Broken Thoughts - short stories

Desertion

This was written as the final assignment for my Heath class on the 'Importance of Friendships' and the psychological effect of that throughout someone life. I guess I was going through a stranger faze.

title: Desertions

Never did I ever think that I will have a friend from the last year of elementary, be standing a few rows in front of me graduating from high school. Or at least I did. As I stood there hearing the school's principle talk about the future. In the cold air, I was still stuck in the past. My longest friendship, I ever had just ended a month prior to the occasion. An awkward situation when I went to grab a water bottle, reminded me of that. He had obtained all the goals that he had set for himself, the begging of high school. The new version of David that stood before me, was not the one I had befriended all though years ago. A part of me was happy for him, I'm sure. At least that's what I kept telling myself.

The signs were all there, I just didn't see them until now. I meet him the last year of elementary he was a mutual friend, to Zach. It's hard to pinpoint where friendship starts, what drove that spark. It didn't matter. Then middle school came and Zach was the first to succumb to the pressures of popularity. He decided to ditch his uncool friend. He decided to end his friendship with David.

Though he wasn't so cruel to me. He offered to continue his friendship, like a contract he wanted me to sign. I refused to take his legal agreement, and he madly cursed my name from then on. Throwing me out just the same. I later found David and continued to be his friend throughout middle school. Though David soon too, wanted his taste of popularity.

By the time we got to high school, he'd come up with a plan to take up sports. Influenced by his father's glory days playing basketball, in high school. He decided to try that first. Though the team at the school was uncommitted, sadly his next try: football was likewise pledged by the same people. He lastly landed on cross country. The idea came when he overheard a fellow classmate talking about how he had a girlfriend that would come to his meets, with her friends. And in the end, it sure gave him the friends he desired and the popularity he always wanted.
Though his sports aspirations left are friendship in an uncertain place. As he spent most of his weekends and lunches with the team. Leaving me alone with my thoughts. We faked the truth, for a while. It worked for a bit, though it was putting a Band-Aid on a massive wound. Although on several occasions he encouraged me to join his world many times, nodding to are failing friendship. I declined, not knowing this fact. Unaware, giving as many excuses as I could. I saw him on my many walks out of school, running with his new friends. He nodded at me as he passed. Like we both had something we wanted to say to each other but for some reason didn't.
I'm glad he got what he wanted. In the end, we all should. It would be selfish of me, to talk about myself. But one can't help it. When one, only wants his own happiness.

Looking into my eyes, the girl, sitting next to me, talked about her own problems. She was running all the possibilities in her head. The regrets, the unsaid. She spoke of unrequited love so softly, it was as if she was telling me and only me a secret. That was impossible though as we were in a crowd that could hear everything. She confessed her love. Just before the principle named us "Class of [the current year]." Her warm lips left me with subtle hope in the cold. We were the only ones sitting down while everyone got up and screamed in the enjoyment of their new title. Times was up, high school was officially over. The possibilities, the "what ifs" passed by everyone's eyes and ears.

As they celebrated, the beginning of a new era in their life's. Later, I step up into the bright colored bus, that had come to pick us up, with the girl not far behind. We found a seat near the back together. We didn't talk about if we ever see each other after that day. It didn't matter, after all, I now know that the bus would not be driving us into the darkness, but into the sunset.