in which carter langston finds a book from the hardest year of her life, 2020.
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dylan kingwell relives the year he met his girlfriend with the help of a scrapbook
dylan kingwell x oc
lowercase intended
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may 2025
Dylan smiled sadly at his girlfriend, whose eyes were pricked with tears. He rested his hand on her shoulder and kept reading. His fingers brushed the dusty page, and they were transported back to 2020.
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january 2020
"Today we are gathered to acknowledge the parting of actress, friend and daughter, Virginia Gardner. After 16 short years of her life, they were all taken from right under her. Prayers go out to her family, friends and Carter Langston, her partner in crime." The pastor continued the funeral until everyone had said goodbye to Nia.
Carter couldn't go home. Not after this. Not to the house where she knew would just make it so much worse. Ever since the passing of Virginia, Carter had stayed at the Gardner's and helped plan the funeral. She had planned to go back to her regular life in her own house after the funeral, but now that the time had come, there was no way that she could even look at her parents without losing her sanity. Or what was left of it anyway.
"Excuse me?" Carter turned around to the sound of a male's voice. "Sorry, are you Carter? Virginia told me so much about you! When she was here..." Carter was thinking some very cruel thoughts while the boy droned on. Did he really think she was stupid enough to think that Virginia talked about her when she was dead? Thanks for pointing it out, bro.
"My name is Tyler. I was going to be Virginia's costar in the new movie, but obviously, that didn't work out." Cue more cruel thoughts from Carter.
"Look, dude. Just because I was friends with Nia and you were friends with her, does not mean that we have to be friends. Cool? Cool. Now I'm going to be on my way. Have a crappy day! That's what people who aren't friends say, right? Just checking!" Carter said with fake enthusiasm pouring all over the brown grass of the cemetery surrounding her.
Right after she spilled her thoughts and fake smiles, Carter turned on her heels and left the graveyard that her best friend of 12 years now lay in. After ten minutes of walking aimlessly, Carter found herself in an alleyway.
She looked around her, and spilt her emotions out in the form of a song.
"I'd like to say I'm okay, but I'm not." She smiled sadly at how great the echo of the alleyway was. Looking across the street, she noticed a homeless man across the street with a guitar.
After briefly checking both sides of the road, she quickly crossed, speed-walking to the man. "Um... excuse me, can I borrow your guitar for a brief second? I'll give you all the tips if I get some?" Carter suggests.
The man shrugs and nods as Carter grabs the guitar, quickly tuning it. Ever since she was a child, Carter has been praised for her good ear with music.
Once the guitar was tuned, Carter teamed up, just realizing her situation. When she started singing again, all the pain and hurt that she had bottled up for the last year and a half escaped her through her mouth.
"I'd like to say I'm okay, but I'm not. I try but I fall, close my mind, turn it off."
As Carter finishes the short verse off with a G chord, a small group gathers around her. One boy in particular sticks out from the crowd. He has brown hair that's swept to the side and he's fairly short. Around the same age as Carter.
"but I can't be sober, I cannot sleep. you've got your peace now, but what about me?"
Carter's voice comes out breathy. Like a whisper, but loud enough for everyone to hear. She closes her eyes, and leans her head to the sky.
"Thought we had the time, had our lives, now you'll never get older, older. Didn't say goodbye now I'm frozen in time, getting colder, colder. One last word, one last moment, to ask you why, you left me here behind. You said you'd grow old with me."
The teenage boy's eyes were fixed on Carter's shaking hands, changing positions on the guitar strings with each strum.
As Carter brought her fingers down over the strings for the last time, she looked at the crowd around her. It had started with only a couple, but now a group of nearly one hundred stood in front of her, clapping.
Some of the adults even had tears in their eyes, like Carter herself. Over half of them walked over, dropping money into the guitar case, as well as the homeless man's tip jar.
Carter hesitantly gave the man his guitar back and the crowd slowly walked away. All of them but the boy with brown hair, who watched Carter carefully.
The homeless man gathered the money Carter had been given into his hands and held them out to Carter, his palms open.
"Take it. You earned every penny." It was just then Carter realized two things. One, she had earned a WHOLE lot of money. Two, the man had tears in his eyes as well. Smiling, she reached her hands out, cupping his hand.
Slowly, she closed the man's hands together and pushed them back. "You need it more than I do. All I needed was to calm myself down. So thank you." For the first time that day, Carter smiled genuinely.
"I'll accept this gift if you go on a walk with that feller there. He seems to want to talk to you." Carter rolled her eyes at the man's foolishness. She was definitely going to visit him regularly.
"Deal." Carter giggled, in a none obnoxious way. Turning around, she faced the boy and walked up to him. "Guess we're going on a walk." He chuckled and Carter nodded, embarrassed.
After waving goodbye to the man, the two teenagers walked away, in a very uncomfortable silence.
