The group of teenagers standing there stared at me, wide-eyed. Two boys. Two girls. All of them painfully familiar.
"Brennan! It is Brennan!" one of the boys said, and then he was running at me.
I nearly fell over as he launched himself at me. I managed to steady myself and hugged him back.
"You crazy bastard!" he said, laughing. "You're not in jail!"
"Quinn! You're not in jail!" I said.
I felt two more pairs of arms fling around me. I looked at the girls as they hugged me, and smiled weakly.
The only one not hugging me had shifted closer, but he just stared at me in silence. I nudged the others off of me.
"Noah," I said.
Hearing me say his name seemed to break him out of his silent trance. He hurried forward and hugged me, so tight I almost winced.
"I'm sorry," he choked out. "I never...I didn't mean...You went down alone. I was there, but you went down alone."
"Hey," I said gently, hugging him back. "Did you get into that college you dreamed of?"
He nodded. "I got an acceptance letter. I'm heading there in August to move into my dorm."
"Then it was worth it," I said firmly. "I'd take the fall for all of you a thousand times. Ellie? Veronica?"
"You stupid bastard," Veronica said, whacking me in the back of the head before hugging me again. "Noah said the cops had showed up and caught you, and then we never heard from you again."
"We went to Ted's," Quinn said. "He told us you were being sent away to some Academy for problem kids. He said you weren't allowed to talk to us anymore and had changed your number."
"We had no way to reach you," Ellie said. "We were just glad the charges were dropped. Quinn wanted to turn himself in."
"You would've lost your scholarship," I said to Quinn, kicking him. "Besides, I did well for myself at that Academy for troubled kids." I gestured to my friends. "I met these guys there. That angry one with the yo-yo is Beckett, the guy with teal shoes is Fagan, the tired dude is Leon, and the girl is Tessa."
Leon frowned. "There are so many ways to describe me. I have auburn hair, Brennan. That's more descriptive than 'the tired dude'."
"Have you ever seen your own face? You're the tired one," I said.
He gave me that patiently exasperated look before turning to my friends. "Nice to meet you all."
"Are you staying with Ted again?" Noah asked.
I shook my head. "I moved back in with my folks. Things are still rough between us, but we're managing. I'm just here to visit."
"You weren't going to contact us." Ellie's voice was sad, but she gave me a small smile.
"You guys were my best friends," I said, hating the knot in my chest. "But I tend to cause trouble wherever I go. It's better if we just...If we just move on with our lives. Maybe someday we can meet up and laugh about what happened."
"Ted told me," Noah mumbled. "He told me that you said to move on."
I stepped back to my friends from the Academy and slipped my arm around Leon's waist again. "Things changed while I was at the Academy."
Noah smiled, sad but honest. "I'm really happy for you, Brennan. You seem to be in a much better place."
"I'm not sure I'd say he's in a better place," Fagan said. "He did almost get arrested. Again."
"Hey." I shot him a glare. "My dashing good looks saved me."
"Actually, my mom saved you," Leon said. "Your looks had nothing to do with it."
"My dashing good looks seduced you and your mom saved me because of it," I said. "Now shut up, tired dude."
"Hey, don't forget us, okay Brennan? Ten years from now we're going to hunt your ass down and have a reunion," Veronica said.
"Hell yea we are!" Quinn said. "So you better keep your sorry ass out of jail."
I smiled, though it felt sad. I'd always miss these guys. But too much had happened for me to be around them again so soon. Besides, they were right. I was in a better place now. I didn't want to risk slipping up and falling back into trouble. I loved them, but they were still itching to pick a fight around this town.
"Keep that sense of justice, Brennan." Noah met my eyes. "You made a difference. You really did."
"It was good to see you guys," I said honestly.
"I'm glad you're doing well," Ellie said.
"This is touching and all, but I'm hungry," Fagan said, wincing when Beckett smacked him with the yo-yo. "Ow! Beck, you know I hate sentimental moments."
"You also hate being a good person in general," Tessa said.
Beckett hit Fagan again. "You ruin everything, you know that?"
I laughed as I watched them, suddenly feeling in a great mood. I hadn't seen any of my friends since the night the cops caught me. This felt like the closure I'd longed for.
"I'll see you guys another day," I said, and maybe that day wouldn't come for years, but I was positive this wasn't a permanent goodbye.
They waved to me and I waved back to them. They'd be okay. I'd be okay. We'd made our difference here and now it was time for us to move on until we were in better places.
I took Leon's hand in mine and he gave me a small, tired smile. This certainly wasn't where I pictured myself being several months ago. But I was damn glad I was here with these people.
Prompt #4
Start from the beginning
