The Guilt Consumes

Chapter 16

"Hey Blythe" my eyes go wide. My breath gets taken away.

"Reagan, what are you doing here?" I ask my former best friend. The girl who was supposed to have my back from them.

"I-I came to visit Jackson and then my aunt. I was walking out when I saw you. I thought I should come and say hi. It's great to see you. You've changed" she tells me as if everything is okay again. I scoff and walk past her. I don't want to do this here. Not at his grave. I hear her following after me. "Blythe?" She calls out to me and I stop.

"What do you want?" I ask her still not turning around.

"I'm sorry" she replies. It's so faint I almost missed it. I turn around now and look into her watery eyes. "I'm so so sorry." She tells me as she breaks down. I rush to her and wrap my arms around her. She cries into my shoulder, shaking relentlessly. We pull away and begin to walk out of the cemetery. We walk in silence as we pass a coffee shop.

"D-do you want to... Umm... have coffee with me?" Reagan hesitantly asks me and I purse my lips thinking it over. I'm about to decline when she begs me with pleading eyes. "Please. I'd like to talk to you?" I sigh and nod my head.

"Sure. Why not" she smiles widely at me and rushes inside, me following after her.

"What coffee would you like?" She asks me too happy for my liking. I clear my throat and look at all the selections.

"I'll have a Caramel Frappuccino" she nods her head and places our orders.

"You want anything else. Muffin, cookies, savouries?" I shake my head no and she turns back around. "Just one blueberry muffin please to take out" She tells the barista and she takes our orders.

"For the coffees would you like small, grande or tall?" The barista whose name I gathered is Stella.

"I'll get a tall one please," Reagan turns to me. "what about you?" I step forward until I'm chest to edge with the counter.

"I'll get a grande please" I reply to Stella and she nods. She gets the total for us and I get out my phone to pay.

"That'll be £8.96 please" I'm about to tap when Reagan moves me to the side with a sly smile.

"It's on me" she tells me.

"Are you sure? I can-" I'm interrupted by the beep of the payment from her phone. "Pay" I complete my sentence. She turns to face me and smiles.

"I'm sure" she answers me late and I roll my eyes playfully. She links our arms and takes us to sit at a table. I take my seat, and we're enveloped by the silence. I hear her sighing. I look up to see her eyes on her hands.

"So... how have you been?" I decide to make conversation. She looks up with a happy glint in her eyes. She smiles enthusiastically at me and begins to start her ramble. One thing about Reagan is once you start off a conversation with her, she'll go on and on and on and never stop until you tell her too. That's one of the things I've missed about her.

"I've been okay. Still trying to get over all that happened. I'm sorry again. For everything" i nod my head silently at her, letting her know that it's okay and I forgive her. Maybe. Just a little.

"When did you move back?" She taps her chin and thinks about this.

"About two days ago. My mum and I just settled in and unpacked before we get into anything else." A moments silence passes again as we just look around. Soon, our order comes and we exit the coffee shop. We walk along the sidewalk until we enter a park. We take a seat at the nearest bench and look around. "I-I got a place at... Grove Academy" my head snaps in her direction. I see her giving me a weary look from the corner of her eyes waiting for my reply. I just sit there, speechless.