Hey everyone! First off, I'd like to thank you all for nearly 13k views!!! Please keep it up, I love seeing the numbers and all your votes and comments :)
I'd like to tell you guys that I'm going through a lot at the moment, with depression and such, and that I regret to inform that this will probably be the last update for a week or so, as I'm currently in the process of getting helpð
Thank youse so much for sticking with me for LWB! I love you guys and if I'm feeling better I'll post another update soonð
Chapter Sixty-Five: "Last Day."
IT'S SATURDAY, my official last day here in Los Angeles.
Dinner with the boys turned out to be exactly what I needed, so I ended up going to school for my last day. Stacy seemed to stay clear out of my way, and so did Taylor. Honestly, I haven't seen him since I stormed out of the café on Monday. I don't know why we're fighting again, but it all just seems to be drama, so I'm kind of happy that I'm heading back to Canada to clear my head. Sure it'll probably not help enough, but finding that one cliff during the middle of the night when Landon and I shared our first kiss, definitely cleared my mind and I'll no doubt spend a lot of my time thereâirregardless of the temperature.
Since yesterday was my last day at the school, I decided to be exactly who I was coming into the country again: I wore country attire, and instead of wearing contacts like I have for the past month, I wore my glasses. People mistook me for someone else considering I looked so different, but they were really surprised when they finally caught on to who I was. I didn't even wear makeup, and I think that's what threw everyone off because every girl looks different without being disguised in beauty supplies, and that was me.
Actually, I accidentally bumped into Taylor yesterdayâthe same way I bumped into him my first day back at the school. This time, however, he didn't seem to notice who I was. He studied me, which made me extremely nervous, but I think I caught him off too well because he seemed like I was recognizable but couldn't put his finger on it.
Today, my friends and I decided to have one final goodbye lunch at my house. I'm not one for cooking, so really it consisted in us buying Chinese takeout, but we all were completely fine with it.
They insisted that I have the night to myself to pack and relax for the long plane ride, but I assured them it was fine. However, they were stubborn so now I'm stuck figuring out dinner for myself in a mere ten hours.
Justin had invited Selena to come, who they have now become official since the day after they slept together.
The group was right about Jody and Jason; lately, they haven't been able to keep their hands off one another for more than a minute, which is disturbing because they nearly get to third base before one of us yells at them and demands they keep their PDA to an extreme minimum or get out so they can fondle somewhere else and not scar memories.
Casey and Lacey as far as I know have worked on their relationship. Remember when I said that they were an on-again-off-again couple who always argued? Yeah, well they've been doing a lot better. They haven't had any major fights in months, but they still bicker constantly. Lacey has improved on not breaking up with him every time they fought or he hurt her somehow, because it was always Lacey who broke up with him, and it was always Lacey who came crying, begging for him to take him back.
Of course, Casey couldn't resist because he's in love with her, and he knows how much of an over-reactor Lacey is and doesn't really bat an eyelid when she dumps him heatedly.
Johnny's date with the girl who is still unknown went to shit, apparently. Turns out, she has a foot fetish and Johnny was disgusted by his feet in general so that was a turn-off for him. She also apparently had a man-stache, so he escaped as soon as he could.
And for myself?
Well, we already know that answer: Landon is still ignoring me no matter how many times I've tried to call him, and I've been ignoring Taylor.
It's hard for me to figure out my emotions currently. I've always loved Taylor, and that love has increased since we had sex, but it feels more of a friend-love than romance. It's hard to explain, but since I've started taking my medication again, my thoughts have started clearing and everything we've done has disturbed me indefinitely. There's still parts of us that still stick from our past that we can't get away from or move onâespecially together. I still have eating problems, depression, and nightmares that are accompanied by panic attacks, and he still doesn't know when to shut up and is a stubborn ass even more than he was before.
Whereas for Landon and I, it's something different. I can't say I love him because I don't, but there's definitely a connection there that I haven't felt with Taylor; it's new and foreign and it's what draws me to him. I haven't figured Landon out yet, but that's one of the reasons why I like him so much; he's mysterious.
Needless to say, if I can get him to speak to me, or even hear me out, I'll do what it takes to save our relationship and if it doesn't work, it doesn't work.
Stripping out of my PJs and into my shower, I scrub the grub and slime off my body and freshen up. I'm not making the effort to dress up, but I'm going to be decent looking.
Grabbing white denim short shorts and an over-the-shoulder grey shirt, I slip into them once I'm dry. Brushing my hair and teeth, I quickly apply some faint makeup and then turn the light off when I'm done.
