nothing less ➸ demar derozan

eighteen

Isabella

I frowned once Rozan's cousin came back trotting to me, because I forgot her name. Her name just ran past my mind.

"Hey," I smile as she pulls herself up to get on the couch.

"DeMar went to his room," she says.

I furrow my eyebrows, "What?"

"DeMar," she points to the kitchen. "He went to his room."

"Why?" She shrugs and I stare at her confused.

"He looked sad," she says.

I nod, "Do you know where his room is?"

She nods, "I can take you there." She hops off the couch and I follow her. She leads me down the hall that is near the kitchen. I glance inside the kitchen and notice it's empty. That's odd.

"It's right here," she whispers and points at the door.

"Thank you," I say and watch her skip away. I knock on the door and wait for him to answer. He opens the door and I see that his eyes are red and blotchy. Tears are stained on his cheek and his hair is in clumps as if he was pulling it.

"DeMar?" I push the door open and quickly close it behind me. He stares at me and doesn't move. "What's wrong? What happened?"

He shakes his head and more tears begin to fall. I wrap my arms around me and he is slow to wrap his. When he does, he hugs me firmly. "Something happened." His voice is muffled in my neck, and I can feel the heat from his voice.

"What happened?"

"Davian."

"What about Davian?" I ask. I frown when I realize that I forgot to tell Davian 'goodbye.' He left the house so quickly that I didn't even notice.

He lets out a louder sob. He releases me and sits down at his desk. He stares at a paper and pen that is on his desk. He points at it, "Read it."

I furrow my eyebrows and read the first two lines:

My best friend, you left too early. I wish I tried harder to stop you from leaving the house tonight.

I look back at DeMar, "This doesn't explain anything. What happened?" He rests his head on his hand and sighs. "DeMar."

"He got shot," his voice cracks. Instantly, I feel my heart drop. It wasn't that I liked Davian in that way; I saw him as a friend and it broke my heart that he was hurt.

"Is he okay?" I ask. He looks at me and I know what the answer is. I cover my mouth and turn away from him. I sit on the edge of his black covered bed. I feel the tears build up in my eyes, and this gut-wrenching feeling overwhelm my body.

I only knew him for a while but we were able to become good friends quickly. He was my partner. Photography class would never be the same without him. I won't have him next to me at the basketball games anymore. He won't be there to roast the opponents.

I see him rub his eyes and then slowly stands up. He sits down next to me, "Why are you crying?"

"Because he was my friend, too. He sat next to me in class and we were partners for taking pictures at the games."

He nods, "It must've slipped my mind for a second." He pulls me in his arms and rest his head against mine. "Fück, man."

I cry for a few more minutes until I finally stop. I didn't want to cry in front of him for so long. He removes his arm and stares at me.

"I was right," he whispers. I wait for him to continue but he just stares at me.

"What?"

"You like Davian."