Forever

By Sarrah F

A journey of heartbreak, longing and a crap ton of miscommunication. Jax and Skylar do everything to be together but every time they get close it seems the cruel fate of life and realism which lies far beyond what their teenage minds can comprehend has other plans for them.

This story begins with elation and hope, but then ends in unprecedented heartbreak in the worst way possible. I feel this story will resonate with teens, the all-consuming love. The feeling of, it’s going to last forever and the belief of life will be flowers and hearts forever. A story which surely carry them through this before hitting them with a taste of, life isn’t all flowers and hearts and the incomprehensible, maybe it won’t last forever. Maybe just maybe, there won’t be a happily ever after. Though we all grow up, we all hold that small seed of hope, the maybe the happily ever after is coming, maybe it’s just stuck on the M1 in rush hour traffic, it’ll be here. It has to. Right?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Sarrah F
• Release date: Apr 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781386898917

Book preview

Contents

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Chapter 4

Chapter 5

Chapter 6

Chapter 7

Chapter 8

Chapter 9

Chapter 10

Chapter 11

Chapter 12

Chapter 13

Chapter 14

Chapter 15

Chapter 16

Chapter 17

Parting note from Sarrah

The word book acted as a transient stimulus

-  1847 Jane Eyre // Charlotte Bronte

Silence is loudest when you’re alone. It slowly chips away at the walls you have built around your mind, until they fall; releasing the dam of tears you held in from the world finally spilling out, encompassing you in an endless heart wrenching hurricane.  I can promise you, everyone reading this will have experienced this at least once, but will never admit it. You will never accept that you aren’t the strong person you try so hard to be, the person you spend years building up in your mind until one event, causes a domino effect that breaks that person down until its dead, until all that’s left is you.

Alone.

Chapter 1

The music was so loud I swear I could see it escaping in long majestic swirls out through the cracks of the window, as I stood examining the tall house which was over flowing with 16 year olds, a dozen teenagers came running out in alcohol induced hysterics. did you see his face?! one of the taller girls gasped as she bent over trying to catch her breath in between fits of giggles.

That was brilliant! the second the bucket fell and the flour covered him? I was done. Funniest. Moment. Ever. Another added, from where I was standing I couldn’t see his face but judging by the sound of his voice it was sure to be Stanley, your average popular kid who all the girls wanted to date and all the guys wanted to be. The other 11 that were copying his every move were his loyal puppy dogs, they studied all the same classes and shopped at all the same stores. Collectively we had only one thing in common, the school we attended. Queensland upper.

Situated in beautifully wet England it had been just about bearable until the end of year 11. When I had learnt 6 of my closest friends were leaving me for sixth form to go and join boarding schools in the bubbling city of London. Initially I had been angry, but I got past that almost instantly and went straight into crazy blind panic mode. These were the people I had grown up with, the ones who I had spent countless summers with and had grown to call my family. Just like that, gone.

To be honest I could have survived with 5 of them gone, we would still see each other during the holidays and talk on the phone religiously, but it was Jaxon I couldn’t bear to see leave, my oldest friend, my best friend. It had been just me and him since lower school and then slowly the others joined our group. Jace and Tyler polar opposites yet completely the same, next was Cole. The father of our group, he had been held back a year when he was in lower school along with Jaxon after their parents had decided to take them out of school for a year to work in Spain, failing to realise the profound impact it would have on their children although they had been thrust together in Spain they were never close until middle school. Leaving Maria, the beautiful modern day da Vinci and Lil’ your athletic, smart and beautiful bundle of awesomeness.  Then there was me, Skylar’s my name and being sucky at most things is my game. Around 5’5 with long brown hair matched with olive skin, I was what Maria called a ‘natural beauty.’ Of course, she had to say that, what with her being my indisputable BFF. Pfft I felt as beautiful as a spatula. Don’t ask me why that comparison, it just work. Together we make one big happy dysfunctional family.

Oh, but Jaxon, I am the biggest cliché in all of history. Except there’s a catch, I’ve always been in love with Jaxon, it wasn’t some sudden realisation that came to me as he rescued me from a burning building or something ridiculous like that. I’ve had a crush on him since year 10. Pathetic I know, I had to sit through every painful conversation about his first kiss, first date and every damn girl he liked. To say it hurt is the very least, but that’s what I get for falling in love with my best friend.  obviously, this was a secret I kept guarded with my very life, although we told each other everything this was just too scary to reveal.

