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This is my first story and I spent three days writing the first chapter. I plan to update every week or sooner. Feel free to send me any banners, comment, or vote for my story(: I hope you guys like it!!!
"Maybe God has a bigger plan for me than I had for myself. Like this journey never ends. Like you were sent to me because I'm sick. To help me through all this. You're my angel."-A Walk to Remember
Leo
Everyday I walk down this street, seeing different faces flowing down the sidewalk. Many flashes of varied colors and shapes of the people filled my head that would only stay for a few seconds and disappear forever. It was fascinating to think that all these people have individual stories, personalities, and families I would never know about. Instead, I would only remember a fraction of the billions of people in this world.
It was upsetting to think about how big this world of people was compared to me. I was a spec in a huge wave of discrete human beings. Only a few were remembered worldwide but if I died right here, right now, none of these people would remember me. My death would affect no one but my friends and family who would eventually die, causing my existence to eventually disappear.
But I guess that was the purpose of life. It was an experience that humans had to make the most of for our own sake. To actually give ourselves a cause, a reason to be alive. If you didn't enjoy the life you lived then what would be the whole point? You don't get second chances and once you're gone the world would still continue without you.
I became overwhelmed trying to figure out the universe and it's purpose. I always had this debate going on in my head as I took my daily walk. It became a life motto for me that I didn't live forever so I needed to do everything I could to enjoy my stay here on Earth.
The only problem was I wasn't happy at all. I had moved away from all my family and friends in California. I lived by myself and spent four nights a week going out with the guys since I became 21. It was a continuous cycle of doing the same thing over and over again. Getting drunk at the club, waking up with a new girl almost everyday to help avoid the loneliness, taking a day to recover, and starting all over again.
I considered moving back to California to spend time with my father who had recently been diagnosed with cancer but all I would do is bring back disappointment. I was 23 who spent every night getting drunk and laid. I played professional basketball until I snapped my leg in half after landing a dunk during a game. Ever since I had been scarred and too terrified to play again.
My father never even improved of basketball as a career and thought I should've chosen the career path of a corporate lawyer.He knew I would eventually get too old to play basketball but corporate lawyers didn't have an age limit. He became a corporate lawyer at my age which made him become a millionaire and believe that I had to follow him in his foot steps. The issue was such a big deal to him that he never came to any of my basketball games and even stopped calling me once I broke my leg, proving his opinion right.
I got angry thinking about how my father could dump his own son and continued walking down Wall Street seeing unfamiliar faces wearing the same old suits and clothes until someone stood out to me. It was a girl with dark brown hair down to her waist who was wearing a very elegant and formal white dress that had lace on the top. It was so long that it reached past her ankles and was brown at the bottom from being dragged against the dirty New York sidewalk. All I could see on her face was black makeup running down her cheeks that was obviously caused by her tears. She looked like a mess and you could tell she was having an emotional breakdown.
As I walked closer towards her sitting on a bench, I realized it was Mike's sister, Naomi Alexander. I haven't seen her since high school when she moved away to go to some fancy performing arts school she had gotten a scholarship to. Back then she had braces and really bad acne,but now she had become some rich and famous actress.
Me, her, Mike, and Kay grew up together in California. I've only seen Mike about 20 times in the last five years. He didn't really have time to visit that much since he was busy with Kay and their wedding. They were getting married in a few weeks and he had asked me to be his best man. Mike didn't have that many other friends do to all his time he spent with Kay. I wonder if Naomi was going or if she even still talked to them after she became so busy with being a famous movie star.
I continued to sit down on the bench next to Naomi who didn't even notice me. "So is bridezilla the new look now?"
"Okay asshole for your information-" Naomi said intensely until she looked up and recognized me. She stared at me for a few seconds then wrapped herself around me hugging tightly like I died and came back to life. "Wow Leo. I see you haven't changed a bit."
