RUNNING
FOR MILES
It's been two weeks, fifteen days, three hundred and thirty-six hours and one million, two hundred nine thousand, six hundred seconds since I was supposed to see my best friend, Lila Hayes, at school, her first one back since her mother had unfortunately passed away.
It's managed to be quite possibly the worst and most boring two weeks of my life. School has been so boring and dull, it's like when Lila left all of the color and happiness, well as much happiness there could be within a person at school, had taken it along with her when she stepped her last foot off of the school's cold, grey, cement.
Well, there were a few things that had managed to happen during the two weeks of no Lila, one was my tattoo being covered, the ugly ink of Boston's initials were finally gone, instead it was replaced with a beautiful blue monarch butterfly and two being Hale and I having sex and saying the L word.
I wouldn't take it back at all if anything I would relive that day over and over again but I guess all good things do come to an end and at this end it went back to being slightly boring and dull.
Even though I was feeling like the human version of 'death' or well a zombie just empty and barley living I continued to push myself to go to school. I didn't want to go, not one little bit but there was no way I was going to leave Hale all by himself at school.
Pretty much every single one of my teachers had given me a warning for sleeping in their class but there was one or two that made me go to detention after school, which made me feel even more dead inside. I was very thankful that the two times I had to stay back for detention were days that Hale had Lacrosse practice, so afterwards we would just meet at his car and then go to his, where he would later drop me off or let me stay.
Hale hates admitting it but he hates being alone, especially now, with no Lila or Lakyn. But I guess that makes the both of us as I would way rather be with someone even if we aren't doing anything, I think I just like knowing that I'm not by myself and that there is someone near to protect me or something like that due to some post-traumatic stress and anxiety that Boston had scarred within me.
But Hale and I both had managed to have found refuge within each other's company.
Another thing or well person, I should say, that had managed to make school horrible was Poppy Huntington. She waltzed around school as if she was the one running the place, as if she was Lila. It's like she thinks all because Lila's gone it means that she has the right to try and become the new Lila Hayes.
But an odd thing had happened at school, I actually didn't hate being around Blaire. I mean she's a sly and shady person, I mean you can literally see the bad intentions falling out of her mind. But like I had said I didn't hate being around her, she was actually nice and not as annoying as usual.
She mainly talked about shoes and bags at lunch which didn't amuse me one little bit, it actually managed to put Hale to sleep. It was kind of good just having her talk and talk as it helped me stop thinking about how it feels so wrong sitting at out lunch table with no Lila or Lakyn.
Also, during these last few weeks Truman has been over to my place a few times after school. We both mainly just sit on my bed and watch some old boring movie that Tru picks out every time, it's boring but I mean at least I'm not alone.
I'm missing Lila so much right now that I think I'm going insane. It's like I miss her so much that I'm trying to find bits of her within the people around me and I guess I've found slight small thing but not enough to satisfy how much I am longing to have her back.
But today was a little different, as today is the day of Lila's mother's funeral.
All morning I was trying to get ready for the sad occasion, I couldn't figure out what to wear to my best friends' mother's funeral. You would think it would be incredibly easy for me to choose something to wear as my closet is pretty much all black.
I settled with a black t-shirt dress and black converse instead of my normal white ones. I had my hair in its natural state which today was up in a messy bun. Hale on the other hand was in a nice black suit and matching black shoes, while his hair was gelled back, but on his face, he had blacked out sunglasses.
He looked extremely hot but I had to keep in mind that we were going to a funeral and that I had to hold myself back from tearing his clothes off of him and jumping his bones every few minutes.
My eyes had searched for my two-favorite people, I spotted Lila who was sitting Lakyn and an older looking lady. I'm pretty sure that was Lilly Westbrook, Lakyn's mother. Lilly has honey blonde hair that is just beneath her shoulder, she has pale skin much like Lakyn's, it must be where he got it from.
