have a nice day." she says, and I leave the house. My walk back home was long and lonely. What's wrong with Chandler? And how did I cause damage? I haven't done anything to him.

After about half an hour, I finally arrive in the safety of my home. Still pretty confused about what happened, I decide to text Chandler.

To Chandler: why are you so mad at me? what did i do to you?

After waiting for a response for what seems like an eternity, I give up. Since it's pretty late, I start getting ready for bed. Oh great, I have PE tomorrow, with Chandler. After what happened today, I don't think I can face him.

My phone suddenly buzzes and lights up. I unlock it and see I have one new message.

From Chandler: don't text me, delete my number. and just never speak to me again.

Well that was harsh. I guess if that's what he wants, I should do it. But that's just not what I want. I miss being able to talk to him and not caring if i sounded stupid. We would be able to talk about anything, but now we can barely even look at each other.

And the sad thing is, I don't even know why. I miss him, a lot. But I can't tell him because apparently he hates me now. I think about all the possibilities in which why Chandler suddenly hates me.

Wait, why am I the one beating myself up for this? It's obviously Chandler's fault! He fooled me into thinking he liked me, then goes out with another girl just to hurt me.

If there's anyone who should try and fix this, it's him. I grab my phone and directly go to my contacts. I land on Chandler's name, and hesitantly click on it. After scrolling down to the bottom, the large and red DELETE button appears. After thinking about it for a while, I realize it's the best thing to do. For him and for me. I press the delete button, and his number contact vanishes.

________________________
well, I don't even know what I'm doing any more😹😹but oml, next chapter is gonna be...quite surprisinh. so stay tuned xD