She was completely different now. Although her face was covered in black, you could tell she was gorgeous. She had a straight, cute little nose, her once yellow crooked teeth were now sparkling white and perfect, even her cheekbones looked like they were sculpted by Picasso, but the most mesmerizing feature of her were her eyes. They were light sparkling pools of blue that I could swim in all night. Not only was her appearance flawless, she smelled perfect too. It was a mixture of vanilla and lemon making her smell like a sugar cookie. There was no question why she was famous, everything about her was captivating
"I wish I could say the same for you. Shouldn't you be hiding from the paparazzi? I'm sure they'd love to see this emotional wreck especially when you're all over me." She responded by quickly unraveling her arms around my sides and formed a smile on her beautiful face.
"I haven't seen you in five years and you're still the cocky douchebag from high school," The smile went away and she was looking across the street with a blank expression like she was thinking deeply,"I don't really care if they see, I've had a pretty bad day." Suddenly a tear rolled down her cheek.
I've never seen Naomi cry unless it was caused by a bee sting or she didn't get her way when we were younger. But this picture actually kind of hurt me. Although we haven't talked in years, it felt like we were still best friends and I still considered her my sister.
A few seconds passed until she spoke again. "I'm sorry Leo, It's my first time seeing you in years and I'm making it depressing." She tried laughing it off and wiped the tears from her face. Usually Naomi always had a smile on her face and it was so odd to see her hurt. She was one of the strongest people I knew and whatever happened to her must've been devastating.
Suddenly drops of rain started to fall and in a few minutes it would start pouring.
"Okay, come on. We're getting you inside. We can't afford to have America's favorite actress get sick." I stood up and grabbed her small hand that was covered in rings and bracelets that probably cost thousands. She even had her nails done that looked like a fortune.
She didn't resist and still continued to follow me. After dragging her down the sidewalk we walked into a small coffee shop called Rise and Grind as the smell of coffee hit our faces. I ordered an espresso while Naomi ordered green tea. We sat down at a blue booth in the corner where I usually sat. It was meant for a big group of people but with all the coffee shops in New York, this place wasn't always that busy.
"Okay, I'm going to be honest. I'm curious what a famous movie star like you is doing walking down Wall Street crying and wearing something like that but I'm kind of afraid to ask." I said once we sat down watching her take a napkin and wipe off her make up while looking in the side of a napkin holder.
"Stop calling me famous. I'm still the same old Naomi, Leo. Just less geeky." She took a sip of her tea and then continued again," Plus, it's kind of a long story. And I'm sure a guy like you would get bored and not understand."
" What do you mean a guy like me? I'm still the same old Leo, Naomi." I said mocking what she just said. She acted like she was superior to me or something just after telling me she was still the same and I found it offensive. What's so hard to understand, I'm not stupid.
"Exactly, you were the basketball team captain that fucked all the cheerleaders. You were the cockiest douchebag and still are. I wouldn't be surprised if you still fucked a new bitch every night." She said laughing.
A smirk formed on my face and I accepted who I was for once. " Yeah, I do fuck a new bitch every night. I'm 23, already a millionaire, and getting laid every night. Last time I checked, that was every guys dream." Suddenly a guy heard me as he was walking by and said," Hell yeah man!" and high fived me.
I leaned back in the booth with a smile on my face, crossed my arms, and acted like I was the shit while Naomi shrugged her shoulders then sipped her tea like she was the Kermit the frog meme. Usually I would drag it on but something about her made me let it go." Anyways, I thought we were talking about why you look like a toddler who just got into her mom's makeup."
She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "I guess I'll tell you but you have to stop making fun of me. " She took a deep breath to calm herself down before she spoke again," Today I went to a dinner party with Garrett, my boyfrie- well ex-boyfriend now. We dated for a year and 6 months and were even engaged. I was having fun at the party and all until I walked into a room and saw him," She paused for a minute while trying to hold back the tears and keep herself from choking up," I saw him making out with my best friend." Naomi gave up and let the tears flow while setting her beautiful face in her hands.
