Your best friend Carter wasn’t the mold for the perfect kid. Perfect grades, scholarships, athletic and active. He was smart with his money, kind to other people…and yet he chose you, the reject as his best friend.

You weren’t PROUD of who you were. You would cheat, vandalize, wreck and steal. You home life wasn’t exactly perfect. Your mother passed away while giving birth to you, causing you to blame yourself for her death. Your father fell into a spiral after losing his wife. He drank, did drugs, blamed you everyday for the death of the love of his life.

But Carter was your escape. He was your angel, your saving grace…and he knew that. He swore to himself that he’d protect you. You were young, mislead and broken. He knew you had potential. You were smart if you tried. You could be kind if you tried. But you didn’t.

You went down a dark path…selling drugs around the neighborhood for some cash. It was the only way to keep the apartment since your father couldn’t keep a job. You poured all your anger out into vandalizing and stealing.

—-

One night, you made a grave mistake and stole a car in a fit of anger after an argument with your father. You sped down the street, losing control of the car and crashing into a shop. The car bursts into flames and you ran…ran to Carter. He calmed you down, telling you it was a mistake and everything will be okay…and you fell asleep in his arms.

But when you woke up, Carter was no where to be found…and you walked downstairs to see the TV on and a photo of him on the screen…Teen Arrested For The Crash Last Night.

You felt sick. Carter took the blame for YOUR mistake. He took the blame for the property damage, for the injuries of the shop owner. He threw away his future for you. It was all your fault. How could you have done this to your best friend? He was all you had and now he was locked away. You ruined his life. You felt like a failure. More than you already did. Why would he do this?

——

5 Years Later

You promised yourself you’d get yourself out of the slump you were in. You worked honestly. You earned all the money you could, bought your own place, getting away from your abusive father.

And today was the day…The day Carter got out of jail.

Your heart was racing, feeling like you were about to vomit your entire insides. Would he be angry with you? reject you, shame you, blame you for ruining his life? You couldn’t stand it…

Finally…the gates opened…and Carter walked out, holding a bag of his belongings from that night.

He still looked like that shy, quiet boy with a sweet smile…it made your heart do a million backflips.