The day they had told me they were leaving I could barely look at him; it had felt as if someone had reached in, pulled my heart and lungs out and then proceeded to make a bow out of them. The days leading up to their departure were the worst of all. Jaxon and I would keep our distance, and even though we hadn’t spoken about him leaving and moving, there was a mutual understanding that it was for the best if we kept apart for a while. Worse decision we ever made. Each moment was gut wrenching and all I could think was, you’re leaving me.

Though on the night before their departure Maria, Lil’ and I had a sleepover, one last hurrah before they left me for school, the next time I would see them would be December 7th and I was already counting the days. After little persuasion, I managed to get Maria to spill on why Jaxon was going. Although I cared deathly for them all and would miss them like no one would believe. I knew this was a dream they all shared. Something they had dreamt of ever since we knew what boarding school was. I could never ask them to stay for me even though I knew they would in heartbeat, so like a good friend I put on a brave smile and congratulated them all.

Only I knew something which confused me greatly when I heard the news. Jaxon didn’t share this dream. We had always planned to stay at Queensland upper and do sixth form together, from the trip to Barcelona at the end of AS to the end of year exams and all the things in between. After Maria had revealed the truth it was clear his ever-absent parents had found out that Cole was going to the prestigious St Marks boarding school of London and insisted he go to, and that was that. My friends ripped from me in less than 24 hours. With the girls at the sister school St Mary, they were in close proximity and would always skype me when they got together on Sunday nights. To this I couldn’t help but be envious. they were together, and I was in rubbish old Queensland, causing it to suddenly look like a prison more than anything else. I had tried to convince my mom to let me attend the sister school, a suggestion that was quickly ripped down and put to bed. We just simply could not afford it on a single income house hold, yet another reason to hate my absent father.

But today was the day, the first time I would see him in person since our tearful departure in September. It was December 7th and it was freezing, where was he? I had been counting down the days and it had finally arrived. I took out my phone and checked the time; 10:37pm, his train arrived nearly 15 minutes ago and when I had spoken to him on the phone he was just getting off the platform. I readjusted my seat on the stone ledge that surrounded my house wincing as my stiff muscles struggled to move. My mother didn’t exactly approve of our friendship, she didn’t know they existed. with the exception of Maria and Lil’ so  I was hiding out on the ledge hidden by the tall trees that guarded the entrance, our friendship was constructed on hiding and sneaking out late to hang out, could you blame me? when she had first forbidden me from seeing them out of school I planned an elaborate ruse and met up with them any chance I got, and with that came my first taste of utter rebellion at the tender age of 12 which finally lead to sneaking out and meeting on Friday nights when I was old enough to climb off the roof. We would all meet at his house to pig out on junk food and watch movies. As his parents worked so much they were rarely in town leaving him to take care of his only sister Kate who was 9. Once he was old enough to cook, the armada of countless nannies’ stop being hired and he was given the full responsibility, to be honest I think they both preferred it. Jaxon was an incredible older brother and cared for her deeply, we all did and tried to help as often as we could. The love he showed her only made me love him more.

No! Sky, snap out of it! Okay breath in and out I schooled myself in simple calming exercises this; little fantasy was getting out of hand, I will never be with him like that, he will never see me as Skylar; possible girlfriend. only Skylar; friend who snuck into his tent and painted his face red when we were 8 and on a camping trip. Smiling to myself as I recalled his distraught cry when he found red paint all over his face, and even still covered from me when the teacher asked why he had red on his sleeping bag, to which he jokingly replied, ‘I started my period miss.’

I unlocked my phone with icy hands and typed in the password, just as I was about to hit call I saw a familiar tall figure walking up the road and into the close where I lived. Jaxon.

As he got closer my eyes focused and his features cleared allowing me to see him properly, his dark brown hair had grown and was short around the sides leaving long strands angling to the left over his forehead. On top, he wore a grey beanie donned with a black shirt and leather jacket with equally as dark blue jeans he looked every part the bad boy rocker image my mother had of him. To put it in girl terms he looked HOT. At the sight of him I just couldn’t stop smiling, without realising I had gravitated towards him and we were reaching for each other, enveloping the other in a crushing hug. He angled his face and tucked it into my neck as I wound my arms tightly around him. We stood like that for what was probably ten minutes but what felt like ten seconds. Sky he breathed, and just like that the gaping hole in my chest which had been void for nearly 4 moths started to fill.

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