Prologue (5 years earlier)

“Let’s do something tomorrow.” Brian said out of the blue.

“That’s…so not like you.” He never proposed we do anything. I always did. He always wanted to go home and study.

“Yeah, well. I need a break from studying for the stupid exams. Plus my parents are on my case, and I just feel like…well, I need to get control over my life, you know? Let’s go the park?”

“Yeah, I get it” I said, though I really didn’t. Brian seemed the most in control person I’ve known. “Our park?” He had been down lately though.

“Yeah, sure. Um, 5ish?”

“Yeah, alright. I’ll see you tomorrow then. I gotta get home”

“Bye.” I have to take the stupid bus. I wait for twenty stupid minutes before I finally see it. Wait…did that guy just SMILE at me? Whoa. Oh. That was stupid. I just sort of fell there because I refused to notice the bus was moving. Great. Now he probably thinks I’m a dork. I’ll just…sit on the opposite side of the bus.

Oh…my god. Oh shit. Oh I hate that guy now! This is the wrong freakin bus! I glance at the table. Great. It’s gonna take me at least half an hour to walk home. Stupid stupid bus. I get off at the stop closest to home and walk for 15 minutes. Now I remember why I hate June. The sweltering heat. I count the change in my pocket. It’s enough for a drink. I buy a cherry coke at the next little store and I feel a little better although I know I’m going to need a shower when I finally get home. I walk another 10 minutes. I’m almost home, but I’m going to have to go all the way around that huge field to get to my house and it’s going to take another ten minutes. Unless…I cut through it. There are some plants that look like they’d hurt if I stepped on them but I’ll just avoid them. I just want to get home. I take a few tentative steps. Dirt. Okay. I’ll just get through it as fast as I can: running. I start to and then dirt turns to dry dirt and suddenly I’m sinking. I start running faster. I’m out of breath once I’m done. I lean against a fence and touch my palm to my forehead. Wet. Taking a few gasping breaths, I curse this day. Suddenly a piercing noise interrupts my thoughts and I jump. That doesn’t help my already ferociously beating heart. Stupid barking dogs. I get home and gratefully shut the door behind me.

“Dale!” I jump.

“Where have you been?”

“Um, school.”

“School ended an hour ago!”

“Yeah, well, I had to take the bus and…it’s a long story.”

“Oh my god…you walked in here in THOSE shoes?” I look down. Oh yeah. My flip flops are all grey and muddy.

“I’ll wash them.” I say. Please, just let me take a shower.

“You’re an hour late, and you walk in here with those muddy shoes…and oh, I see you time to buy yourself a drink but no time to think that maybe your mother was worrying herself over you.” It’s an hour!

“But I…”

“You’re grounded!”

“What? Mom, you can’t. I have to meet Brian tomorrow, it’s important!”

“I wish you’d take an example out of Brian. I saw his mother yesterday, and he’s getting straight A’s! And what did I have to say? I have a daughter who…dresses like a boy, calls herself Dale, and counts herself lucky if she doesn’t fail! No, you need to start focusing on your schoolwork right away!” I roll my eyes and walk upstairs. If she was that worried she could have just called. She just likes to be a drama queen.

Speed dialing Brian, I curse this day again. Brian doesn’t pick up. I’ll call him tomorrow.

I wake up the next day and groan. I feel tired, despite the fact that I’ve been asleep for over twelve hours. I sit up and remember I need to call Brian. Taking the phone, I diall his number again. He doesn’t pick up. Great. I try his home phone, but there’s nobody there either. I leave a message and go downstairs. I have a new Harlan Coben book I’ve been meaning to read, and I spend the afternoon doing that.

My mom interrupts me around nine. “Delancey...” Something was wrong. She never uses my full name. “Delancey, Brian’s gone.” Huh. Ok.

“Where’s he off to, then?”

“Listen to me. He’s gone. Nobody’s seen him since he went out to meet you.”

“Yeah, well, maybe if I’d met him I’d have seen him.” I snort. What the hell is she getting at?

“This is serious! They’ve got the police looking for him.”

“Oh. Well, it’s Brian. He’s always safe.”

“Aren’t you worried?”

“Of course I am. But I know him. I believe in him and through that I believe nothing would happen to him.”

Of course, I wasn’t so calm three days later. Sitting in school, staring at the floor.

“Delancey!”

“What do you want?”

“For you to answer my question, if you please.”

“I don’t know the answer.” I said, having missed the question and fully not caring.

“Delancey, this is serious business. Grades count towards your future, you know that. Now, will you pay attention?” Easy question, harmless answer.

“No.”

“Excuse me?”

“You heard me. I’m outta here.” I didn’t even bother getting my stuff. I stalked out and ran to the one place that always remained the same, despite the fact that everything was changing. I didn’t want my grades to matter. I wanted to have fun, like in the years before. I wanted Brian to have fun, like we did before. Most of all, though, I wanted him back.

“Dale!” I look up. Amanda has been trying to get my attention for what looks like a while judging from the annoyed look on her face.

“What?”

“Look, it’s going to be alright.”

“You don’t know that.” She sighs. I know I’m being a bitch. I think it’s understandable.

“Dale…” Brian always called me that, since the day we met.

FLASHBACK

“Your nose okay?” Brian asks. It was bleeding before.

“Yeah. Thanks.” I smiled. He was different from all the other guys in class, those jerks who picked on me. Well, I showed them. I have a bloody nose but Jake has a black eye. I considered myself the winner.

“What’s your name?” He asks.

“Delancey.” I told him. “I hate it”. He crinkled his nose.

“It’s very long. Can I call you…Dale?”

“Oh! I love it.” I exclaimed. I couldn’t believe I hadn’t thought of it before.

“I’m Brian.” He smiled.

END FLASHBACK

“Don’t call me that.” I snapped at Amanda.

“What? It’s your name.”

“No. Delancey. That’s my name. You can call me that, or Del, but not…Dale.” She rolled her eyes.

“You’re being a drama queen.” She said. I rolled my eyes too, inside. I’d forgotten why we were friends. We were never close, and now I remembered why.

Three days after that, I hear and knocking on the door. Oh my god, maybe it’s Brian…I swing the door open. It’s not. It’s two policemen.

“Are you…Delancey Breck?” One of them asks, the tall one, looking down at a paper.

“Yes. Yes, I am.” I say hesitantly.

“You were Brian Hasting’s friend?” Were? I think.

“That’s right.” I say instead.

“We are…so sorry, Miss Breck. You might want to…sit down.” The short one requests. They hadn’t found him? Well that was no news.

“Okay.” I invited them in and took a seat on the couch.

“We found Brian.” The short policeman says.

“Oh good…is he okay?”

“He’s…” The tall one shakes his head. “We are so sorry, but he suffered extensive cranial damage and…”

“Well he’ll come out it right?” I ask. He has to.

“Miss Breck, look, all his bones were shattered, including his skull.”

“Where…?”

“At the bottom of the river. We’re investigating, but there seems to be no evidence of foul play. It must’ve been an accident.” A freak accident, he probably wants to say. “Miss Breck…Brian passed away.”

AN: Right, people have been confused by how this story used to start so hopefully this will clear that up. I’m sorry it had to start on such a sad note but I promise this won’t be a tragedy. The first chapter will take place 5 years after this. It was originally the prologue, so it was short, but starting from the chapter after that, chapters should be 5k words or more. If you read this, I’d appreciate a review, especially if you read this before and have some comments on whether or not this clears things up.