Loving Leighton ✔

05

THE DAY WAS MOVING TOO SLOW FOR CADE. Except for an intelligent conversation with his teacher in computer tech class, he felt like he was surrounded by a bunch of airheads. The usual: girls showing off their new clothes, and the boys, well, showing off their new conquest for the week. In their world, they call those conquests girlfriends. To Cade, it was just their weekly thing. It was harsh, but true, nonetheless.

Nothing caught his attention until he saw her walking towards the field. He had just finished his duties as an office assistant, and he had the rest of the period free. He wondered why she was not in class, and obviously, where she was going. He decided to check on her. She looked upset.

He was surprised to see where she went. She was at his haven, his hideaway. He didn't want anyone else knowing about it, but then again, he didn't mind having to share it with her. "Hey." he said softly. She was seated by the grass and a few flowers. She was silent for a moment. "Hey." she said, surprising him. He thought that by now, she would've pushed him away. Maybe she was too tired to.

"What happened?" he asked, after a moment of silence. She looked back at him, and shrugged. "The normal things." she said. There was more to that and he knew it, but if she didn't want to talk about it then he wouldn't push it. "Do you know how my parents died?" she suddenly said. He knew it was a spur of the moment decision for her, but he was grateful for it. It meant that somehow, she trusted him enough. Opening up old wounds wasn't something Leighton, nor anyone, would do out of the blue.

So he nodded. "They left me when I was asleep, but I didn't know where they were going." she started, followed by her a sharp intake of breath. "I still don't know where they were supposed to go, but they crashed on the highway. They weren't drunk, but mom looked like she had just been crying. Her eyes were open when they crashed." she said. He did not feel the horror of how gruesome it must have been, but he felt how sad it truly was for her. She lost her only family. "And then when I was starting to cope, my best friend committed suicide." she added.

"She killed herself. Can you believe that?" she laughed bitterly. "I was the one who should have done that, not her. I was the one who lost everything. She had her family, and she had me." she said. To anyone else, her eyes looked blank, but he knew they weren't. All it portrayed was pure sadness, and he didn't know how to replace the remorse with something happy.

She was now staring into space, and he thought that she must've been distracted by then, but he knew she wasn't when a tear fell down. Her face remained impassive, but the second tear had fallen. He came a little closer, sighed, and gently wiped the tears off of her cheeks.

Sitting in front of her, he looked into her eyes. He could not believe what he was about to say, but he would say it anyways. Just for the sake of a smile from her. He just didn't want her to feel as lonely as she had been. He needed for her to know that he was Cade. He's the same Cade from sixth grade. He was her Cade.

"Things..." he started, and she looked straight into his eyes, not moving an inch otherwise. "I wouldn't say that they'd be okay really soon, because even I'm not sure about it. I'm not sure if they'd be better by tomorrow, next week, or whenever, but they will."

Cade paused and took a deep breath. He knew it wouldn't be right to drop a bomb on her at this state, but he figured that it wouldn't hurt to drop a few hints. "Good things happen, Leigh, and maybe your good things will be people." He was scared for her reaction. What if she found it pathetic?

But then and there, Leighton Scott showed a hint of a small smile to Cade Morris. She looked back down, as if contemplating on what to say. Cade, despite the grin of relief playing his lips, made sure to mention one more thing before he forgets. "And Leigh?" he called out softly, taking her hand. She looked back at him with a questioning look, like she was confused. She must have thought his speech was over.

"I know I said that your good things could be people, but I never said that they were other people. You could always be your own person." he said, reassuring her. And then she squeezed his hand, and dropped it to get back to her class.