The Bubblegum Motto ✓

-11-

"Sorry. This is a terrible place to bring someone," I apologized, my fists involuntarily balling.

We shared the world with so many other families paying their respect to the deceased, but I could barely swallow the lump forming at my throat at the words: Riley Moore. Her shiny blonde hair and bright brown eyes flooded back into my memories and my throat constricted.

I placed the bouquet of roses onto the floor next to the headstone, smiling at it, aware that my eyes were already shining with tears.

"I'm sorry," Nixon whispered, his eyes still trained on the headstone, his gaze glued to the name.

"Riley always loved roses. She said that although it was cliché, it'll still be her favorite flower. That was because she believed so crazily in love, and she always wanted her boyfriend at the time, Lincoln," I was aware of my bitter tone when I reached his name, "to send her a bouquet of roses. Lincoln never did. In fact, no one ever sent her roses, so now I am."

I felt my lips pressed together in a thin line, my vision blurred with tears. I sniffled and Nixon's head snapped over to me, but he didn't say anything. His eyes said enough, though. He was concerned about me. He inhaled sharply before exhaling loudly. "What happened?" he asked in the softest tone he could manage.

"Suicide." My voice was barely audible, but there was only the two of us in this area. Despite the wind rushing by, I knew he could hear me. He nodded slightly, his hands clasped together behind his back.

My chest squeezed as I thought of her again.

"Riley was my best friend," I started. "We met in second grade when I almost beat up her brother for stealing from me. I didn't have friends at the time, other than Ian to keep me in check, so I didn't want to be on bitter terms with her. I went to talk to her, and she was surprisingly friendly and accepting, even though her brother held a constant dislike for me.

"It was in seventh grade when Lincoln moved to our school," I chuckled dryly, feeling fresh, hot tears rolling down my skin. They gathered at my chin and I wiped it away with the back of my hand. "He was bullied and an outcast. Only Riley saw something in him, and she had been crushing ever since he tumbled into our life."

I gulped hard, my voice bubbling now and having trouble being audible. From my peripheral, I could see the conflicted expression on Nixon's face as he inched slightly towards me, looking like he was itching to comfort me.

"In freshman year, Riley paired up with Lincoln for a project. Romance sparked and Lincoln ended up asking her out, and they became a couple. I can't count how many times Riley had gushed to me about Lincoln. She thought he was going to be her forever, despite them dating for less than a year.

"Riley had always been like that. She was a hopeless romantic and when she got herself a boyfriend, she thought it was going to last forever. In fact, she was already starting to name her nonexistent kids. She was so lively and happy about it that it broke my heart to think about the possibility of Lincoln breaking hers.

"Lincoln was not a good boyfriend," I clenched my fist at that, feeling my fingernails dig into the skin of my palm. "Well, he was at first, I guess. He awarded her with a lot of gifts, and she felt so loved. He was my friend, too, you know? Because whatever made Riley happy made me happy, and that's how it worked with the two of us. We were practically empathic, and we would joke that we could feel each other's feelings, so if one of us was sad, the other would feel sad.

"Lincoln started growing distant in sophomore year. He would ignore her texts, and it broke her, even though she never showed it. I got suspicious of him. It seemed like he was only wearing Riley on his arm like an accessory and that he didn't love her anymore.