I Promise

Chapter 3

"When I was thirteen, my parents and I were driving to go see a movie. We were seeing a premiere that was late at night, so it was really dark outside. We were almost there when a drunk driver crashed into us and... And..." Carter puts his arm around me as I take a deep, shaky breath.
"Both of them got killed. I wasn't hurt because he crashed into the front of the car, and I was in the back. I crawled out the broken window and sat there until the police came."
"Oh my god" Carter sighs.
"I've met a few nice people in this school so far, nobody has come to you to see if you were okay?" He says as if he's surprised.
"Nobody. That's the thing. Nobody has ever asked if I was okay. That's why I don't try at school. It might not make sense, but what's the point? Everything's wrong in my life, so I just don't really feel like trying anymore."
"Oh" Carter sighs. We sit for a few minutes, deep in thought, until he breaks the silence.
"Well, I'm here now. I can be the first right thing in your life." He gives me a small smile, and I smile back.
"Thank you. So much." I look over at him as he looks at me.

"You want to go walk again?" He asks.

"I'm sorry, I can't." I say, looking at my phone. "I forgot I have to go pick up my little brother from school." I say, disappointed. I would have loved to go on a walk with him.

"I can come with you if you want" He says with a smile.

"Ya sure!" I exclaim, happy I still get to go on a walk with him. " The school isn't that far, it's down the street and around the corner." We walk back through the little forest we were in, and start to head down the street.

"How long have you lived here for?" Carter asks me curiously.

"Since the week after my parents..." I hesitate "died."

"Oh." That was the end of the conversation. We walk in silence for a minute or two, then he asks another question.

"Have you ever told anyone? The whole thing."

"No. Not even my foster Mom. She only knows that they're gone. When I got to the foster home, I kind of locked myself in my room, only leaving to get food. Really I still do that, but I help take care of my younger brothers, so I'm out of my room more often."

"Have you ever seen a therapist or anything?" He questions.

"Yes, but he was shitty. Honestly he just made things worse."

"Do you still see him?"

"I'm never going back there. He is the worst. Therapist. Ever." I look across the road to the school. We're almost there.

"The worst known to human kind?" He smiles.

"Yes!" I smile back. "He always asks the same questions each and every time. I've been seeing him for years now, nothings helping my depression." I stop smiling, and he does too. 

"So now you're not going anymore." He states.

"Yes. But Instead of saying I quit, I'm saying that he said I'm good enough to stop. Don't tell anyone, please."

"I won't. Don't worry." We walk into the school, and I see Max sitting on the floor playing with some friends. 

"Maggie!" Max jumps up and runs over to give me a hug.

"Hey! How was your day?" I ask.

"Great! We got to learn everyone's names, and we got to play all day!" He jumps around in circles. 

"That's great, Max." We walk out of the school and head down the street towards our house.

"So this is your little brother?" Carter asks while Max waves and jumps around the sidewalk. 

"Ya. He's in the same situation as... as me." I mention hesitantly. "He's taking it a lot better than I am because he doesn't understand it that much." I whisper, but Max can't hear me because he's far ahead of us. 

"We have to catch up to him otherwise he'll wander off." I turn from Carter to Max, up ahead. "Max, slow down!" We walk in silence until we get to my house, and Carter breaks the silence.

"I'm right around the corner over there, and then I'm at the end of the street."

"Huh?" 

"My house. I moved in last week." Oh. I must have sounded like a complete idiot.

"I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"

"Ya. See ya." I wave as he walks down the street.

"Bye." I walk into the house, and Max runs to his room. I think Carter could really be the person I need to get better. It's only been a day, but he's been so nice, unlike everyone else. He's made me feel happier in one day than anyone has in the past few years put together. He can look out for me and actually care about me. He could promise me without even thinking about it.

Carters POV

As I walk away from Maggie's house, I realize that I need to stick with her. Even though I've only known her for a day, I just have a feeling. She can keep me happy, and I'll keep her happy. We can be in our own little world, away from all of our problems. Now, I just have to worry about how I'm going to tell her about me. What I've been hiding forever. I'ts going to be hard, but I have to promise myself I can do this. I have to promise her.