Never Walk Alone

Chapter 11

Darren stayed that way for a couple of weeks. Every day I would check up on him.
"How is he?" I would ask breathlessly.
"Good," he would mutter back. And then we would sit and do nothing, letting the silence consume our thoughts. He would bite his lip and I would do nothing. I couldn't bring it upon myself to read, so I sat with him while he let himself get lost in thought.

Garrett, being one of Darren's best friends, hung out with us often. But instead of being loud and obnoxious, he too was sitting in the mourning silence everyday. It was almost like a tradition of respect towards him, only it wasn't meant to be like that. We were all actually afraid to say something that set Darren off. So instead, Garrett would talk to me between class periods, but it wasn't light and cheerful. And Darren never spoke at all. It was like someone had stuck a needle in a balloon; after things had just started to get better, our attitudes towards each other deflated.

And it never got better. Within the third week of mourning, it got worse.
"How is he?" I had asked like usual.
But Darren had been quiet when I'd asked him that this time. He looked lost for words. He looked lost period.
But his eyes showed everything. They glistened; his eyelid turned down at the corners. His eyelashes were wet. So I looked down and sat for the rest of the morning period. Darren didn't move an inch.

The next few days, he didn't show up. I figured it would be that way. Darren wouldn't have to say anything for me to know; Mr. Charice was gone. I was sad for him, but the truth was that I never really knew him. I was truly sad for Darren; and worried. Who knew what state he would be in now? He might never be exactly the same because of this. And that was going to throw me off. I wanted Darren in better shape; not for my own selfish reasons, though. I needed Darren back so we could hang out like we had always done. In the state he was in, we might never do that again.

      The next day, Garrett came to talk to me.
"I'm tired of moping around," he said simply but truthfully.
I nodded.
"Do you wanna hang out after school?" he asked hesitantly. I gave him a look of surprise. He scratched the back of his head.
"It's a pretty short walk from the school to my house. And we have a big backyard. I know it's not like what you and Darren have, but I figured it might... You know," he added.
I nodded. That was exactly what I needed right now. And I didn't mean that sarcastically! I was ready to go exploring again; and maybe it would take my mind off things.
"Sure! I have a phone I can call my parents with, and," I added, "thanks," I breathed out. It was going to be a nice break.

Garrett and I walked to his house after permission from my parents. The thought never occurred to me was how much more comfortable I had gotten with Darren and Garrett over the school year. Now talking to them was pretty easy. And Garrett didn't seem interested in me "romantically" anymore, which was way more than fine with me. When we got to his house, I saw his backyard. It had a small but intriguing pond with clear water that he showed me after walking for a few minutes. It was simple, but still just as beautiful. And I was incredibly thankful to be out in the world again. I had brought my phone and earbuds to listen to my music while sitting, thinking that there probably wouldn't be too much talking going on. Yet still, I kept one earbud out so I could listen to my playlist. We sat and watched the ducks, occasionally feeding them bread.
"Whatcha' listening to?" he asked eventually.
I gave him one of the earbuds and he put it in his ear. We sat there for a while; sharing earbuds and watching ducks and frogs in the pond. I was pretty sure my playlist of Twenty One Pilots and Of Monsters And Men was not going to be something he liked, but he still had the earbud in. It was slightly awkward; in order to share earbuds, we had to lean in extremely close together. I wish I had gotten earbuds with a longer cord. After a while, Garrett smiled, at me, but looked out at the sky.
"This is real music," he said tirelessly.
"Does it beat Fetty WAP?" I added sarcastically. He laughed. Yay, I thought, I said something halfway funny. And the rest of the evening continued like so. It was great; besides the fact that I needed longer earbud cords.