Letters to Laurel

Chapter 12: Hurt

Ace: Today after school we talk. Don't forget.

I roll my eyes at the text. He's so demanding. Who does he think he is. He think he can come into my life, insult my best friend and then act like that? No way. 

To Ace: I won't. No need to be so demanding, you have no right to act like this.

Proudly I smile at myself. I'm proud for standing up to him and standing up for myself. Contented I walk into math, ready to get my good mood broken by Mr. Heifner. Turns out I was right. Mr. Heifner definitely made me in a bad mood. I'm not sure how he does it, but I never leave math satisfied or happy. 

I'm not sure why, but walking up to the cafe I'm nervous. Ace and I decided on meeting up at this little cafe called  'Coffee Bean'. It's a cute place and their milkshakes are delicious. Some of the best I've ever had. 

As I walk in I see Ace seated in a booth by the window. He nods, making sure I saw where he was seated. Neither of us saying something. We just sat there until the waitress came and we made our order. "So.." Ace starts once the waitress left. 

"So..." I repeat. A sigh leaves Ace's lips as he continues to talk. "I know you're mad." I roll my eyes at how obvious he's being. "And I get it. I shouldn't have called her that." Before Ace can continue I interrupt him by saying: "She has a name you know." 

"I know she does. But I don't know her name." It's silent after he said that. It didn't occur to me that he might've not known Laurel. "Laurel." he looks up to me and nods, signaling to continue. "Her name was Laurel Jones. We were best friends for as long as I can remember." 

"How did she die?" I gulp. I'm not sure I want to open up to Ace about Laurel. "Why would I tell you about her. I'm still mad at you you know. You're an asshole Ace." His jaw clenches. "I said I'm sorry okay. What do you want me to do? I can't bring her back can I. "

Ace's words hit hard. He's right. He can't bring her back and neither can I. In fact nobody can. She's gone. For real. For ever. My throat gets hoarse instantly and my hands start shaking a little. A single tear treathens to  roll down my cheek. "Hey, Brinly, it's okay." Ace's voice is soft. He puts his hand on top of mine and squeezes it. It might not be much but it helped, it gave me the strength to go on and talk.

 "She died a few months ago. A drunk driver hit her car and she died on impact. I never got to say goodbye. My life stopped right then and there." Now an actual tear rolled down my cheek. I wipe it away, not wanting to show any weakness.  "I get it you know." my eyebrows furrow as I look up at him. Did he also lose someone dear to him? I want to ask him more, but I know he'll just shut me out. 

Turns out I didn't even have to ask. "Do you want to go somewhere with me?" I nod and signal over the waitress to ask for the bill.

 Neither of us has said anything since we left the cafe.  We are currently in Ace's car driving around town. We stop in a weirdly familiar place. "What are we doing here?" I ask. Ace looks at me but doesn't answer.  As we walk into the cemetery he starts speaking up. "We're here to visit someone." My eyes skim over to the area where Laurel is buried.

When we stop walking I look over to the gravestone. 

In loving memory of 

Maya Elizabeth Reed

31st of January 1998 -  27th of March 2017

Loved daughter of  Amanda Cluda and Jeremy Reed

Loved sister of  Melanie and Ace

"Maya was your sister?" I ask as I look over to Ace." Is. It's not because she's dead she isn't my sister anymore. She always was and always will be." I put my hand on Ace's shoulder. "I'm sorry. You wanna tell me more?" he nods and continues. "She was one of the best fighters at our gym. The only other girl that ever was at the gym, except for you. During one of the fights her opponent played dirty. He stabbed her. She bled a lot and ended up dying from her wounds. She's the reason I started fighting. And every day I fight for her." Ace is clenching his jaw hard. If I didn't know any better I'd almost think he'd break his jaw just by clenching. 

"How did Connor know her?" I curiously ask. "They met at the gym but over time they started liking each other. They had a fling, dated on and off." I laugh a little. "I never knew that. He never told me. "They ended things when Connor went off to college." Connor left for college almost 2 years ago now. I never knew he had a girlfriend. Especially not someone who died when he left.

I caught Ace off guard by giving him a hug. "Thank you for bringing me here and opening up." A small smile plays on his lips. "I think I can use a friend like you." I add. 

A few hours later Ace drops me off of at home. I run straight to my bedroom to tell Laurel everything that happened. 

Dear Laurel, 

Ace and I met up today. I was still really mad at him for calling you 'the dead girl'. Talking with Ace made me realize that you're never coming back. All I can do now is keep the memory of you alive. And that I can and will do. I opened up to him and told him a bit about you. It felt good to let everything out to someone. Well someone alive that is. He brought me to the cemetery. Turns out the Maya girl is his sister. AND turns out she was Connor's girlfriend??? I literally never knew a thing! I think I want to be friends with Ace tbh. He knows what's it like losing someone so close to you. I'm really hoping we can end up as friends.

Love always,

Bri ❤

After my mom and I ate dinner I took my gym bag and went off to the gym. After training for half an hour the guys walked into the gym as well. Ace nodded as a hello. I nodded back and focused back onto my exercises.  "Hold up.." I heard Liam say. "Were Brinly and Ace just nice to each other?" Ace rolled his eyes and slapped Liam softly. "Shut up loser." Justin joined the conversation by saying "Uh yeah they did. What's going on here?" 

"What are we not allowed to be friends anymore?" I look over at Justin and Liam with raised eyebrows. They both hold up their hands in surrender. "No no that's fine."  I smile at the idiots in front of me. I wonder where they all met each other. They're all so different but still the same. And their dynamic together is amazing.  

"Let's go guys. We gotta start training" Ace tells the guys. Liam and Justin wave goodbye as they all walk to the other part of the gym. Ace lingers around a little longer. "Do you wanna train with us tomorrow?" he asks me. "I'm not sure I don't wanna bother-" before I can finish my sentence Ace starts talking again. "Alright see you tomorrow at 5." he says before walking to the other guys.