32
Second Chance
Here's my soul to keep
I let you in with all that I can
You're not hard to reach
And you bless me with the best gift
That I've ever known
You give me purpose
Yeah, you've given me purpose
—Purpose
Justin Bieber
ROAMING THROUGH the park casually, Raymond looked around the surroundings and felt a sense of nostalgia as he remembered his football days and what a ropy captain he was. All the kids hated him. But he got the team to victory and in the end, that's all that mattered.
Simple days.
Now you bark at someone and they can as much as sue you for indecent behaviour. Life wouldn't have been this giving had he remained his child self.
Even though it seemed as if he wasn't winning at life right now, he was still a better version of himself. Sad optimistic thought Raymond. Great going.
Raymond sighed as he sat on a nearby bench and looked at the different types of swings the place had now. In his time, it was just a couple of slides, a see-saw and the swings. Now they got merry-go-round, a rope climber, and other new stuff that made Raymond feel a bit old.
Raymond was staring into nowhere when he felt a presence beside him.
"I knew we shall meet again." A familiar voice made Raymond turn towards it and feel an almost primitive blood boiling sensation.
Raymond stood up and sneered at the tan man and glared at him thinking how could he dare to show up in front of him after all these years.
"Calm down, I ain't here to get myself kicked." Edward looked at Raymond and resisted to roll his eyes. Raymond's anger towards him was deadly. But he was the closest to her that he could find.
The same green eyes and the same face that could kill you and love you and you would gladly let it all consume you.
Edward smiled slightly at Raymond and patted the seat on the bench beside him.
"It has been long, hasn't it?" Edward peered around the park and sighed with relief. A relief that was as temporary as life. He would know.
Raymond knitted his eyebrows and sensed a change in the man he used to know so well once upon a time.
This man didn't have devilish smirk, those challenging eyes and that dark feel.
This man looked as if he was the personification of acceptance.
As if he was much higher at life than him. He looked so put right that it unravelled Raymond a bit. He seemed at...peace.
And somehow Raymond decided to let go of that anger and just sit beside this man whose only thing that seemed familiar was his face. Rest all appeared distinct from what he knew of him.
"Its has been five years. Jason would have been five now." Edward sighed and smiled at Raymond though his eyes reflected a tinge of longing. And likewise, the smile reflected some high emotion that Raymond just couldn't comprehend.
"Yeah." Raymond stared dubiously at the man and leaned back on the bench. Raymond decided he could beat him up later.
"You know, it's quite strange that for the very reason Laurel let me go, that was the least important thing in life. And something that you could have anywhere. But it's obtruded by the world one can never recognise unless...unless you do." Edward sighed and blinked into some kind of trance. As if he was somewhere else.
"Laurel let you go?" Raymond narrowed his eyes at him.
Edward pursed his lips and glanced at Raymond with a look that reflected so much pain that it made him uncomfortable.
"It doesn't matter who let go of whom. What matters is that whatever happened, something good must be made out of it." Edward stood up and turned to smile at Raymond. Raymond was stunned. This man. He was otherworldly. He couldn't-
"What happened to you? You seem different." Raymond was starting to have a headache with the number of questions racing through his mind and the underlying pain of his sister that Edward just threw around without thinking.
"I realised what it is all about. Life." Edward took a deep breath and put a hand on Raymond's shoulder.
"Come by the school, whenever you feel like it." Edward nodded and turned to leave.
"What school?" Raymond exasperated. He felt as if he was illiterate all of a sudden.
"The Laurel Life School. Where we teach the true meaning of life. For free." Edward smiled.
"School? You created a school?" Raymond blinked. A sense of respect swelling his heart all of a sudden.
"When I came for my schooling at the best university on the continent, I realised that's not what I wanted." Edward sat down on the bench and put a hand on his heart. "I was heartbroken and at a loss of meaning when I saw Laurel that day..."
"You were at the hospital?" Raymond whispered.
"I was in the ambulance." Edward looked down and took a deep breath.
"I used to keep a check on her. Follow her like a creep from time to time. She knew it." Edward chuckled and squeezed his eyes shut.
"I was too late that day Raymond. I was too late." Edward's eyes glossed over and Raymond's eyebrows etched up and before he knew it, he pulled Edward into a hug.
"I realised I sacrificed the two most important people in my life for something that lost its meaning the moment I realised that." Raymond wiped Edward's tears. He looked at Edward with a newfound appreciation.
"I am so sorry I left you alone. I didn't even realise-that you lost so much too. I might have lost a sister, but you lost a family." Raymond looked at Edward with eyes etched with guilt.
"That fact that you acknowledged that is enough for me, brother." Edward nodded and wiped the remnants of tears away.
"I am so sorry." Raymond's face twisted in pain and he put his face in his hands.
"We both are sorry, but it was vital that we said that to each other, right?" Edward nodded and smiled at Raymond.
Raymond knitted his eyebrows and nodded.
"You're right." He whispered.
"People seem to say that from time to time." Edward chuckled.
Raymond shoved him playfully and they both laughed.
Raymond's phone vibrated and he checked the phone.
"Go," A look of understanding spread across Edward's face and Raymond nodded at him.
"I'll be back. And I need VIP entry in that school." Raymond stood up and smiled at Edward.
Edward shook his head as he watched his oldest friend run for something he never could.
And Edward knew that's what life was about.
And his job was done successfully.
***
A/n: We all have an Edward in us, let's use that for ourselves and others from time to time.
P.s. I just discovered that Utah and Ohio give mental health day leaves to students like, it's a legible reason for absence from school. To say that I am jealous would be an understatement. But seriously, why aren't more states and countries doing this!?
P.s.s. I updated two days in a row! And it's my birthday tomorrow! Hence, I deserve a hug lol. Drop this 🤗 in the comments or just type hug and I'll hug you back!!
~Ria
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