Breaking The Bad Boy (Completed)

Chapter 19: It Wasn't A Date! We Didn't Kiss!

That night, I tossed and turned thinking about my best friend's brother, wondering what his life would have been like if Taylor was still alive. I knew it wasn't too good to dwell upon the 'what if's' but I couldn't help myself when this guy was a shadow of the greatness he could've been.

Tyler Miller could've had everything but instead he was left with an aching hole in his chest where his heart once was. It didn't take a blind person to figure out that Taylor had been his world and when you take the most important person away from someone...well, it breaks them. It shatters them to the core and brings them to their knees, unable to continue on without the existence of their loved one. Usually, most people dwell upon their grief for a couple of months and eventually realise that the clock is still turning and that life is still passing by. Only then do they snap out of their grievous haze and slowly - very gradually - they slip back to the routine of their old life.

I took three months.

Tyler's taken almost two years and he's still going strong.

That wasn't the worse part of his situation; grief was one thing but blaming himself for Taylor's inevitable death was a completely different thing.

He hid it well, I'll give him that. Either that or the rest of us, excluding my mother and Mrs Henderson, were too stupid to realise the obvious.

Knowing exactly how soul destroying it is to feel that way, I felt a painful tug in my chest. I'm not saying this proudly, but for once, Tyler and I were in the exact same boat. The only difference is that, there was nothing he could've done to save Taylor even if he was given a second chance whereas I just didn't try hard enough to save my father.

Now that the second anniversary of Taylor's death was rapidly approaching, I knew that I had to keep a watchful eye on Tyler after the stunt he pulled last year. Shuddering at the havoc and misery he brought down on us all, I pushed the thoughts away to the far corner of my mind and carried on reminiscing over the 'what if's'.

It was obvious that if Taylor hadn't fallen ill, Tyler would've had a soccer scholarship lined up for him, ready to secure if he maintained his GPA 4.0 - which he obviously didn't. I mean, how phenomenal do you have to be at soccer to be handed a college scholarship during your sophomore year. He was more fluid than water on that grass pitch, weaving between his opponents at an inexplicable speed and scoring hat-tricks almost every match.

Tyler was the reason why the school team was the reigning state champion. And then he quit and Riverdale High's team was no longer feared; they were just an average team again. Last year they made it to regionals and then lost out to the neighbouring team in the next town.

Pulling my duvet over my head, I groaned at how chilly it was in my room, as well as the fact that it was almost midnight and I was reminiscing over Tyler. It was really devastating how bright his future could have been. It could've shone blindingly like his old dimpled grin. It was all ready for him to grab, all he had to do was reach out but instead grief made him cower away.

The only thing about him that has remained consistent was his physical appearance. Although it had changed slightly, he was still Tyler Miller, gorgeous on the outside as he used to be on the inside. Any girl who attempted to dub him as unattractive was lying to herself.

I'll admit that prior to Taylor's death his eyes held a lively sparkle that lit up his features like a lightbulb. It was almost comical how animated he was when he used to explain things - he was a tangle of hands and very good at hilariously acting out events which he'd over exaggerate.

Also, his hair had been much shorter, styled into a messy but casual bed-head look that made half the females at Riverdale High swoon. Now it was a floppy mop that bounced with any slight movement, but it still held that gleam and smelt as mouthwatering as ever.