Remember how we wished
Next to those lazy afternoons, the best time of the day at Twilight Town was not daytime at all; it was the starriest nights. Every now and then, Pence, Hayner, Olette and Roxas would sneak up to the clock tower and stare up at the stars. On other occasions, the gang would head over to Sunset Hill with blankets to look up at the night sky.
"It's a falling star!" Olette pointed out as she wrapped herself in her fuzzy blanket.
Pence's brown eyes followed the direction in which the star was headed. The raven-haired boy smiled, turning his head toward Roxas and Hayner. The gang was sitting on top of Sunset Hill, attempting to clear their minds of their stressful realities.
"Still thinking about her?" Hayner wondered aloud.
Without responding, Roxas allowed a couple of tears to fall from his eyes. The blue-eyed blond swaddled himself into his blanket and sighed.
"Let it go, buddy," Pence tried. "She wasn't worth it…"
"But she played me!" Roxas groaned. "She used me after promising me that she's always be there for me."
Biting her lips, Olette put her hand on Roxas's shoulder. "Well, in that case, I feel like I need to remind you that you'll always have us, okay? And that's a promise I will fight to keep."
Roxas looked at Olette with a broken smile; he knew that when she made a promise, it was more than likely kept. She had promised him that she would teach him how to dance for Homecoming their freshman year. Now, three years later, he was co-captain of All Male.
"Okay?" Olette pressed. "That goes for all of you, boys. You will always have a friend to run to. We'll always have each other, okay?"
Remember how we'd dream
Since their freshman year, Hayner and his friends talked about how they would graduate from high school and go to college together. They even discussed the matter of living with each other after graduating from college. As amazing as the idea sounded, however, Hayner knew that the execution of the thought was impossible.
"Guys," Hayner said as Pence sketched out a blueprint of their dream home.
Olette, Pence and Roxas went on mapping out the rest of their lives together, not minding the distraught boy standing only a few feet away from them.
"Guys!" Hayner called once again.
"What's up, Hayner?" Roxas wondered, still laughing at Olette and Pence's earlier comments. "Why don't you come over here with us and plan?"
"Are you even sure that we're gonna live together?" Hayne asked with a serious tone. "Let alone go to the same college. I mean, c'mon, guys… get real."
Olette smiled. "Hayner, this is just our way of promising each other that – no matter what – we'll always find a way back to each other. We'll always find a way to reconnect, ya'know?"
Pence nodded. "C'mon and plan this out with us! It's a lot more fun than it sounds. So far, I've called dibs on the basement. Roxas has the attic. Olette wanted the master bedroom. Which room do you want?"
Hayner thought for a while before laughing. "I'll take whatever's available. I'm sure it's better than my current bedroom."
"Isn't that just the living room?" Roxas questioned, thinking back to all his visits to the Richardson residence.
Hayner smiled with a weak laugh. His eyes wandered past the entrance of the Usual Spot; he knew that the time they had left was more than just limited – it was ticking. The most time he spent with his best friends, the closer he was to having to say goodbye. He knew that eventually the 'forever and always' promise would blow up in their faces, because forever was too good to be true.
That we could stay like this forever
It was the first week of June as Hayner, Roxas, Pence and Olette sat around the small television screen in Hayner's living room. In only a couple of weeks, the gang was set to graduate from Twilight Town High School, but in the meantime, the quartet was spending their night boding and watching movies together.
"We can't be together forever," Hayner reminded himself, "so we've got to make the time we do have something to remember."
Roxas, being the only other person awake, looked at Hayner awkwardly; was this statement something Hayner wanted to keep to himself or something he wanted to share with Roxas? The blue-eyed blond scratched the back of his head, remembering the last time the leader of the gang said something along those lines. Roxas stared at the other blond, waiting for another 'just kidding' to escape Hayner's lips.
"What are you talking about this time?" Roxas questioned, betraying his thoughts.
Hayner's gaze snapped from the television to Roxas. "I thought you were asleep like these two!" the stunned boy said with an attempted laugh. "Ha, I was just kidding, dude. You actually believe that shi-?
"No," Roxas cut off with worry, "you were not just kidding. You couldn't have been."
