The Manuscript by Nathan Hystad

Author:Nathan Hystad
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nathan Hystad
Published: 2021-07-23T07:01:20+00:00

Chapter Five

Everything I knew was a myth. Friendships couldn’t last forever. Love didn’t mean a thing. It was fake, a façade used by corporations to make money, to sell cards and Valentine’s Day reservations. It was all a terrible scam, and I’d fallen victim like so many other boys and men before me.

I knew I wasn’t the first, and I wouldn’t be the last. The idea of love, the guise of evil and heartbreak, would go on forever, teasing young people into thinking they had a future with someone they were infatuated with. It rarely worked out, and when it did, you ended up like Belle’s parents, separated and spiteful.

That summer, I vowed I’d never love again, not after I saw Buster and Belle kissing by the river.

If I could have left town that minute, I would have. To hell with Bridge Cove and the stupid football team. I hated that snaking river, and the bugs summer brought with it. I was tired of rainy days, cloudless skies, and everything in-between. There was no solace for me, not after finding her there in the arms of another man.

I was dead inside. Nothing mattered.

“Are you sure you saw her?” Jessie asked.

I didn’t even have the energy to nod. I simply grunted my affirmation.

“It could have been someone else. Buster gets around,” Carson said.

“You guys aren’t helping here,” I told them. “It was her.”

“Why did you search for her there?” Jessie asked. They didn’t know about her special secret hideaway spot, which used to be something I held in confidence. Now all bets were off.

“Because she goes there when she’s sad about her parents fighting. She used to slip away when they wouldn’t stop yelling at each other. Now that her mom’s gone, she leaves because she can’t stand to see her dad crushing beers at noon and walking around in that damned tank top,” I said, the venom evident in my voice.

“Wait. Her mom left?” Carson asked. He leaned back in the swing and blew out a mouthful of air. “That’s heavy. Why didn’t she tell us?”

“Because she’s not one of us any longer, Carson. She’s moved away. She’s given up on ten years and called it quits,” I explained without explaining.

“She kissed Buster. So what? Could be worse,” Jessie said, not helping.

“Really? How?” I asked.

“She could have had sex with him,” Jessie added, and I threw a pebble at him. We were in his backyard, the two of them on the old wooden swing set we’d logged far too many hours on over the years.

“How can you be certain they didn’t?” Carson asked, and I groaned again.

“Did she see you there?” Jessie asked, skidding to a halt on a worn-out patch of grass.

“I don’t think so.” I’d gone to find her when her dad said she wasn’t home. Her car was missing, and I thought she might have taken her bike to the river.

When I arrived, I didn’t see the red K-car, but I did see the familiar black truck owned by none other than Buster.

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