Right There || Dylan O'Brien

chapter fourteen; the goodbye

Clara cursed under her breath, when she went to grab her shoes. Ugh, she knew she would forget something from Hayley's house, now she had to go all the way back. She was glad she could use her mom's car, but really if she had to walk or go with the bus it would've been worse.

"Hey mom, may I have your car keys?" she asked, already grasping them from the table. "I have to go get my wallet. I forgot it at Hayley's."

"Yeah, okay, just make sure you get back before dinner."

She kissed her cheek and then left the house, to walk as quickly as possible to the car. It was her freaking wallet, how could she forget something like that? Apparently it was that easy, but she couldn't quite remember where she would have put it. Did she even take it out of her bag when she was there?

Gladly the traffic lights worked with her, staying on green so she could drive further. But then again, it was Sunday, there weren't a lot of people outside right now, expect the children who were playing. How faster she got there, how quicker she would have her wallet and so less to worry about.

When she parked her car in the driveway and stepped out, she was surprised to see people carrying furniture out of the house to a huge truck. The people, including her parents, all sent her a polite smile. She smiled back as she walked past them to search for her friend.

Hayley was in her room, checking if she had taken everything with her and didn't forgot anything. She wasn't as surprised to see Clara, because she obviously was the one to steal the wallet out of her bag and put it somewhere she wouldn't see. She assumed she would realize eventually and come find it. What else was she supposed to do, just tell her that she was moving when she was this happy how everything was going and ruin their day? It was their freaking last day together.

"You're not moving, aren't you?" tears filled her light blue eyes, making her see blurry. It was the first thing she could think of when she saw her friend shrugging her shoulders, a guilty expression on her face. "You can't be moving. You're the first-... You're my best friend. You could live with me, you don't have to move, wherever you're going."

She blinked, of course blinking would be the worst to do right now. Tears rolled down her cheeks, to her chin before falling down as sobs left her mouth. "You can't leave."

Seeing Clara like this also made her cry, she wanted her to be happy. Not upset, that was the last thing she wanted. But yeah, what could she say? She also didn't want to leave her.

"Oh Clara, I wished I could've told you earlier but you were so happy-..."

"We could've done something about it, we could've looked for an apartment to live in," she cut her off, shaking her head and throwing her hands in the air. "So yes, exactly. You could've told me earlier, you're my first best friend ever. All those friends before you left, now you also leave. I can't handle that, I'm so done with all of this."

"Nini, please. I'm sorry."

"Where are you going?" she wiped away her tears with her sleeve, ignoring what she said. She didn't want to hear it, because it wasn't her idea to leave. Right? "Don't tell you're moving to Europe or something. Or freaking Vancouver."

"Colorado. My dad got the perfect job there or something. But this all doesn't mean I can't move back when I'm done with school. I'll just have to find an apartment. We could live together."

"Great, freaking great," she wanted to scream, yell at her, kick and punch things but she couldn't. She was absolutely speechless. Her best friend was going to move away 1000 miles from her, then they would never see each other again. She knew she had always wanted to move to New York, to have an own restaurant. "What the hell are going to do about school?"

"My mom talked to the school and apparently they can get me homeschooled, so I can make sure I graduate this year. I'm maybe not going to be there for graduation, but we can Skype, email-..."

"It's not going to be the same, Ley," Clara shook her head, wishing this was all a nightmare. "Eventually you'll build up your own life, you'll meet the perfect guy and have kids. You'll have a super nice job in New York. You'll forget me, just don't forget the time we had."

"Remember the first time we met?" tears streamed down her face, voice cracking at the last words. Although it broke her heart,  it was time that Clara had to be the strongest and took her into her arms.

"I remember everything, how you were so excited about learning," she told her, stroking her hear to calm her down. "I remember how you got a boyfriend who you had been crushing on for months. But then there was an another guy who I thought was absolutely perfect. You had to choose, eventually you chose no one. You broke up with a guy, we went to get ice cream." She paused, smiling, "Promise me you'll get ice cream when you're there. I want you to be happy."

"But I want you to be happy too," she lifted her head, looking at her with her red, teary eyes. "And I also want you to talk to people more, don't push people away and don't you dare lock yourself up in your room when you're upset. Talk, talk and freaking cry and be angry at everything if you have to."

A small smile grew on her face as she nodded her head, "I promise."

 ----

She closed the front door after her and let herself cry while sliding down to sit on the floor. How could someone so special to her leave her just like this? They had always wanted to move in together, decorate everything as beautiful as they could. They could've had their own little party in their home, do whatever they wanted. But now they never would get the chance.

Her mother was standing worriedly in the door frame, asking her what was wrong but she didn't, she couldn't even answer. She just shook her head as her mother sat down next to her, pulling her into her arms. If she didn't have her mom she would be nowhere.

"Ssh, calm your breathing," she shushed against her hair, caressing her head softly. "You're starting to hyperventilate. Ssh. Relax."

After a few seconds she forced herself to stop crying, although she was still so upset. First she didn't talk, shaking her head again when her mom asked her what was wrong for the second time. But then she remembered what Hayley said. She had to talk, she would've wanted it.

"Hayley is moving to Colorado. After college I'm never going to see her again."