"Well, I was," Hayner defended, switching his gaze to the girl curled up on the other couch. "I can't believe you'd fall for that crap."
Roxas sighed. "Look, I'm not as naïve as I was the first time you told me that. What's running through your mind right now?"
"Exactly what I told you…" Hayner finally admit. "We have a limited time together…"
Roxas watched as his crestfallen leader walked over to the brunette. Then he turned his attention to Pence, who fell asleep sprawled across Hayner's futon. Their seventh movie night had turned into another one of their sleepovers. Averting his gaze back to Hayner, Roxas sighed as his leader carefully draped a thin blanket over Olette.
"Ya'know, she wouldn't wanna hear that," Roxas reminded, "especially coming from her very best friend."
Hayner shut his eyes before kneeling beside Olette. "She's the one that has to hear it the most."
"Hayner, let's just…" Roxas looked at the television screen, trying to think. "Let's forget about that and live for today. I mean… you're right: eventually, we're going to have to leave each other. Especially since it's senior year… we're all off to do other things. Better things! Hayner, look at you, for example. You're actually graduating! And you heard Olette at the end of our sophomore year… we'll be together forever."
"If you say so…"
In our Twilight Town theme
Time was moving rapidly for the gang. Graduation was approaching quickly. In less than twenty-four hours, Nicholas Pence Aarons, Christian Hayner Richardson, Olette Maureen Anderson and Jonathan Roxas Way would be the graduated class of 2013. After graduation, Pence would head off to tour the Art Institute of Destiny Islands at the end of the month. Roxas would start summer school at the city college across town, requiring him to rent out an apartment closer to the community college. Olette would be moving to Radiant Garden with her mother and brothers, to finish her education and to be closer to her mother's side of the family.
Then, there was Hayner – the boy who refused to let go of his friends and the connection they shared.
"Hayner…" Olette said softly as she approached the quiet teen.
Not far behind her, Roxas and Pence stood at the entrance of the Usual Spot. They watched silently as the only girl in their group tried to speak with their leader.
"Hayner, say something," she begged, tugging on his right sleeve gently. "Hayner, please talk to me."
Glaring at her, Hayner stood from the couch and ripped his arm away from the girl. "Why the hell should I?" he retorted immaturely. "You're all gonna leave Twilight Town sooner or later. Why not just get up and go now? I'll suffer less than I already have been that way!"
Roxas, Pence and Olette made their way to Hayner, who now stood in the center of the Usual Spot. Each of them stopping a few feet before their angered friend.
"Hey… you don't mean that," Roxas sighed, watching Olette attempt to put her hand on Hayner's shoulder.
"How do you know what I mean and what I don't?" Hayner shouted at the trio, shrugging away Olette.
"We're your best friends!" Pence remarked. "We know this is hard on you! But it is just as hard for us, okay?"
"Oh really?" Hayner yelled, making a beeline for Pence. "What the hell makes you say that, huh, Artsy Boy? Are your best friends leaving you? Are they!"
The trio remained silent and Hayner continued to scream at them.
"That's exactly what I thought!" he remarked. "I didn't fucking think so! Belinda was fucking right and so was Seifer…"
Olette clenched her fists. "How can you even say that? You're the one who's always telling us that we won't be together forever, Hayner! And this is the very last day we have together as a group of four-."
"You're the one who's always promising forever and fucking always!" Hayner bellowed.
"Hayner, please!" Olette cried. "Can you at least try to make this time together worthwhile – something to remember – please?"
"There's only so much I would fucking do for you, Olette," Hayner sneered. "Pretending like I'm okay with you leaving me…. yeah, that isn't one of them."
Olette stood in shock as tears filled her eyes. She, Roxas, and Pence watched helplessly as the eighteen-year-old blond fled the scene hastily.
Author's Note: This chapter of the story was rewritten on October 18, 2013 and republished on October 22, 2013.
So like I'm sitting in Starbucks now. There are some pretty interesting people here. I just feel like someone's looking over my shoulder and reading everything I type. It's not entirely possible for someone to do that because I'm against a wall… I'm just super paranoid. Ha… Anyways, let me know what you think of the story! I'd really appreciate it. Also, thanks for reading. I'm really grateful that you took the time to read this. Thanks again, guys!
- May