Chapter 16

6 years ago

2 weeks before

The sea sparkled in the sunlight, making it appear as if hundreds of little diamonds were thrown around each time he splashed through the water. Alyssa and Josh were well on their way to being soaked. But that was mainly because they were each other's target. Carter just stood there and laughed at his friends as they chased each other through the glittering water.

It was summer, and the last school week had just begun, concluding Carter's last week of Middle School in Hayland, and his last week of summer in Port Hayland. The fact that this was really the case, saddened Carter, but he wanted to enjoy his last moments with his friends in full happiness.

He looked at Josh and Alyssa. Their happy laughter filled the air and Carter couldn't help but laugh along with them. Alyssa's curls danced around each time she ran through the water to dodge Josh's splashes and the skirt of her dress was completely drenched.

"Don't just stand there!" Alyssa called out to Carter splashed some water at him. Carter giggled and splashed some back at her.

"Sorry," he said. "I just liked what I saw."

Alyssa and Josh stopped splashing the water and looked at the other, probably noticing his sudden sadness.

Alyssa then let out an audible huff before she walked closer to Carter. "You know," she said. "My mother once told me that the sea connects every single country, every single land and therefore every single person with each other. Underneath every land, there is water. So stop whining about being separated from us, okay?"

Carter smiled. He knew this was Alyssa's way of comforting someone, even though it wasn't appreciated by some people.

Alyssa then splashed water in Carter's face again and grinned. "We'll be friends forever, okay? You won't be gone forever, right? Maybe after high school, you can come back, and we'll be together again. Just stop being sad, okay? We'll never stop being your friends."

Now

At the end of the day, when classes were over and students were gathering their books and jackets from their lockers, Carter walked through the hallway, looking for a particular blonde girl. Melanie had told him where her locker was when they met in the hallway a few minutes ago. He just hoped Alyssa hadn't already left. If she had, then Carter would go to her house. He still knew where she lived, after all.

Thouh that appeared to not be necessary when he saw her grabbing books from her locker. He quickly walked up to her, a little nervous about talking to her after their fight but he knew he had to.

"Alyssa," he said and stopped at the locker next to her. "Hey, can we talk for a moment?"

Alyssa appeared to be a little surprised to see Carter talking to her, but she closed her locker and nodded her head. "Yeah, sure," she said and hung her backpack over her shoulder. "But not here. Let's go to the auditorium."

"The auditorium?" Carter asked, though he walked along with her when he was pulled by his wrist. It was rather crowded in the hallway now, with all the students retreating outside to the busses and cars, and Carter had to sometimes squeeze himself through a few students in order to keep up with the just slightly shorter blonde. He wasn't exactly tall. Most of the people who knew him would even call him short.

Carter had never been in the auditorium before, nor did he ever feel the need to enter or visit one to see what it looked like, but now that he was inside, he thought it looked really nice.

Rows of chairs formed half a circle around the large stage at the very back and even though it was dark, the light lit up just enough to see everything clearly.

They went to sit down at one of the many rows of chairs, looking out at the stage. There was nobody there besides them, and it was pleasantly silent.

"I'm in the Drama Club, by the way," Alyssa spoke. "I spend quite a lot of time here, helping with the decorations and practicing for plays."

"I see," Carter replied. "Sounds nice."

"It is nice."

Carter wasn't exactly sure how to start the conversation, so he figured he'd best just get to it. "Alyssa," he started off, "I'm sorry about what I said yesterday. I mean, you were right, I don't know what I'm talking about. I was away for too long and I wasn't there when everything happened, so I had no right of telling you that you didn't understand the situation. I mean, I don't even understand everything myself. I'm trying to understand it more, but I still don't," Carter spoke, staring at the stage in front of them. "However, what I said was what I had experienced five years ago. It's not my place to say much about it, but for me, that was the truth."

Alyssa sat up a little, resting her arms on her lap. "The point is, I also don't understand what has been going on," she answered. "I was frustrated, because I thought I did know what had been going on with Josh, and that I had helped him get happier. Though ever since the news came out that you were moving back, and Josh suddenly became more closed, I started having my doubts. I started to fear that there was more going on than what I had thought I had solved. And yesterday night, I guess my fears got confirmed." Alyssa turned and looked at Carter. "You know what he told me after I had asked him "why?"? He said that he couldn't tell me, because he didn't want to hurt me."

