Broken Promises

Chapter 25

I spent almost another hour in that house. Mrs Bailey and Lauren seemed a lot better now. By the time I was getting to leave they were laughing. We reminisced about Blake. But for the first time, we were talking about all the good times instead of the tragedy. We talked about his life instead of his death and it honestly felt great to sit there remembering how he made our lives better. 

I got up and hugged them goodbye, leaving them deep in conversation. Blake was there too. He was sitting there opposite of them watching them with a sweet smile on his face. I stopped in the doorway looking back at them. Blake's eyes met mine and for a moment my heart stopped. I smiled at him and I was gone. 

With my hands holding tight on to the steering wheel, I felt my heart beating away at a fast rate. Now, I just had to do one more thing. I started the car and drove on into the darkness. The road was still glazed with ice as the snowflakes kept falling down building up on top of it. It was a fluffy white carpet. I drove on steadily, not taking my eyes of the beauty of the road. 

Carefully, I took out my phone from my handbag. I kept focusing on the road ahead of me while scrolling through the lengthy contact list. And there it was. The name I was looking for. Lucy. On my screen, her photo came up with her phone number under it. My finger hovered over it. I was taking in deep breaths. What was I even meant to say? Would she answer? 

My mind was racing with questions and I was getting panicky. I glanced at the road ahead and picked up the courage and soon it was ringing. I was so nervous I could hear my heart thumping loudly in my chest. 

"Cassie?" A soft voice answered, leaving me speechless. "Hello?" 

"Hi." my voice broke. It was so weird hearing her voice after such a long time. I breathed thinking of what to say. "I'm so sorry." 

"I missed you so much." She sounded as if she was nearly crying. 

"I missed you too," I smiled, a tear slipping down my cheek. "I'm on my way to yours. Are you home?" I asked in anticipation. 

"Yes! I am," She answered with a mix of excitement and relief in her voice. "It's so good to hear your voice again, Cassie. I thought I lost you." 

I swallowed, " Yeah, I nearly lost me too." I paused. "I'm so sorry, Lucy. For everything."

"It's okay. I understand," Now, I could hear light sobs through the phone. "It'll all be okay now." 

I smiled gazing into the distance, "Yeah," I breathed. "I shouldn't have left. I should've talked to you. I should've let you be there for me." I cried. 

"Cassie, you were hurt. It's understandable what you did. You needed to get through this by yourself. You needed to escape. I know you would never push me away without a reason." 

"I shouldn't have acted that way though. I should've ... I'm so sorry for hurting you." I couldn't think of anything that could make this right. I finally realised that I left my best friend. I hurt her. I frowned remembering the terrible words that left my mouth the day of the funeral. "I never meant any of the words I said." I sobbed, the cold tears dripping down onto my lap. "I know it'll be hard for me to fix this and make it up to you but I will try my best. I love you so much." As soon as the words left my mouth, I realised I haven't been paying attention to the road anymore. I heard the tires screeching as the car slid off the road. I could still hear Lucy's muffled voice through the phone but I couldn't focus on her words. Somewhere on my body, I felt a sharp pain and then I heard a loud noise. It all happened so fast and yet it seemed as if life was in slow-motion. I could hear my heartbeat loud and clear and then nothing. The whiteness of the snow suddenly turned black. Everything went dark and silent.