The Bus Stop

21: Unspoken

A/N: Song is: Nothing Left To Lose, by Kari Kimmel.

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The thing about mistakes is that you never know you've made them until it's too late. I've learnt that the hard was as I've progressed through my life and for as long as I can remember, it's unsettled me. Not for the guilt of the wrong doing, but rather the regret. The questions that haunt you years down the track about things that shouldn't even matter anymore.

I've made an everlasting, abundance of mistakes, too and I thought by now I would have learned from them. I made the mistake of believing that my father could ever be a good authority figure. I made the mistakes of taking my frustrations out on my mother. I've even made the mistake of not paying enough attention to my younger brother. Yet out of all of these things, I regret the mistake of losing Max Elliot the most.

Someone once told me when I was much younger that doing the right thing isn't necessarily for other people, but ourselves. When choosing to take the correct path or be with the right people, you feel so many strong emotions; not satisfaction or innocence, but utter happiness. And I realized that I'm only at my most happy when I'm with Max, for he's simply the right person for me to spend my days laughing with.

  "Alright, Wolves, you're free to go," Coach announced after the entire swim team had finished their last remaining laps. This Sunday morning session wasn't as hectic as the last couple had been and we actually got the opportunity to swim more of the strokes we felt most comfortable with. For me that was freestyle, simply because it was the most practical and offered me with the most speed.

  As I slid out of the pool and headed towards the change rooms, I tried to ignore the fact that Max wasn't around anymore.  With him being on the varsity soccer team, having a life outside of school and kind of hating my guts at the moment, it wasn't that surprising he didn't show up today.  At first his absence from our usual routines like Saturday surf's or casual hangouts didn't really phase me.  Except now it had been two days since I had heard from him, or seen him for that matter, and it was much harder to adjust to.  I guess after having someone around for seven years it takes more than two days to regrow accustomed to.

  After I had showered and changed into sweats and a Pine-Cove swim team jumper, I made my way towards the busses.  Usually Max would drive me but due to recent circumstances and events, that wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. 

  I took a seat on a bench attached to the bus stop and pulled out my phone, for it was better than doing nothing for the remainder of the waiting time.  I wasn't really one to obsess over my phone.  I mean it was practical and amusing but I wasn't glued to the thing.  I was all about the living in the moment and sharing my life with the Internet wasn't something that I found all that interesting or satisfying.

  As I pulled open my emails, I noted I had received one from Washington State College. At first, I froze, my eyes scanning over the address bar a good seven times before I processed what it was.  Taking a hesitant breath, I read the email:

To Clara Anderson,

Congratulations! It is with great honour and pride that we welcome you with a full scholarship to Washington State College. We advise you to read the attached file carefully as it explains any of the restrictions to your admission. The file will also explain the outline of your scholarship.

You need to indicate whether you accept this scholarship by April 15th, 2016. You may contact us by email or over the phone (our contact information is listed in the file attached) and we tremendously hope to see you this upcoming September.