They were inseparable. Until he left without a word. Now he's back, and the truth might destroy them.
Josh was everything to Bonnie. Her best friend, her neighbor, her safe haven. Until one day, he vanished.
Four years later, he's back and he's det...
"I really am sorry about leaving Bonnie; if I had a choice, you know I would've stayed," his words hurt because I know they're true. I used to spend my nights when he first left dreaming of how things would be if he stayed. How our futures together would look, if we would even have a future.
Let's be honest, even if he stayed, there's no guarantee we would even be friends still, so I think it's best to just move on from that and let him back into my life. "If this is going to work, you need to understand a few things," I start, he nods without a word, "you aren't my best friend anymore. You will never come before Liv and Scott, ever."
"That being said, though, we have a lot of history. Promise you won't use that against me?" He smiles now, beaming at me. I never could refuse him. "I'm going to ask about the letters tonight," I say to break the awkward silence lingering. He raises an eyebrow at me, the teasing smile never leaving his face.
"I hope for your sake, she kept them because they were some awesome letters," he says, and I chuckle, "of course you think anything you wrote is awesome." I really hope Mom has the letters, though, because if she doesn't, then I don't think I'll ever find them.
I'll admit I am a little curious what younger Josh had to say to me; all those letters left unread. Undoubtedly, he would've been frustrated with my radio silence. "I still don't understand why she would keep them from me though, it makes no sense," I sigh, because I know Mom loved Josh. There would be no reasonable explanation to keep something like that from me?
"Just know that everything I wrote in those letters I still stand by, even the bad." That gets my attention. What could he have written that was that bad?! He was the one who left me, after all. I know he had to go because his mom was sick, but still, I was waiting here for him to come home, and he never did. At least, not until now.
"So, why are we actually here?" I question because I know he didn't bring me here just to talk. There has to be more to it. "To be honest," he starts, and I interrupt him, "honesty is a good start," I giggle to myself, but he just rolls his eyes. "Like I was saying before you so rudely interrupted me," now I'm the one rolling my eyes, "I just wanted to be with you with no other distractions around us. What better place to do that than an empty field?"
"That makes sense, I guess," I shrug, and he lays back down, gazing up at the sky watching as the clouds roll by, but I watch him. I lose myself in the moment, too busy staring at him without noticing my phone blowing up. Josh looks over at me with a confused stare, "are you going to get that?" he motions to my phone. I pick it up to see a bunch of missed calls and messages from Mom.
"I'll be home a little late tonight. Don't forget to feed yourself. Love you." - Mom.
"Again," groaning to myself, Josh perks up, "Is everything okay?" he questions, looking at the phone in my hand. "Yeah, she's just working late again, as usual," there's no point in complaining about it. She's been acting strangely for the last few months or so, and it's annoying me.
"So, dinner for two tonight then?" he smirks, and I sigh, laying back down beside him, there's no point in rushing home if there's no one to go home to."Thanks, but no thanks," I murmur, "I don't need pity, especially not from you."
"Seriously? what the fuck?"
"I thought we were having a good time, but if you want to be a party pooper, that's on you." I am so frustrated right now, and his snarky comments aren't helping. I guess one thing about him hasn't changed.
***
Two hours later, we pull into Josh's driveway. "Thanks for dinner," I say, peering over to see the exhaustion written all over his face. "Are things okay? You know, with your dad?" I ask because I haven't seen much of his dad since they moved back in. "Yeah, he's okay. I'm just sick of all the renovating he's doing that doesn't need to be done."
"What do you mean?" I chuckle to myself, "what is he doing?"
Josh scoffs, "why don't you come inside and see for yourself?" he winks at me, and he's back, being a douchebag again. "It can't be that bad, right?" he says nothing. He walks inside and motions for me to follow, so I do. The house is dark, but I am hit with the familiar smell of Mr. Carter's famous smoked ribs. Walking further inside, I reach the back door before stopping dead in my tracks.
"What is she doing here?" I murmur to myself, but I feel Josh step up beside me. "I thought you said your mom was working late?"
"Now I think about it, Dad was supposed to be working too," we both look at each other, completely thrown off guard with the scene before us. Mr. Carter is standing beside his smoker, casually sipping on a beer as my mom talks, and whatever she says must be hilarious because the smile hiding behind his beer bottle is noticeable even from inside here.
Before I can say anything, Josh is sliding open the door leading to the back porch, the sound of it jolting his dad, interrupting their conversation. "Hey Dad," he taunts, "what's going on here?" it's then my Mom looks over at Josh before looking past him and right at me. The smile on her face drops, and she frantically gets up from her chair.
"Bonnie," she gasps, stepping towards me, but I inch back, not wanting to do this right now, not in front of Josh. "No," I say, brushing her off when she reaches out to me, "what the fuck?" I utter, her pleading eyes begging me not to cause a scene.
"Josh, I gotta go. I'll talk to you later." With that, I leave. The footsteps behind me echo throughout the quiet house, but I don't stop. I just keep walking, needing to get to my room and crawl into the safety of my bed.
She lied to me about working, but why did she lie so she could have dinner with Mitch? It's no secret that they're friends. They have been my entire life. This makes no sense. Nothing she does lately makes any sense. Add the letters to the mix, and I don't even know who she is anymore.
I slam my bedroom door and flip the lock before crawling into my bed and enveloping myself in my warm blanket. "Bonnie." Mom's soft voice breaks the silence as she tries to turn the doorknob. When she realizes it's locked, I hear her sigh as her head rests against the door. "Bonnie, please, let me in," she begs. "I can explain."
I sit up and throw my blanket to the floor, anger boiling beneath the surface. I am done with everyone keeping secrets from me, my best friends, Josh, and now my own Mother. I cross the room and pull open my bedroom door with so much force Mom falls forward slightly.
"So, explain then." I cross my arms and watch her as she gathers herself, trying to find a reasonable explanation for all of this. "Mitch and I, we were just catching up. I swear it's not what you're thinking." I scoff, eyeing her suspiciously, because I don't believe that for a second. "What happened to working late, huh?"
"I got off earlier than expected, and you weren't home, so I thought I'd go see how Mitch was doing," I roll my eyes and turn to walk away deciding the conversation was done, but I stop when I remember the letters.
"Explain this then, Mother," I snarl, turning to look at her again, not being able to hide the disgust anymore. "Explain what?" she shrugs, but I see her nerves building under my glare. "Where are my letters?" I demand, and she frowns in confusion, "letters?" she questions, then her frown falls away, replaced with a grimace.
"I don't know what you're talking about, Bonnie."
"Don't play stupid. You know what I'm talking about."
"Josh told me," I groan in frustration, "oh," she sighs, realizing there's no way she can talk herself out of this one.
"Where are they?"
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