I've never been in love or knew what do when people cried so I just scooted closer towards her and rubbed her shoulder. Knowing Naomi she probably beat the shit out of one of them. Whenever we were kids and she got angry about something, she would punch and kick Mike and I."Please tell me you didn't just walk away. You had to at least hit one of them."
She lifted head up and wiped her face again while laughing like she got her revenge. "I had a glass of red wine in my hand and threw it all over that bitch's cream colored '15,000 dollar dress' then punched her right in her fake ass nose. I felt it crunch against my knuckles so I knew I broke it. While she was laying on the floor with her face bleeding, Garrett tried to grab me and tell me to stop. I turned around and kneed him in his balls which made him fall to the ground too. Then I spat in his face and walked out."
I couldn't help but die of laughter causing Naomi to crack up too. Every time Naomi felt disrespected by someone she never knew how to hurt them back emotionally so she did it physically.
Naomi stopped laughing and then looked at me with her eyes sparkling like diamonds." You know I thought that hurting them like that would make me feel better or take away some of my pain but what I'm feeling right now doesn't even compare to physical pain."
"Come here," I said grabbing her into a hug while she sobbed on my shoulder. We stayed in this position for a few minutes and I felt her tears soak my shirt. I didn't really care though. She needed someone and it was heartbreaking so see such a sweet and strong girl like Naomi hurting.
"Thanks for still treating me like you used to. I never know who to trust anymore ever since I became an actress but I know I can trust you, Leo. You're like a brother to me." Naomi leaned back and sniffled her nose.
The 6 official words of the friend zone automatically let me know my place. It's like this whole time I forgot I was supposed to keep a distance since I was Mike's best friend. I couldn't help but get sucked into the charming affects Naomi had obtained over the years. Those 6 words were a warning and I took the hint completely.
I scooted away making sure we were at least one foot apart. All of a sudden I lost all my control and put my arm around Naomi's neck and rubbed my knuckles against her head giving her a noogie. "Anything for my sister!"
Stupid ass. You're 23 and you just noogied a girl. It's like some sense of nervousness overcame my body and I freaked. I never do that. I'm Leo Riley the cocky asshole, I didn't give a shit what other people thought about me, especially girls. But there was something about Naomi that made me feel tense and I couldn't figure it out. We used to be best friends and I never felt this way around her. Maybe it's because she's famous.
After the noogie, Naomi had a confused look on her face and I tried my hardest to ignore the awkward situation. "Anyways...are you going to Mike's wedding?"
"Yeah he asked me to be his best man and I'm supposed to take a flight to California tomorrow. Are you going?" I asked Naomi curiously.
"Really? Kate asked me to be her maid of honor and I'm leaving tomorrow too!" Naomi's face was filled with excitement,"What time's your flight?"
"1 o'clock. I'm pretty sure. When's yours?" Please be one. Please be one. Suddenly I felt myself praying that we had the same flight.
"So is mine! We should definitely go together!" My heart started pumping with happiness and adrenaline rushed through my veins. Whatever the hell was going on with me needed to stop. Naomi is only my friend and has no interest in me at all. And Mike would kill us even if there was something.
I shook off the feeling and casually said," Sure, where do you live? I'll pick you up in the morning."
"Actually there's something I wanted to ask you."
"What?" I started to feel my nerves work up again and I couldn't tell if it was from excitement or fear because when a girl says that it's either good or bad.
"Can I crash at your place tonight? I really don't want to spend the night alone crying in a hotel room since me and Garrett live together. I just need a friend right now and the only ones I had betrayed me." A flicker of sadness reflected in her eyes.
I felt my subconscious arguing with me and telling me it would be torture to have her over. This feeling would strengthen, the more time I spent with her. But then again I was really great with self control and she really needed someone. Naomi was my childhood friend and I would be a dick if I said no.
"Yeah that's fine."