Eight letters / cb

21

Today was gonna be a rough day. I was gonna go visit Brandon's parents and see how they're doing. I had on a thrasher shirt with skinny jeans. I was looking at myself in my mirror, trying to get motivated to leave. "You okay, Vee?" Colby asked leaning up on my door frame.

"I will be." I smile as I turn to him. He had his arms crossed as he leaned against the frame. "Are you sure you don't want me to come with you?" He asked as I grabbed my shoes. "I'm sure Colby. This is something I need to do myself." I sit on my bed and put my high top vans on.

"I just worry about you." He said as I stand up. I walk past him so I could go into the living room where my mom is. "Hey, mom. Can I have the keys to the car?" I ask as she stands up. She grabs her purse and skims through it. When she finds the keys, she hands them to me.

"Wait, I thought you couldn't drive with your cast?" My mom asked as I looked down at my hand. "I get it off the week after I get back to Los Angles. I'll be fine." I say as she sighs, handing me the keys. "I'll see you guys later." I say walking out of the house. I get into the car, nervous for seeing them again.

I drive the familiar roads to his house, good thing it's not too far. After a few minutes, I pulled up to their house, parking right in front of their house. It's now or never. I get out of the car and walk to their front door.

I take a deep breath before knocking on their door. I heard muffled talking and footsteps before the door had opened up revealing Brandon's mom, Julie, face. She looked shocked to me. "Honey, it's Vee." She said to her husband, Jack.

"Come in sweetie." I do as what I'm told and walk into the house I once called my second home. "Well look at who showed up. What's up Vee?" He asked smiling at me. He reminded me so much of Brandon it was crazy.

"I just wanted to check on you guys since I'm in town for the next couple of days. It's been awhile." I smile as they do the same. "Here, sit down. I'll get you water." Julie said as I sat in my usual spot. Everything looks the same. There's still pictures of Brandon hanging up on the wall.

"How's Los Angles?" Jack asked making conversation. "I like it a lot. It's a lot different. A lot of traffic." Julie walks over to me with some water so I thank her as she sits next to her husband. There was an awkward silence for a moment so I take a sip of my water.

"Everyone misses you here." Julie says causing me to look down. "I miss everyone too. It's been too long." I say honestly. They've always been like my second parents. "How come you never came back for holidays?" Jack asked as I sighed.

"I guess I just got scared. I didn't know how to deal with everything." I honestly say as they look at me. We talk for a little bit and Julie lets me sit in his room by myself for a little bit. I was sitting on the floor looking through all the pictures he had.

As I was looking through his stuff, I felt something under his pillow. It was an envelope with my name on it. I'm gonna have to read it later. I stick it in pocket and look up at his closet. I stand up and walk over to it. I start looking through his clothes and remembering all that he wore.

"You can take a shirt if you want. I know you have some of his clothes." I hear his mom say at the door. I shake my head no as I step away. "I have enough of his stuff. Thanks for letting me look through his stuff though." I smile as she does the same.

"He really loved you. Before he passed, I thought you guys were gonna be bestfriends for the rest of your lives." She said as I teared up a little. "I just wish he was still here. Sometimes I wish it was me." I say sitting down on his bed with some tears running down my face.

She comes over to me and wraps an arm around me. "I know how you're feeling sweetie. I wanted to be with him so bad but after some therapy sessions, I realized that things happen for a reason. God kept you for a reason. And you know Brandon wouldn't want you sad. He'd want you happy and remember the good memories." She said making me feel better.

"I just don't know how you deal with it." I say looking at her. She sighed as she looked at me. "I just try to get through everyday and everyday I become stronger." I wipe my tears as I sit up straighter. "I think I'm gonna go visit him. That might make me feel better." I say as she smiles. "Do whatever you think is best." She smiled as I stood up.

I stand up and say my goodbyes to the two parents I love dearly. I drive to the cemetery and go to where he's buried at. I sit down in front of his headstone and take a deep breath.

"Hey, I know it's been awhile. I moved to Los Angeles after graduation. I met a guy and he came with me to Porters graduation. Can you believe that?" I say talking to nothing.

That's when I remembered the envelope in my pocket. I take it out and noticed a folded piece of paper stuffed in it. I unfolded it and look at his handwriting. I take a deep breath before reading it.

Dear Vee, you're my bestfriend. And I thank you for that. We're coming up to our senior year of high school and I plan on giving you this on the first day of school. My favorite memory of us from high school is when we persuaded Principal Rooney to let us have a dodgeball tournament. I hope we're still friends by the time we're fifty cause I don't know what I'd do without you.

By that time everyone will hopefully stop asking questions about us dating, which is false. If we fall apart and don't talk, I'm always gonna remember the good memories we had. I'll always care for you, no matters what happens. Even if we're thousands of miles away, my love for you will never go away.

You've always taught me to be better. You've always been there for me but we can't always be together. So if something happens, read this and hopefully it'll help you an any way I can't. I'm one call away. Love, Brandon.

I cried while reading it. Maybe I was supposed to find that letter. And it felt like he was talking to me. He's always been here for me. Reading that letter made me feel better, I just need to stop holding back.