Chapter 23
◄◄◄

I didn't even listen to Diana, who was calling my name from the other end of the phone. I just sank onto my knees.

Suzan.... Is dead?

Gone?

Passed?

That couldn't be right... it couldn't be true.

I felt anger surge through me. Was Diana playing some kind of wicked prank on me?!

No.... she wouldn't fake her own daughter's death, and she did sound pretty torn up over the phone.

Oh my gods....

No more joking when I answer the phone, no more helpful advice on boys, no more cheerful facts about which lipstick goes with which tone of clothing, no more hearing Suzan's voice....

She was dead.

She was murdered.

And if I found out who did it, I'd wring them out into nothing but a flattened pulp.

I didn't even notice Rixton until he was crouching down beside me, a tall black figure leaning down beside a short multicolored one. I bet we looked weird. But right now, I didn't care.

"What's wrong?" Rixton asked, glancing at my phone to where you could hear Diana loudly sobbing, then it clicking closed, meaning she had hung up.

"My..." I couldn't say it. Maybe, maybe this was all just a dream. Maybe this whole day was a dream. If it was, it'd mean I never became Rixton's friend, but I love Suzan, and I'm willing to give that up to keep her safe.

Quickly, I turned to my left arm and pinched myself, applying so much force I left a huge blue-purple bruise.

"Woah! What are you doing?!" Rixton snapped, and he gently pried my hand away from my arm, sending a jolt of electricity through me.

I looked up at him, and my breath almost caught in my throat. Our faces were basically centimeters apart.

I swallowed nervously and looked away, but Rixton gently turned my head back, and my heart thudded with so much force, I think it might have enough of it to knock down a small city in China.

"What happened?" Rixton asked firmly, staring straight into my eyes.

Green met black.

And I think I just passed out.

Nope, I didn't.

I took a deep breath that made my whole body shake and then spilled out, "My best friend was murdered today!"

Rixton's eyes widened slightly before he relaxed, gently reaching out to wipe away some of my tears with his pale thumb, making me shiver. In a good way.

"Are you sure? Did you try calling her?" he asked. I nodded shakily, looking down at the ground. "I tried calling and texting. She never answered, and she always does."

Rixton pursed his lips and then pulled me close.

For a moment, I thought he was going to kiss me, and the hope and anticipation that I felt almost made me weak, but it was soon replaced with confusion as Rixton's arms wrapped around my neck.

He was hugging me.

Rixton. Was. Hugging. Me.

Oh. My. Gods.

What would Suzan do?

She'd start squealing and say 'Rixana has sailed!'

For once brain, I'm not going to argue, because your right.

I let my own arms, small and short compared to Rixton's, wrap around his neck, and my face press into his shoulder.

He smelled, as always, like mint. Sharp and fresh and piercing. Yet I liked that, compared to me. I probably smelled like Skittles.... or chocolate.... I have a sweet tooth, okay?

"W-why are you hugging me?" I finally managed to ask.

"Because. That's what friends do for other friends when they're sad, right? Comfort and hug them?" Rixton asked, and those few statements made my heart swell and seem as if it may burst, and my whole body trembled as I shuffled closer to Rixton and let the tears fly more freely.

I was getting his jacket wet, but I don't think he cared.

All I knew was that my best friend, my sister, my light in dark times, Suzan, was gone.

No more having snowball fights in the winter and building snowmans, only to have Tyler knock off their heads. No more going back inside to drink warm hot chocolate, or Suzan forcing me to give her two of my own marshmallows when my mom wasn't looking.

No more playing with Suzan in the multicolored autumn leaves in our yards, and raking big piles together only to fall into them, or have Tyler kick them all apart. No more having to go inside and get a whole makeover from Suzan instead of her just picking all the leaves out of my blonde hair.

No more going to the local pool in the summer and splashing around with Suzan, or watching her drool over some guy there. No more laughing with her when Tyler would accidentally splash a little kid in the face and have to get yelled at by the kid's mother or father. No more playing Marco Polo with Suzan. No more eating ice cream with her and eventually having a food fight with the melted remaints.

No more picking flowers with her in the spring and spreading them all around our porch, or braiding them into each other's hair. No more running around through the rain together or splashing each other with puddles.

No more anything.

Because my Suzan was gone.

And that made me only cry harder, gripping now onto Rixton for support. If I didn't have him, I don't think I could have summoned up the mere strength to walk home.

I just needed a friend. But she wasn't here. Neither was Tyler. No, he was probably receiving the news now, too.

I let out a choked sob and Rixton pulled me closer to him, and for a moment I pondered this.

A dork and a social reject, who have only known each other for 2 days, becoming best friends, taking a punch for the other, and then hugging?

Was it all crazy? Yeah, maybe.

But I'm the definition of crazy.

I pulled back away from Rixton's shoulder and wiped the wet splotches off his jacket, laughing lightly, though it was strained. "Sorry. I got your jacket soaked," I told him apologetically, glancing up at him.

Rixton smiled, and it wasn't tiny this time. It was real and genuine and just plain beautiful.

He lightly traced the gauze on my nose with his finger before glancing down at me.

"I've never had a friend before," he began quietly, "But arguing with you, seeing how much you cared and persisted, made me wonder what one actually feels like. And now, after you took that punch for me... I see you do care, and I do have a friend."

I smiled and he smiled, too.

"And I wouldn't change it for the world. I solemnly swear, on the River Styx, that me and Rixton will always be up to no good. We'll make the definition of bookworm, dork, and social reject pop," I told him sincerely, then smiled at the end.

And Rixton, the boy who never smiled, smiled back.

And here, so close to him with his arms still around me...

I felt complete.

(A/N: I can't... I'm crying too much. Guys, read the A/N in the next post.)