That's Life, Bud

filthy little liar

I was shaken awake by an excited looking Jasper.

"It's 8:30! Get up and get ready!" he told me and walked into the kitchen to pour himself some coffee. I groaned at how early it was.

I got ready, wearing a dark red beanie, black jeans, my winter boots, my winter jacket over a black hoodie, and a Green Day shirt. My makeup consisted of black eyeliner and mascara, both being waterproof. When I was ready, I grabbed my fully charged phone and charger (and also earbuds) off of the coffee table in the tv room and met Jasper in the kitchen. He had a bagel waiting for me, along with a cup of hot chocolate. I smiled at him.

"Thanks," I said and took a sip of the warm beverage.

"No problem," he replied and drank his coffee. Then we heard a knock on the door. I set down my cup.

"I got it," I said and trotted over to the door, swinging it open. There stood Jet, Emma, Kade, and Sam. When they saw me they all immediately engulfed me in a giant group hug in the doorway, with the door still wipe open. I hugged them back.

"I love you guys," I choked out. Everyone was crying a little; sniffles filled the sad, cold winter air. We were broken up by someone other than us clearing their throat from outside the doorway. We pulled away from each other and looked at who was there. It was Michael. Sam glared at him.

"What do you think you're doing here?" he asked bitterly. Michael looked at his shoes. He was holding a grocery bag.

"Can I talk to Carter?" he asked quietly. Jet laughed bitterly. I sighed.

"5 minutes," I told Michael. Then I turned everyone else. "Wait inside, please?"

Sam glared one last time at Michael, but then looked at me and nodded. He gave me a quick kiss and then led everyone into the house, shutting the door behind him. I walked over to Michael.

"Yeah?" I asked. He handed me the bag. I opened it to see that there were Green Day shirts, bracelets, posters, CDs, and an envelope.

"The tickets are in the envelope. I don't really listen to Green Day, so you can have all ten of them," he told me quietly. Then he started rambling. "Carter, I broke up with Kayla. She didn't mean anything to me. We can make the distance thing work. I'm so sorry, Carter."

"I'm not," I told him, looking him dead in the eye. He looked surprised and hurt. "Thanks for the Green Day stuff, but I think you should go." Michael opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it quickly. He just nodded.

"Bye, Carter," he said.

"Bye, Michael," I replied. Michael hesitantly walked off, dragging his feet.

!!Viva la Time Skip¡¡

From the time I came back inside to the time I has to leave, we did the same thing that we did when Gavin left: talked, laughed, cried, hugged, and shared old stories. Soon we were outside, ready to go. Mom hadn't even bothered getting out of bed and Dad didn't bother coming back early from his business trip.

I stood outside, saying goodbye to everyone. I hugged Kade first, then Jet and Emma. That was hard. I sobbed and so did they. They had helped me through my worst moments, and I am leaving them. I told them to protect Kade, and to stay together. They promised they would.

I hugged Sam last. He was crying just as hard as I was. We hugged and sobbed on each other's shoulder for a while, until Sam pulled away to kiss me. We kissed for a long time, trying to make time stop but failing miserably.

"I love you so much and I will try to talk to you at least every week," Sam said when we broke apart. He wiped the tears off my with his thumbs and looked me in the eyes.

I laughed a little. "Really?" He was an eight grader. That is a pretty big commitment.

"I promise."

I smiled through my tears and kissed him one more time. "I have to go now," I said. He nodded and let go of me.

"Don't forget me."

"Never," I replied.

"I love you."

"I love you, too."