I've heard so much about Lilly Westbrook. She's apparently the most loving and caring human being that Lila has ever met, which is hard to believe as judging by the way lakyn is so cold and rude you would kind of suspect his parents are slightly the same.
The funeral ceremony was slow, much like a bus, taking a million different detours yet all still connected to the one place it was set on arriving too. Everyone seemed to have had a different memory of Alison to share or well to remember. As I looked around the service room there were a million or so people that I could hardly recognize especially as they were all wearing an assortment of black clothes, while their white waxy faces, looked out over at the front of the room where the coffin sat with their red puffy eyes.
It was around one in the gloomy afternoon that the funeral service had ended and then it was time for, Hale, Mr. Hayes, and several other men assisting to carry the casket over to the graveyard near the church.
I held onto Hale's arm while we looked down into the six-foot grave, as the coffin was lowered down into the ground, I looked up at him as his eyes were kept hidden behind his dark sunglasses, I could just imagine the tears welling up into his eyes.
Once the funeral had finished, everyone had climbed back into their cars and left, I searched around the crowd for my two blonde haired friends, as all I wanted to do was wrap Lila into my arms and maybe even give Lakyn a small hug as well.
I came up short very fast as I wasn't able to spot either of them under the small tent that shielded us all from the sun. A frown made its way onto my face as I had realized they weren't here and must have left while Alison had been lowered down into her grave, not too long ago.
"Where the fuck did they go?" Hale swore which aren't him a glare from an old lady who seemed to disgusted by his choice of words.
I sent her an apologetic smile as I looked up at him, "I Have no idea." I said equally confused as he was, on the whereabouts of our friends.
He shook his head as he fished his phone out of his pocket, he unlocked it and tapped onto the phone app and then scrolled around in his contacts to find a contact that I guess was either going to be Lila Hayes or Lakyn Westbrook.
After a call or two hale had finally got through to either Lakyn or Lila, I was hoping it was Lakyn over Lila as I majorly wanted to speak with her, I wanted to tell her everything, my tattoo, how far Hale and I have gone and how incredibly much I miss her.
The phone call was short as hale had only spoken into it for a minute or two and then he hung or maybe the other end cut the line. He let out an annoyed sigh as he shoved it back into his pocket, where he then grabbed my hand, holding it tightly in his. I looked up at him, I wondered what had managed to make him so grouchy in so little time.
But I guess it was due to Lila and Lakyn disappearing without saying goodbye to Hale and I, more specifically Hale in this situation as he had lost someone very close to him, his motherly figure that took over the role from his real mom when she had died years ago.
Lila isn't the only one that is hurting right now, Hale is too.
My heart has been aching non-stop for Hale lately as all he really needs or well wants right now is to see his best friend, both of them but more specifically Lila. I can tell he wants to talk to her, talk to her about things that he can't quiet manage to talk to me about.
Don't get me wrong he talks to me about pretty much everything but right now it feels as though he should be talking to Lila, his somewhat little sister, the one person that truly knows what he is feeling right now.
I've been there for him since the day Alison passed away, I've comforted him, I've tried my best to hold him together when he couldn't, But most In potently I've tried my hardest in understanding what he is going through and how bad he is hurting right now, but I've never had a parent die from drugs, yes my mother had chosen drugs over me but it's not quite the same in my eyes as I know that out there somewhere my mother is still lurking around.
It almost gives me a sort of slight weird comforting feeling, knowing that she is still alive or well barely as she is only a mere zombie, a shell of a person, due to the drugs. Sometimes I do forget that I have a mother as she isn't in my life anymore.
A big part of me will always hate her but there's another part within me that just won't allow me to hate her.
"C-Can I take you somewhere?" Hale asked which broke me out of my gloomy thoughts.
I nodded my head as I looked up into his blacked-out sunglasses, "Where?" I questioned gently as I noticed that we were the only people left standing in front of the open grave.
"It's just over here a little." he said as he looked off and over into the distance.
