At Richmond High, a new student seemingly arrives unnoticed but the attention of a certain boy shifts all eyes on her. Two naive adolescents make their way through friendship, love and heartbreak. Relationships can be a destructive force that lead...
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3 years ago, 1 day after Davina's disappearance...
Cade clutched the envelope in his hand, playing what he would do in his head. He was sad that his best friend was no longer with him and was probably thousands of miles away. He was saddened at that fact that he possibly would never see her again, but he knew it would be for the best, the kids at Richmond High were toxic.
He was walking in the halls, the gossip had still not died down about Davina's situation, but Cade made sure to shut down anyone who was bad-mouthing his friend. No one had known that Davina wasn't coming back, but he knew that it would soon be found out by the whole school, he hoped that Jack wouldn't find out before he told him first.
Making his way towards Jack's locker, he could spot the boy shuffling things inside. His hood was over his head and as Cade came closer, he could see the apparent dark circles under his eyes.
"Hey Jack—" And by just saying two words, Cade's back was against the lockers, pinned down by the brown-eyed boy. Cade could sense the anger in his eyes, but also the pain and sadness.
"Where the hell is she, Hale?" Jack screamed at him, attracting an audience of students. "You know don't you! Why the hell did she fucking leave?"
"You need to calm down, Jack." Cade tried to reason with him, but it was no use, Jack still had his strong grip on him. "Jack, you need to listen to me—"
"No, I need you to fucking listen, Cade!" Jack once again yelled. "You did something to her didn't you?!"
Jack tried to swing a punch, but Cade managed to escape his grip and dodge it, leading him to punch the lockers. His hand became numb, but the pain was masked by the anger Jack had in his eyes. He hated Cade and he was blaming the reason for Davina's disappearance on him. He didn't know why she left or why she never said goodbye to him. He thought he was important to her.
"Jack..." Cade tried his hardest to calm him down, but it was clear he was acting on his feelings. Jack already knew and he was confused.
"What are you gonna do, huh, Hale? Are you gonna punch me?" Jack pushed Cade, making him step back. The crowd witnessed the scene with horror and moved away from the two fighting, well Jack fighting. Jack kept pushing Cade, but he brought no response. "Come on, Hale, punch me! I know you want to!"
"Jack, I know how you're feeling right now. I know you're taking out your anger on me because you blame yourself." Cade was exactly right, but him saying the truth to Jack's face just made him even more angry. His anger boiled all the way to the top as his fist collided with Cade face.
Present day...
Davina sat outside of the cafeteria, alone at a metal table. There weren't much people and it was quiet, peaceful. She wanted some fresh air, to recollect her thoughts and keep herself from breaking down. She was hurt that one of the most important person in her life would treat her the way the kids did in freshman year. She didn't know Jack Avery was capable of even doing that. He couldn't hurt a fly, but she guessed it was the past.
She fiddled with her fingers as she noticed a presence sit in front of her. She looked up, seeing her best friend Cade looking at her with an empathetic look.
"I saw what happened." Cade said, looking down. He knew Jack was a jerk, but he didn't know he would ever say the things he said to Davina.
"Yeah, it was a real show." Davina laughed, but the pain was evident in her voice. "Bet Elliana was laughing her ass off."
It was then silent, Cade not knowing what to say. He could understand what she could have been feeling, the feeling of betrayal, especially by someone you care deeply about, and in this case for Davina, possibly love. He remembered Davina's feelings for Jack, and by the way he saw her look at his face at the cafeteria, the hurt in her eyes, he knew she still had the same feeling towards him even after all these years.
"I just don't understand why he's like this." Davina admitted, "I- I explained everything to him in the letter. Is he still mad I left? I just—"
"Davina." Cade interrupted her and her eyes met his. He then opened his backpack and shuffled around, then pulled out an envelope and placed in front of Davina. "I never gave him the letter."
Davina examined the letter and picked it up in her hands. She noticed the wrinkles in the paper and it being unopened. She knew Cade wouldn't open it, even if he was tempted to. Then everything made sense to her. Jack doesn't know.
"You told me to give it to him once he stopped being a jerk and unfortunately, that day never came." Cade explained with disappointment, remembering the day he got a black eye from Jack. "He just got worse, Dav. He changed and I really don't know why. I wanted to see if he would become who he was before, but that day never came and I never ended up giving him the letter. I'm sorry, I just wanted to follow what you wanted."
Davina gave her friend a soft smile and put her hand over his. "You don't need to be sorry, Cade. I understand and I'm grateful for you being such a considering friend."
"Yeah, that day I tried giving him the envelope resulted in me in the nurse's office with a black eye. It wasn't pretty." Cade chuckled, trying to lighten the mood.
"He punched you?" Davina's eyebrows scrunched together, revealing how saddened she was about the situation.
"Yeah..." Cade responded, realising what he said did nothing to cheer up his friend.
Davina was more worried, because she realised that Jack Avery changed a long time ago and he might not ever come back.
