Best Part

PART 28

HER POV ( Listen to Best Part by Daniel Caesar covered by Yoseph and Nadia)

 I can't do anything but just stare at him and her while something inside of me was hurting.

With a trembled voice, I asked, "Who is she?"

He just smiled at me while holding the girl's hand tightly, tighter than the way he holds my hand. The way he looks at her shows that he really loves that woman. I tried my best to smile but ended up with a serious face.

"She's Emily," he replied while looking at her. Is this a joke?

I furrowed my brows. "Seriously?"

"Yeah. Emily Claudio. Ex.... girlfriend. We broke up before she became like this but I take care of her now as my best friend because like me, she has no family. She grew up in an adoption center. I'm what she only has." I felt the shock spread through my body as I heard her name.

Out of all the people in the world, why do I have the same name as hers? I sighed. Now I know what her role is in Travis' life. I just smiled to hide the sudden pain I was feeling.

"All this time, I've been hanging out with a guy who already has a girlfriend?" I tried my best to laugh, but it came out awkwardly.

My heart suddenly ached for no reason. Why am I hurting? I have nothing to be sad about. This is my fault for not asking about his love life. All this time, am I a mistress? Oh, dear. This is not good. I don't like the idea of it—wait, why am I even complaining? We're friends. It doesn't matter if she has a girlfriend, Emily. Friends are friends.

Friends but do strange sweet things.

Friends but do hugs and kisses.

"And we really have the same name?" He laughed at me. An insulting laugh, rather. My forehead creased as my brows pulled together.

She's the reason why Travis suffered for years.

"Yeah, why? Is there something wrong?" His face went blank.

"Even though she made my life miserable as hell, I can't get mad at her. That won't change the fact that without her, I wouldn't have been alive into this world. Despite the dark past we had, I never got mad at her... because I promised my father that I'd love her the way Dad loved my Mom." I stared at Travis' mom, whose body was filled with needles.

"What happened?"

"Remember what I told you? I was driving furiously... in the middle of the rain and... the accident happened. I didn't know... that her car was the one I crashed into. That night, filled with anger, pain, and bitterness, I poured everything into driving the car at such high speed that it led to a terrible impact." He tried his best to hold back tears while clenching his jaw and caressing his mom's hair.

"Until now, Emily... I still blame myself for her accident. I always wonder... what if I hadn't driven so fast that night? Maybe she would have lived. Maybe she would be happy. Maybe she would still be with us, with James."

"No one wanted that to happen, Travis. Everything happens for a reason." He looked at me.

I couldn't stop myself from staring into his eyes.

His eyes welled up.

"I wish I could bring back the past to fix the mistakes I made." His smile faltered.

"You can't change the past, but you can accept it and learn from it." I stopped because suddenly a tear fell from Travis' eye.

"I was just upset with her, but I never got angry. Remember the day I found out your name was Emily? I got mad at myself because out of all the people in the world, why did I have to meet someone with the same name as her? It haunts me, Emily. Every time I hear her name, it's like a nightmare. It feels scary... like it's pulling me back to the past and reminding me of what happened... blaming me..." I walked up to him and wiped the tear from his eye.