Carter gazed back at Alyssa, whose green eyes suddenly looked a lot more serious than usual.

"I was supposed to be his girlfriend, right? I thought I had made him happier and that I managed to make his problems disappear," Alyssa said after she had looked away. "I tried to tell myself that it was just because I wasn't sexually attractive enough, because I didn't want to accept the truth. But I knew that that was nonsense of course. I mean look at me," Alyssa said and her lips formed a teasing smile.

Carter chuckled at her joke but he knew she was right. Alyssa was beautiful, and he was sure she was very well aware of that herself.

"Look, I'm sorry for the things I said to you. I was frustrated and angry, and I said some nasty things," Alyssa continued. "I just want you to know that we really missed you here. And as much as I tried to be there for him, Josh needed you the most. I think he still does."

Carter fiddled with his fingers. He wanted to help him now that he was back, he really did want to, but he didn't know how. He was just a normal boy, not a superhero with all sorts of special powers.

Alyssa and Carter walked back towards the busses afterwards. Though Alyssa had taken her mother's car to school, so they had to part ways there.

"By the way," Alyssa said before Carter could get on the bus. "I'll be throwing a Halloween party next week," she told him. "Tell Josh that he's invited as well if you see him."

"Sure," Carter smiled and waved at her before he also got onto the bus. Right now, he was just glad that he was on good terms again with Alyssa. But he still wondered where Josh had been all day, and what was going on with him. Even though he kept having more and more questions, he felt that at least he was on the right path.

+++

The following day, which was Friday, Josh did show up at maths class, to Carter's joy but also slight surprise. He had expected him to not wanting to deal with the drama just a little longer. But then again, Josh had always been the type to face his fears head-on.

Carter had already taken his usual seat in the classroom and looked up at Josh when he approached. Though to his surprise, Josh didn't sit next to him. Instead, he walked to the empty desk at the back of the classroom. Carter gave a glance and them and their eyes briefly met before Josh looked away.

Carter turned back again, confused why he didn't sit next to him, as well as a little sad. Did he do something wrong? Maybe Alyssa had told Josh about what Carter had told her, but it didn't seen like Alyssa had talked to him after what had happened that night.

After class was over, Carter wanted to walk up to Josh but he had already dissappeared within the crowded hallway. He looked up, trying to see if he could spot him, and he cursed at himself for being so damned short.

It was during lunch break, two classes later, that he saw him again. He sat at the table of Chris and Paxton and Carter placed his tray of lunch on the table to sit with them as well, not entirely sure what to say.

"Carter! Just in time to hear the big news!" Paxton smiled when he sat down. Carter looked at him to hear what the apparent big news was. "Chris finally asked Melanie out!" he said, patting Chris on his shoulder.

"It's not that big of a deal," Chris said. "We're just going out for diner and a movie tomorrow evening."

"Dude, that is a big deal! You have no idea how long I've been trying to get you two to date. My hard work is finally paying off."

Carter smiled at Paxton's excitement. He gave a glance at Josh who also appeared to be amused by the conversation of the other two.

"By the way, have you guys decided as what you're going to dress up to Alyssa's Halloween party?" Paxton asked.

That reminded Carter. "That's right, you're also invited, Josh," he told the blond male and Josh turned to him.

"Ah, well, I'm not sure if it's a good idea for me to go," he replied. "Not exactly on good terms with her."

"Oh come on," Chris said. "If Alyssa really hated you, she wouldn't have invited you. Just go, it will be fun. You'd make a great vampire."

Josh made a small smile and let out a huff. "Nah, I don't think I'll dress up if I come. I'll just be there for the embarrassing moments," he said.

"Why don't we go together?" Carter then suddenly asked. Like that, he'd be sure that he would also come. "I kind of forgot how to get to Alyssa's house. It's been a while," he added, giving an awkward smile.

Josh looked at him and Carter hoped he wasn't able to see through his excuse. "...Sure. That's fine," he said. "But like I said, don't expect me to dress up."

Carter shrugged. "I probably won't really dress up either. Maybe just wear black or dark clothing."

He gave a glance at Josh again who had gone back to eating his lunch, and somewhere, Carter swore that he could see a faint smile on his lips.