CHAPTER THREE

I walk along the path in the park, observing the people. A couple walking side by side, children playing tag, some old woman and probably her grandson enjoying the day out. It's a nice day. The sky is clear and the sun is shining.

This morning, I woke up to see that my dad and Kevin had gone out to get groceries. I was unable to meet Kevin last night since I went to sleep after showering. I really missed him.

As I'm walking, my feet automatically take me to the trail hidden by the huge bush. I walk along the secret trail, reminiscing of old times spent on this path. Good and bad memories. I stop towards the end of the trail at the huge oak tree and smile which turns into a painful grimace as I remember the last time I was here. My eye falls on the words engraved on the bark of the tree.

C♡H 4ever.

"Excuse me, who are you?"

I turn around in a flash, scared it's him. I sigh in relief when I see blonde locks instead of-

"Oh, my god. Holly!"

My eyes widen and squint to see since the sun is in my eyes, blurring my view of this guy who seems to know me.

When my eyes adjust, I gasp.

"Sammy!?" I exclaim with wide eyes.

Samuel laughs and quickly leans forward giving me a side hug.

"Oh, wow. What a nice surprise! We haven't seen each other in what? 4,5 years?" Sam smiles. He was actually with Brodie when I last met him.

"Uh..yeah... but my god, it's so good to see you!" I grin up at him and he laughs once more.

"Excuse me, if you're done flirting with my fiancée, we will get going." a soft, light feminine voice cuts in.

I snap my head to look at a girl with platinum blonde hair, heart-shaped face, and sapphire blue eyes looking at me with hostility or rather, at my hand resting on Sam's bicep.

Sam smiles amusedly as I retract my hands quickly. He wraps his arm around her shoulder and says, "I almost forgot, This is my high school friend, Holly, and Holly, this is Ariana, my fiancée."

Ariana narrows her eyes even more at the introduction and I wonder if she's assessing whether I'm a threat or not.

"You're getting married!? Congratulations! But I must say, I'm quite surprised to see you finally settling down." I smile tightly. Is everybody getting married right now?

"Oh no! It's only me, Cara and Brodie. As far as I know, the others are still single, just in case you wanted to know." he grins ear to ear, applying pressure to his words, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

It takes me a minute to comprehend that I spoke out loud, when his words register and the underlying meaning in them, I gasp and turn beetroot.

"Oh no! None of that! Seriously, stop that train of thought right there, Sam! There's gonna be no such thing as that!"

Sam smirks, finally tiring of all his smiles. "Then, why are you blushing?"

I open my mouth to say something but end up opening and closing it like a fish. "I don't know what you mean?" I decide to play dumb.

"You forget, Holly. I know you, you're a pretty bad liar...you know exactly what I mean or should I say who I mean."

I blow air in my mouth and release an annoyed breath. "I'm not in the mood for this, Sam. I'm happy the way I am. I don't care about him whatsoever and-"

I sigh in frustration scratching my nails on top of each other to distract myself, "Can we please talk about something else? It's been almost 6 years, we have so many other things we can talk about."

Sam regards me with a weird look in his eyes then finally sighs, giving in, nodding in agreement. He takes his fiancée's hand who had been watching the entire exchange quietly and now her glare had been reduced to a placated look, knowing that I have some- no no no I do not have anyone! Shut up brain!

Sam starts walking along the secret trail and I walk alongside him and Ariana.

"Can I just say it's weird to see Cara and Brodie getting married? I've seen them around each other but it's still so strange." Sam begins talking.

"6 years ago if someone told me they'll get married let alone date each other, I would've told them to get checked in at a mental hospital!" I laugh, grateful for the change of subject.

As we walk along the abandoned trail and fill each other on our lives, telling Ariana stories of our amazing teenage years, and our great times spent with the gang, I cannot help but wonder how can such great bonds break so easily as if they were never there in the first place. And the answer dawns on me. Last summer we all spent together, 6 years ago, when the fateful day that our secrets were revealed and we all went our separate ways. Now, the question is can broken bonds continue to prosper or will they break away once again, never to be joined again?

A/N

I SO did not proofread this cause there was no time. Anyways posting cause I'm happy for the release of Why Don't We's new album: The Good Times And The Bad Ones. Go Listen. Must be out by the time I click publish. Anyways, exam in a few days. Totally chill right now though. Haven't studied a thing, preparing my funeral right now. Guess who's failing? ME! And my GCSE exam, called CAIE result is expected in 4 days so...FUN. Ig.

Fun fact: My braces came off and my gums are swollen. Can't feel my mouth smh. And like my teeth are bleeding every time I brush. But I guess the upside is that I have a great smile now? Cause my teeth are all perfect, shiny, white, and straight. A flex for someone who clearly has unaligned teeth (You know who you are, I doubt you will even read my story but for the future, when you might decide you want to read my story) even if you have something else you can flex (insert winky face. lol).

-Sal