Alive and Shattered

Alive and Shattered: Chapter Twenty Five {Dylan's POV}

Dylan’s POV

“Adena!” I called after her,  watching her run away from me. I wanted to chase after her so bad, but I knew it would be hopeless. I didn’t think she would ever forgive me now. I really messed up.

But I couldn’t just ignore Jackie. Jackie has done so much for me. She is nice at times too...when she wants to be. She is pretty. That’s a good thing. She hates tomatoes like me, so we have stuff in common.

“Dylan!” Jackie’s annoyed voice echoed into the night. I reached down and grabbed the bracelet off the ground before turning around and trailing Jackie back into the gymnasium. I hoped that I had made the right decision. “Before I dance with you, I want to take pictures with Brooke. Kyleigh's been a pain lately. So yeah, wait here for a couple minutes. Be back!”

Standing alone to the side, I watched as Jackie left. But I didn’t really care. I couldn’t get the look in Adena’s eyes off my mind. It was horrible to have to see her like that.

Should I have told her how I felt? Should I have left Jackie there and ran off with Adena?

All I knew for sure was that I wanted a drink. Or two.

“Dylan!” Grady came running up to me. “What’s up?” I was still at a loss for words, so I couldn’t speak “What’s wrong?” He wondered.

“I…” I started, not knowing exactly how to tell him that I broke Adena’s heart.

“Where’s Adena? I haven’t seen her in a while. I wanted to keep an eye out for her since this is her first dance.”

“She left.”

“What? And you let her?” Grady snapped.

“Jackie showed up and Adena said I had to chose one of them and I couldn’t just-” Before I could finish Grady was already heading towards the door. "Where are you going?" I asked him. He didn't even allow me to finish my sentence before darting off. "Grady?" I questioned, walking after him. He stopped and turned to me.

"You wanna know something? You’re an idiot."

"What?"

"Ever since your mom died, you haven't been the same. Sure, you've pretended you are and you would laugh at other people's jokes, but we all knew you were dead inside. And Jackie? She... well, did nothing to help! And then Adena came along and guess what? She changed your life. You were happy again. And what did you do about it? You let her walk away."

"Grady-"

"Think about Dylan. What has Jackie done for you? Gotten you a scholarship. Adena? She brought back the old Dylan from the dead, dude. She got you to stop drinking and brought something up to your dad you were too scared to tell him yourself. Think about it!" Grady snapped, walking away.

I stood there for a moment, processing what he had just said.

Adena. Just her name made me smile.

I thought of talking to her for the first time. Hearing her laugh had made me laugh. I thought of all the times we talked, laughed, and had fun. I thought of Adena breaking down, and I thought of myself holding her. I thought of kissing Adena and the sparks it sent through my body. Holding her up in my arms as we won the balloon toss and kissing her in the parking lot. Seeing her face light up as I gave her the bracelet and seeing her come down stairs in her dress.

Looking down at the bracelet in my hands, I read the words to myself. It is by chance that we met, by choice that we became friends.

It was by choice. My choice. Holding the bracelet in my palm, I knew I had made the wrong choice.  I had started towards the front door when Jackie grabbed onto my hand and pulled me back.