Break The Best Friends

Chapter 2

Hours passed and the day slowly moved along, making me dread the very moment the bell rang signaling that it was time for lunch. Lunch meant going to the cafeteria. Going to the cafeteria meant that I have to face Luke. I was, for some unknown reason dreading looking into my best friend's eyes – something was wrong with me and I was afraid he'd know that.

I had been feeling weird all day, somehow my thoughts were always leading me back to Luke and Sierra. There was a voice inside my head telling me that they weren't right together, but I didn't want to listen to that voice. Who was I to decide who was right for my best friend? The decision was completely his and he has already chosen. Not that there have been a lot of people who have managed to successfully claim his attention, but still...

See! This is what I meant when I said something was wrong with me! Why was I thinking these thoughts? They hardly seemed appropriate.

Luke and I did not have any classes together in the morning, and hence I have not seen him since morning. My eyes roamed around the big cafeteria, in search of his face. When I found him not at our table yet, I exhaled a breath of relief, but when my eyes flickered to the empty chair next to Ryder, my heart clenched painfully. Reece. I deliberated calling him again and asking him what he was doing. I shook my head, throwing away the idea. I didn't want to seem clingy. He only left yesterday and already I have called him five times, one more and I think he would file a restraining order against me.

Dana Rogers, Reece's mom was a very nice woman who had a tragic end to her beautiful life. I still remember the days when my mom and she used to sit in our garden and just talk and laugh about something funny as Reece and I played with each other like we were the only kids in the world.

Dana died when we were all eleven years old and his dad got remarried to a beautiful woman only recently. Ever since then, Reece has hated talking about his family to anyone. We were all he had outside of his family and now, he was there, in the city, all alone, by himself. A part of me thinks that this move of his has nothing to do with his mental health, and he was only trying to isolate himself and put up walls.

I sighed, shaking my head. The entire cafeteria was packed and was bustling with people all around us. The always full lunch queue was as usual full with people standing one behind the other, thinking and talking to their friends about what they were going to buy for lunch. The lunch lady had that permanent frown plastered to her face as she took the money from everyone and gave them their food mechanically, like a robot.

Her face always looks like a cartoon character to me, which one, I wasn't sure.

Our school did not have the cliché popular table or the cheerleaders table; to us, we were all one. The table where I sat always had Tristan – the player; Kade, Luke and Ryder – the jocks; Kyra – the ex-cheerleader, and me – I didn't really have a clique – sitting together. But today without Reece, our table did not look complete to me. Something was missing. He was missing.

I felt the tears pricking at the back of my eyes. If Reece knew I was sad, would he come back? He couldn't stand to see me sad, when we were kids, he used to throw a fit if one of my brothers made me cry. But then again, this was what he wanted to do with his life, put a distance and try and cope with his obvious grief, so how could I selfishly ask him to come back? 

Shaking myself out of my thoughts, I made my way to the table where our friends sat. "Where's Luke?" I asked as I took my seat between Kyra and Kade, "He isn't here yet?"

Tristan rolled his eyes and jerked his head to the side. My eyes followed the direction in which he was looking and I sighed when I saw Luke sitting with Sierra and her friends, laughing happily as they chatted and ate away.