I grab my purse and glasses, slipping them on since I already packed my contact lenses into my suitcase, and close my door. I walk the twenty minutes to the restaurant we'll be eating at. It's called Nico's, and they serve food from several different places: Mexican, Italian, British, French, Chinese, and they even have a couple German and Polish dishes. It's a fancy five-star restaurant but it's also a five-star burn in your wallet, which I guess is why middle-class people and higher eat here. I think the cheapest item on here is the salads, which are $15 for a smallâdefinitely not cheap food, that's for sure, but it's certainly worth the price.
Walking in after thanking a middle-aged man for holding the door open for me, I scan around and see four of my friends seated at a large booth at the back of the restaurant.
"Hey guys." I greet. Lacey, Johnny, Jason and Jody are seated at the table, glasses of water placed in front of them. "Where are the others?"
"Casey had 6:30 practice this morning, so he'll be here around nine thirty." Lacey explains, and I glance down at my phone, seeing that it's just after nine.
"Justin's on his way, he just texted a few minutes ago saying he just picked up Selena." Johnny says. I nod silently and sit down beside him.
Twenty minutes later, and all eight of us are here.
"Cheers to my dear JâLo and surviving her first few months of harsh Canadian environment!" Justin says loudly, holding out his virgin Caesar. I chuckle and a blush forms on my cheeks, but nevertheless I hold out my Strawberry virgin daiquiri, clinking glasses with him then everyone else.
"Cheers!" They all chant in unison.
"So, what are you going to do when you get back?" Casey asks.
I shrug. "Survive another seven months," I say sarcastically. "But I don't know. I'm hoping they'll bump me to senior by next semester. The school already has a possible timetable for me in case it does happen."
"What are your marks at now?" Jody asks.
"Low nineties. I have a high ninety or two." I tell her.
"Wait, you're older?" Selena questions confusedly.
"No, just smarter." I explain, nudging Johnny teasingly.
"I'm still confused?"
"I was ahead a grade but then I got held back so now we're currently in the same grade. But now my marks are going up again so I'll maybe be able to get bumped up again."
"So you're supposed to be in grade twelve but now you're in grade eleven like you're supposed to just because you. . . lost your intelligence?" She repeats.
"More like lost her mind," Johnny mutters.
I ignore him. "Yes."
"Wow." She breathes. "That's rough."
A half hour later our food arrived. An hour after that, we were all finished and split the bill down the middle.
"Well it was very nice meeting you, Brooklyn." Selena says happily, shaking my hand outside the restaurant. "It sucks we couldn't hangout more. Justin's said so much."
"Likewise." I smile. "I should be back by summer, though."
"Well, hopefully until summer then!" She giggles.
Justin smiles adoringly and looks at me. "I'm gonna bring her home, but I'll swing by tonight before you go to bed, okay?"
I nod, giving him a small smile and watching them walk away contently. I'm happy Justin's finally found a girl who likes him a lot. He's had a rough time settling down but hopefully now this will change. He seems really happy with Selena and as long as she treats him well like he deserves, all should be well and they should live happily ever after.
Spinning back around I glare strongly at the couple before me. "Seriously?! Take that somewhere else!" I snap, pinching Jody's butt, making her yelp and pull away.
"Ouch! Brooklyn, what was that for?" She groans.
"Tongue to yourself until you're both alone and behind closed doors." I scold. "That's disgusting."
"So who's down for bowling?" Johnny exclaims, chiming in excitedly. "There's this alley down the road that has colourful shoes and I want to try the pink ones to see how hot I look!"
***
"I hate this place."
I look up at Johnny in amusement, chuckling at how disgusted he looks.
"These make my feet look fat!" Johnny protests. "Not to mention they make me look gay. Which, I'm not, by the way."
"Mhm." I hum. He never had luck with girls; I'm not going to be surprised if he starts batting for the other team anytime soon.
"Hey, you look no better." He taunts, pointing at my green shoes. "Those make you look like a goblin."
"Yours makes you look like a unicorn puked on your feet." I shoot back.
"Unicorns are awesome!" He says.
"And goblins aren't?"
"Will you two shut up?" Casey growls, glaring at us from the end of the lane. "I'm trying to bowl here." He continues to throw the ball, getting it in the gutter for the nth time. "Great, look what you guys did. You made me lose focus!"
I scoff. "You must've lost focus an hour ago because you haven't gotten anymore than six pins down."
He points a finger at me. "You're no better. You haven't gotten a spare yet."
"I'm not trying."