Again, I nodded as I could pretty much hear and feel the immense amount of sadness radiating out of him, much like how the sun radiates waves of heat around it. We pulled on my hand as we walked away from Alisons now final resting place.
When I imagine a cemetery, things like ghouls and goblins roaming freely around the graves wanting to feast on any remaining human flesh as they played games on passersby. I also imagine a cemetery to be gloomy and scary
Dayton Lakes cemetery was not like what I had falsely imagined, instead it was quite beautiful and somehow happy. It had lush green grass, trees and other plant life; perfectly lined rows of peoples once loved ones grave stones, there were also dirt paths that lead all throughout the cemetery with pretty garden beds as a small fence for the path.
After a minute or so of walking I had realized that Hale had in fact stopped, I blinked a few times as I had noticed that we were standing in front of a grave stone. The stone itself was pretty, it was made of a marbled grey gravestone, its gold letters wrote out:
A beautiful soul
Marion Kennedy Hale
March 17, 1976
January 3rd, 2013
Loving daughter, sister, cousin, granddaughter, niece, wife and mother
"I haven't been here in years." Hale said slowly as he looked down at the stone that was sticking out of the ground, "It almost feels weird being here." he half laughed even though what he had said wasn't funny.
I took a slight breath in and released it, I tried to find something within my brain to say, anything at all but I came up short as I had no idea what to say to him right now. all i could do was imagine Hale small body sitting down on his mothers grave his father close by, watching as hale babbled to his mother all while playing with a toy car.
"I think the last time I had come here was on Mother's Day, about two and a half years ago." Hale shook his head, "I'm a shit person for not coming and seeing her sooner."
My heart ached as I clung to his warm body, "Don't say that, it's not true." I begged him.
"Maybe your right, but that's how I feel Eden." he said softly as he took a few deep breaths of fresh cool air, "I feel like I've completely failed her." he sniffled.
My mind raced with things to say but one managed to stick out the most, "Hale she will always forgive you, okay?" I asked as he slowly nodded, "I'm sure that there's something you could do to make her forgive you."
As if a light bulb switched inside of his head, he spoke, "Well as a kid whenever I did something naughty and mom would yell at me, I would always go and pick her a flower or two from her garden." he shook his head, his hair still gelled up didn't move, "She loved flowers." he smiled as if remembering a memory with her most likely angelic face in it.
He them pulled me away from his mother's grave and back over to the path where there were small flower beds on each side of the path, the flowers acted as a slight fence to the path. The flowers were small but they were an arrange of different colors, pink, purple, white, yellow and red.
Hale bent down and yanked out a whole heap of the perfectly manicured bed of flowers, I gasped as I looked around to make sure no one had seen him do that because I seriously didn't want to get yelled at by an old lady or even an old man for that matter for my boyfriend or well Hale pulling out their flowers.
We then turned around and slowly walked back to the grave, hale passed me a few of the flowers to hold for him even though I felt bad about hi pretty much stealing them.
I must have looked like a little kid next to him as I held his hand with my left hand and then held flowers in the right one. I looked contently down at the flowers and then that's when I let go of his hand and then plucked at one of the smaller flowers, I had picked out of the poor grounds' keepers flower bed.
I must have looked like a little kid next to him as I held his hand with my left hand and then held flowers in the right one. I looked contently down at the flowers and then that's when I let go of his hand and then plucked at one of the smaller flowers, Hale had picked out of the poor grounds' keepers flower bed.
Slowly and carefully I picked a petal off of the beautiful flower, 'He loves me', I said in my head as I let it slowly drop out of my hand and fall to the ground, landing onto the green grass.
I slowly plucked another, saying the same words in a pattern form as I continued to pluck the flower of its pretty petals, as I plucked the last petal I had landed on, 'He loves me'.
