It had been years. Enough time had passed for them to graduate high school, get part time jobs, boyfriends, girlfriends, rented apartments—and yet, Ariel hadn’t talked about that day again.

Ryan sat across his empty double-bed. Today was weird. Layla had dumped him for this tall girl in his class, who always smelled of pine trees. Ryan didn’t know how he felt about it, honestly. He figured he’d be sad, however, he felt more whenever he’d see Ariel hanging around that Mick guy.

Mick wasn’t an asshole. Not in particular. He treated Ariel right. But Ariel always seemed uncomfortable, tense, around her boyfriend.

Ryan thought back to her words. I haven’t been feeling like myself, lately.

“Shit,” Ryan recoiled in on himself. He cursed under his breath. For some reason, the nostalgia had hit him hard today. “What the fuck was that supposed to mean, Ariel?”

Ryan knew, this wasn’t over, and that whatever his childhood friend had mentioned to him years ago, was still going on. Because ever since that day, Ariel hadn’t been the same. It was like she knew something Ryan didn’t, and it was driving Ryan mad.

Maybe I should stop, Ryan thought to himself.

Maybe I should just get drunk, go out clubbing, kiss a few girls, and guys, and forget about it. After all, it was definitely possible she’d already confided in Mick. Ariel had been hanging out less and less with Ryan lately.

Perhaps, this was what people spoke of, when they’d mention friends growing apart once they got older. It sucked, yeah, but what could Ryan do?