"Well try!" He exclaims. "Besides, you think your A-game with bowling is up to professional standards."
"Hey, I never said I was good at bowling," I giggle. "Frankly, I'm as good as a professional floor-hugger."
"Those don't exist."
"Exactly." I smirk.
He looks at me confusedly, trying to figure out what it is I said. He then shakes his head and stomps to us and sits down between Lacey and Jason.
"Your turn." He says to Jody, who smiles and struts up to grab a navy blue bowling ball, and walks to the lane, throwing the ball in boredom.
She gets a strike.
"Bowling assistance!" Casey yells, making me shrink back in my seat at the attention he's drawing. There's a good amount of people here, even though it's Saturday afternoon, and I've been trying to be invisible for these past few days.
"Casey, shut up!" I hiss.
"No." He hushes me. "Bowling assistance! We have a problem!"
I look out of my peripheral and see a person dressed in red with the bowling alley's name on the front.
He walks up to us, examining everyone and trying to figure out who yelled for help. "Yes?" He asks curiously. He's quite attractive, but he's definitely got at least five years on me.
"I demand a new lane. This one is haunted or rigged and actually isn't working properly and up to my standards!"
The guy looks around at us in confusion, his eyes full of puzzlement after he goes through checking the maintenance on the lane. "I'm sorry, but the lane is fine. Maybe try using the rails, or even getting some bowling lessons."
I immediately start giggling at how Casey's demand just got thrown back in his face and Casey glares at me for picking the side that isn't his. The bowling guy looks at me, and a warm smile makes his way onto his face. I return it.
"I think it's best we put the rails up for his turn." I chuckle.
The guy chuckles too, "Yeah, I'll set that up. Have a good time."
"You too!"
Casey glares at me again. "You're so uncool."
***
"Come on, hurry up. Open up!"
The pounding at my door increases and gets louder. Quickly throwing a towel around myself, I rush down the steps and peek through the peephole to see who it is.
After bowling and Casey throwing a fit for getting last for the fourth time, we called it quits around three and I walked home. I lounged around for a few hours before taking a shower, but that shower had to be cut short because someone was banging on my door for five minutes straight.
Seeing that it's my best friend, I throw the thick oak open. "I was in the shower, you know." I glare.
"Yeah, I see that." He shrugs nonchalantly, inviting himself inside. "Anyway, I'm freaking out, and you're going to help me."
I look at him in bewilderment. "Okay? But this couldn't have waited a half hour?"
"No. Because then I'd be freaking out more." He says, rolling his eyes, throwing his shoes off in different directions.
"Why are you freaking out?" I question, closing the door behind him.
He sighs and takes a deep breath, finally turning to look at me. "Selena wants to take me home."
"So how is that a bad thing?" I question again.
"We've been going around for a couple months now but her parents are eager to meet the guy who makes their daughter happy." He explains.
"I'm still not seeing the problem here."
"I'm nervous as shit!" He exclaims. "I don't know how to react in front of parents."
"Treat it as the same way you first met mine." I suggest.
"That's different." He argues.
"And how is that different?" I grumble, crossing my arms over my chest.
"I wasn't screwing you." He simply states, making me instantly shut up.
"Touché." I chirp. "But still, treat them the same, just don't say anything that could hint off that their daughter is getting tapped under the sheets."
He glares at me. "Not helping."
"I don't know what else to say," I chuckle. "I did just what I told you to do when I met Taylor's parents and it worked fine."
"But you weren't having sex with him."
"I was orally," I correct, "but that didn't mean I needed to act differently."
"I don't know," he says nervously. "What if I make a bad impression?"
"Are you hearing yourself?" I say. "Justin, you're literally the nicest person I've ever met. They'll be blind not to love you."
"You really mean that?"
"Dude, of course." I slap him. "There's nobody I've known yet that doesn't like you."
"You don't," he teases.
"I love you, so I don't count." I grin.
He steps closer to me and grips my arms, dipping me, causing me to gasp. "You do?"
I giggle, and he winks before placing me back on my feet. "Deeply." I say flirtatiously while adjusting my towel that started to come undone.
He sits down on the arm of the couch. "I love you too, dear best friend of mine."
"Seriously, just treat them like you did my folks, though. It works wonders." I tell him after a while.
He nods finally, acknowledging my advice. "Okay, fine. But if they find out, your ass is mine, literally."
"I'll even hand it to you on a silver platter for emphasis." I joke, and he shakes my hand.
"You, my dear JâLo, are going to be severely missed come tomorrow."
I frown. "I know. You all will be, too."