I couldn't help but smile down at it as I watched it fall just like the others had. I felt so childish plucking each petal and then saying either, 'he loved me' or 'he loved me not' like a little school girl would have when she was thinking about her crush as she swinged herself gently on the swing set at school, most likely begging the last one to be 'He loves me.'
"So, what was the outcome?" Hale wondered aloud, which had pulled me out of my thoughts as I looked up at him.
I couldn't help but blush as I got ready to tell him what the flower had predicted, "He loves me."
"Good." he stated as he kissed the top of my head, "Because I do princess, I love you so fucking much."
I giggled as I turned around and out of his hold, I showered kisses all of his face and then one onto his lips, "Good because so do I."
Once we stood back in front of her grave, I handed the flowers back to hale who took them with a slightly shaky hand. He slowly and gently crouched down onto his knees as he carefully placed the flowers in front of the grave stone. He took a minute or so until he stood up and stared down at the grave.
He soon pulled me down with him, resulting in me sitting between his legs, he yanked me into his chest as he breathed in my rose and bamboo shampoo smelling hair, "She would have loved to have met you."
"How do you know for sure?" I asked curiously as I let my hands sink into the soft grass.
"What's not to like about you?" he asked rhetorically, "Plus that lady loved everyone she met, she never hated a soul, kind of like you." he smiled as I pictured him looking onto her grave smiling sadly down at it.
My eyebrows knitted together, "Really?"
"Yeah." he chuckled, his chest vibrating as he laughed, "I think that's why dad likes you so much, you remind the both of us of her so much." he sighed, "He said the other day he almost had a heart attack when you came through the door because he thought it was mother."
I personally really like Harrison Hale, he's such a genuinely nice person and i can tell that he really loves and care about his son. I feel horrible that his wife had to die as to me it seemed that he was so in love with her, but i respect him for not neglecting his son when things got tough.
I let out a laugh, "Well I like him too." I said as I stopped laughing, "He really cares about you and I've got to give it to him for keeping himself together for you and not neglecting you when his wife died."
"He really is the best father." Hale smiled warmly, "That's one thing that I hope I would be able to have the strength to keep things going if my future wife was to die and leave me with our kids; I hope that I would be able to be strong and keep things going for them." he paused quickly as he watched a bird fly in the sky, "I hope I would be able to keep showing them love and make them as happy as I could."
"You going to be a great father Hale."
He laughed, "As will you, but a mother." he said as we fell into a comfortable silence, the only things being heard being the wind making the trees sway slightly, the soft calls of birds and every now and then a faint car driving by.
After a good hour and a half of us sitting on top of his mother's grave and just peacefully talking about anything and everything, the sun started to slowly set, revealing the prettiest of colors ranging from blood orange to a pretty pastel pink.
I yawned as I watched the sky swirl around the colors as if it was trying to interwind them and make weird patterns with clouds above, "You ready to go?" Hale asked.
"As long as you are." I smiled as he stood up with a nod of his head as he then proceeded to help me up and off of the soft grass.
We the slowly started to walk away when Hale opened his mouth, "Bye mom." He said as he looked over his shoulder, "I won't take so long to visit next time... I promise." he spoke again before a tear rolled down his face, "I love you." he whispered as we continued to walk out of the cemetery, hand in hand, towards his car.
➳
Hey Hi Hello
Surprise! two chapters in one day! how cool is that? I had so much fun writing this i hope you guys like it.
I hope you guys liked the chapter. How do you feel about the funeral and hale and eden seeing his mothers grave? who do you think was on the phone with hale? well if you've read Loving lakyn you will know.
Be ready for the next chapter, its going to be a school chapter i believe but this isn't just any normal school chapter hehe be ready for it.
I'm also sorry again if there are a few mistakes throughout this chapter Grammarly is being a little bitch and not working again, I'm seriously so close to writing them an email haha.
Please don't forget to vote, leave a comment and go read 'Loving Lakyn' by @sharnahespinosa
GemmaGrace ♡