I Knew You Once

Chapter 13

My heart is beating rapidly. I close my eyes as I hear the car tires screeching. I open one eye. Then the other. I'm alive. The cars all stopped before they came any closer. I cry. Why? Why am I still alive?  I ran the red light, yet I'm still here. Mason ran the red light, just once, and he's gone.

That's not fair! I hear honking surrounding me. I step on the gas and drive to school. I keep thinking about Mason. I keep thinking about the argument. I keep thinking about- "Julia!" A voice interrupts my thoughts.

I snap out of it and park in front of the school.

"Julia!" A familiar voice calls again.

I turn to the voice and see a girl with red hair, brown eyes, and a blue ruffled shirt. It's Cindy, my best friend. I haven't talked to her since the Bryan chaos happened.

"Hey! Why haven't you called me?"

"Oh...hey...I...I just had a lot going on."

"Hey. No biggy. You're my bff and I will always be there for you. No matter what." She smiles and opens my car door.

I smile back at her and get out of the car. I give her a hug and say, "I'm sorry."

"No!" She yells.

I give a puzzled look.

"No need to apologize. I understand. You need some time. It's cool. We're together now aren't we?"

I smile in relief. "Yeah. Come on best friend." I put my arm over her shoulder and walk into the school.

"Why didn't you come to school yesterday?" She asks.

I look at her in confusion. Doesn't she know? Everyone knows.

"Oh, yeah. Mason."

Yeah, she does know. "Yeah." She reminds me of Mason. I give a sad look.

"Sorry I brought it up. It won't happen again." She smiles and hugs me.

We go into the classroom and take our seats. Mr. Lou passes out our final exams. I finish in 15 minutes, I'm the first one. While waiting, I think of my speech. Wait, I don't have one. I keep thinking and thinking. Nothing comes to mind. I look around the room, at the clock and at Cindy.

Finally, I wonder why Cindy never came by to see how I was doing. She finished her exam and put her head down. I just kept on wondering with the same question.

The bell rings. "Cindy." I call her name.

She turns around with a smile on her face. "I wasn't gonna leave." She gave a little laugh.

I faked a small laugh and we walked out of the classroom. We walk to her locker. "Cindy." I call her name again.

"Yeah?" She answers.

"Um... can I ask you a question?"

"Yeah, anything. What is it?"

"How come you never came by to see me?"

Cindy looks down and rubs her forehead. She sighs. "I knew you would ask me that."

"Well?" I am still waiting for an answer.

"I couldn't."

"Why not?"

"I'm gonna sound like a total jerk if I tell you." She crosses her arms and leans against her locker.

"Come on. You can tell me. I won't get mad." I give her a true smile.

"Promise?" She holds up her pinky.