I never thought that life would be so complicated.

There are so many things that make it this way; school, work, the people in our lives. But the one that affects most people, is love.

~~~~~

My best friend, Mayah West, walks beside me as I recall all of the great things about high school. My mind begins to drift off onto what I will do over the summer.

"Do you wanna do something together soon?" she suddenly speaks, interrupting my thoughts.

"Sure. Just email me," I finalize. We walk out of the school doors for the last time and enter the plaza full of boisterous children. I spot my friend, George, in the distance and walk over to him. He wears a plain, blue shirt and tan shorts with his black hair sticking out a bit.

"This is the last time we will ever see this place," I speak to him while turning to look at the building. He nods while scanning the white erase board for his bus number.

"Yeah, I'm kinda going to miss this place," he speaks softly and looks into my eyes. I quickly turn away, trying to hold back tears.

I once had a huge crush on George, and he indeed felt the same. However, school made us drift apart and our bond deteriorated. We barely spoke, until today - our last day here - and now it is too late.

"Alexa," he says and puts his hand on my shoulder. I turn around and look into his milk chocolate brown eyes.

"Y-Yeah," I hesitate and he pulls me into a huge hug. I slowly wrap my arms around him and give him one back.

"I will see you soon," George whispers into my ear and walks away. I watch him disappear in the crowd of people and turn back to the row of buses before me. Walking to the gate, papers fly into the air around me. All I can think about in this moment is how bad I feel for the people who have to clean it up.

Laying my head against my arms, I watch all of the students board onto the buses. I check the board once more and sigh. Turning back around, I gaze at the track field in the distance - where George and I first met - and feel a tap on my back.

"Alexa," I hear a voice say and turn around.

"Yes?" I reply to Cheyenne, an old friend of mine. She twirls her curly, brown hair and looks at me with concern. Her freckled cheeks perk up a bit, but her brown eyes fill with a sort of hopelessness that you would not ever imagine. Even so, I listen to her closely.

"Do you want to walk home with me? It's getting dark and I don't wanna walk by myself," she chirps and I hold back a laugh. I quickly look at the sun as it sets and something peculiar catches my eye. My eyes dart immediately to the left and I spot a lake in the distance.

"Have you ever noticed that lake there?" I say and she stands on her tip toes to see it.

"No . . . I haven't," she says and furrows her brow. I start towards the gate exit, and she immediately follows.

"I don't think we sho - " she starts to say but I hold up my pointer finger at her to keep her quiet. I follow the parking lot to the patch of grass that leads to the lake. Glancing over my shoulder, I realize Cheyenne is still following me.

We head over to the lake and take in its scent. It smells like a rotten egg that has been drenched in vinegar. I wince at the smell as Cheyenne walks forward.

"What even?" she asks in surprise and looks into the deep waters. Surprisingly, the water was a nice, calming blue color. I look into it closely, and suddenly, we both get drenched with water.

I open my mouth with shock and quickly take off my black, circular glasses. I dry them off and look over at Cheyenne, who is rubbing her face with her black jacket.

"What the . . ." she says and backs away from the lake. I look closer into it and see a black shadow swimming underneath.

With one last look, I jump into the water.

A/N

Hey guys! I know you are all wondering why this chapter is in italics, but trust me, you will figure out shortly.

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Thank you for reading ^3^