"This story is about the boy I loved. This is about his suffering. This is about my suffering. All of it due to one thing. Affluenza."
TW : Key themes of suicide.
Sebastian Grey. Golden boy, trust fund baby, and Braylen Adams' mortal enemy. Braylen...
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ROBYN FINISHES UP the nail polish on my left pinky, reaching forward and blowing it so the black liquid dries up. We were sitting on the lawn of the Academy and I had a nervous pit in my stomach. And it only partially had to do with Windsor finding out Sebastian and I pranked him.
"Okay, go over it again," Robyn mutters, pulling back and checking her work. "You two talked about stars, you told him about your mom, he joked with you, you got crazy upset—"
"I didn't get crazy upset!"
Robyn makes an incredulous face. "You did get crazy upset, Braylen. Just be honest with yourself. You're completely, totally, 100% crazy when it comes to that boy."
I take my hands and blow softly on them. "I resent that, you know?"
Robyn flips her hair over her shoulder and begins to do her own nails. "And then he held your hand and you two almost kissed?"
I bite my lip. "I mean, I think we almost did."
"You think or you know?"
I roll my eyes. "Well, I can't actually know if his lips never touched me, right? It could've been a nervous spasm!"
"A nervous spasm? Did he kiss you or not?"
I sigh. "No. Of course not." My voice trails off at the end as I see Sebastian's BMW pull up. I watch as he parks and climbs out of the car and feel my cheeks burn as I take him in. He had on a cream cashmere sweater and a matching button-up underneath. His pants were a dark brown and his butt looked absolutely—
"You're staring," Robyn sing-songs. I turn my head back to her and swallow hard. "Oh, crap. Dana Waters, 3 o'clock."
"What?" I hiss, turning and seeing Dana approaching Sebastian. She had bright red hair and huge blue eyes and I was pretty sure half the guys in our grade were obsessed with her. She stands up on her toes and wraps Sebastian in a hug. I feel my heart break as he returns it, his hands around her waist.
I turn back and look down at my nails, suddenly feeling sick. "I'm sure they're just friends," Robyn murmurs.
"When have you known Sebastian to be just friends with someone who looks like that?" I whisper back, dejected.
Robyn bites her lip and she thankfully doesn't argue with me as she finishes applying the nail polish. She's closing the cap when her face pales. "Shoot. Don't look now, but he's walking over here."
"What?" I hiss again but Robyn has already pasted on a grin.
"Ash! You're here," she deadpans and he sits down on the grass in between us.
Sebastian chuckles once, glancing over at me. "So it would seem. Hey, Brayls."
I wave my hand gingerly at him. He catches my hand as I do, grabbing it and looking at my fingernails and the black polish. "That looks awesome. Could you do me?" he asks, eyes bright.
