Chloe

Apart

A few days had gone by, and Keaton and I hadn't spoken. In school, we didn't make eye contact. It was terrible. I wanted to talk to him. I missed him. Not had he been my boyfriend, but he was my best friend, too.

At the end of the school day, I quickly got my stuff, left school, and started to walk home.

"Hey, you," someone said behind me. I turned around to see Wes.

"Hi," I replied.

"You and Keaton need to make up. This is terrible. You won't talk to anyone anymore, not even me. At home, Keaton just ignores everyone. He's been really beat up over the whole thing. I've only gotten one chance to talk to him all week."

"I know, I really miss him," I said. "He was my best friend too, you know."

"How would I not know that? Oh, I think you might want to hear what Keaton said. He really misses you, too. He said he wants to let you think this through. He's not going to beg you to take him back, he wants to let you make the decision yourself."

That made me feel good for a minute, but then I was upset again. Knowing that Keaton missed me too made me want to talk to him even more.

"I need to think about all of this," I said. We arrived at my house. "Bye, Wes."

"Bye Chloe," he replied, walking back to his house.

When I got inside, I went into my room and shut the door. A few minutes later, there was a knock on the door. "Come in," I said. It was Stephanie. She wasn't mad, however, which was very unlike her.

"You seem really upset. Are you okay?" she asked.

I decided to trust her today. "Honestly, no. My life has been a hell hole for the past few days," I replied.

She sat down in my desk chair. "Talk to me," she said.

I took a deep breath. "Well, on Sunday, I went to a party at some sophmore's house. Kaylee invited me, and I invited Wes, Drew and Keaton. Later on, I went looking for Kaylee, and I saw Keaton kissing another girl. Kaylee and I left after that," I explained. I paused.

"The next day, I went to the Stromberg's to talk to Keaton. He was down at the beach, so I walked down there with Wes. When I got to the beach, I talked to Keaton. He said that the girl I thought he was kissing had grabbed him and started kissing him, and he didn't kiss back. I really wanted to believe him, but somehow I couldn't. So I broke up with him, which was literally one of the biggest mistakes I've ever made. I'm desperate to talk to him again."

Stephanie was silent for a minute. "Chloe, that's terrible," she said, sympathy in her voice. "Do you believe him now?"

"Yes, I do, and I really need to tell him that," I replied.

"You should talk to him. But don't do it at school, do it somewhere nice, like the beach."

"We broke up on the beach though, I feel like that would be weird."

"But if you get back together, you could make it a happy place for the two of you."

"You're right. Thanks, Steph."

She hugged me. "If you ever need anything else, I'm always here for you."

She left my room. I pulled out my phone and called Wes. After one ring he answered.

"Hey Chloe, what's up?"

"I need your help with something."

"What is it?"

"I'm gonna talk to Keaton."