I woke up the next day feeling extremely giddy, but I knew exactly why. I slipped on a pair of jeans with my favorite pink blouse. Then, I brushed through my long wavy hair and pulled Charlie's jacket over me. I walked down the stairs and into the kitchen to find only my parents sitting at the kitchen table. I could tell my mom's face was red as she stared at the ground. My dad did not give me any sort of greeting, but he only sat at the table with his arm around my mom. I had a deep feeling in the pit of my stomach that something was wrong.
"Is everything okay?" I asked
"Sit down honey." my dad said very seriously
I took a seat in the brown kitchen chair next to my dad. He took a deep breath as though he were avoiding his telling me something.
"You're grandfather didn't make it through the night."
I felt my stomach drop and I became very dizzy. I could't see straight. Tears filled my eyes and began pouring down my cheeks. "He's gone?"
My mom nodded her head as she started to cry again. I didn't know what to say. Honestly, I didn't feel like saying anything. He was really gone. I found it became hard to breathe and I began shaking a little bit. I stood up from the kitchen table, needing time to myself. I just wanted to scream, but I couldn't. I could barely speak. I didn't know what to do. The rain was pouring down; I understood why. As I walked out to the front porch, I saw Charlie standing there, leaned up against the porch railing. He wasn't crying, but he had a puzzled look on his face. We made eye contact with each other, but I couldn't force a smile. I just ran and hugged him tighter than I ever had. He hugged me back even more.
"You know where he is..." Charlie whispered to me. I nodded my head.
Three Days Later:
I let my curled hair fall back onto my shoulders as I put on a black dress. Feeling no need to put on makeup, I simply asked my dad to drive me to the church. Throughout the mass of people in the church, I somehow found Charlie. We didn't speak to each other; there was not a purpose in small talk at this point. When he reached out his hand, I squeezed it tighter than ever. He let me hold it during the whole service as I leaned my head on his shoulder. I don't even remember what my father had preached during the service. My tears drowned out all sounds. When the service had ended, Charlie, still squeezing onto my hand, led me to the back of the chapel.
"Are you ok?" I nodded my head even though I wasn't.
It was then that I noticed a familiar figure sitting on the back row of the chapel.
"Come with me." I said to Charlie still holding onto his hand.
I walk towards the familiar figure just to find myself approaching Colby. I see Colby's eyes shift down to Charlie's hand as it squeezed mine tightly. He gave me a hug, trying to pull me away from Charlie. To my dismay, it worked. But after the hug, Charlie grabbed my hand right back.
"Thank you for coming all the way here just for me." I said
I could tell Colby was bothered by Charlie's grabbing my hand. I didn't know how to explain it all to him. I had the realization that Colby had no idea that I was falling for a different boy. So much had happened so fast; I just never had found the right time to tell him. Colby's eyes grew with anger towards me.
He mouthed the words "Why didn't you just tell me there was another boy?" The silence killed me. Colby's gaze shifted towards the ground as he shook his head. He simply walked out the back door of the chapel. No goodbye. Nothing.
"Colby! Wait!" I yelled. Everyone in the chapel heard me, but I didn't care. I broke my hand away from Charlie; he knew not to follow me.
I was able to catch Colby in the church garden before he completely left. "Colby!" I yelled
He wouldn't turn around. "Colby! Please!" I found that my screams turned into tears.
He finally turned around. "What? What do you expect me to do?"
I didn't know what to say. I stood there with my mouth open, but no words came out. I'd just lost my grandfather; I couldn't lose my best friend.
He continued. "I came all the way out here just to see you and now there's some new boy in your life? You know how I feel about you Casey. I tell you everyday how much I like you. Why wouldn't you just tell me that there was another boy so I could stop embarassing myself?"
I screamed at him "Because I didn't want to break your heart!"
"You already did." Colby shuffled his feet
I bit my lip and let more tears flow out. "Well maybe I was trying to protect you!" I screamed. I had never screamed at Colby before.
"I hope you honestly didn't think by hiding this you were protecting me." Colby walked away towards the parking lot.
"Please..." I screamed at him in a high pitched voice. I chased him, just trying to hug him. But, he wouldn't even hug me goodbye. There was always a goodbye when I was around Colby.
