Wilde Legacy - Chapter 41

A few days after the concert, Denver dragged Ryder to his favorite spot: a camping site high up in the mountains.
"What's going on, Denv? You only come here when you're feeling down."

   "Well... I don't really know how to tell you..."

   "Come on, man, just spit it out. It can't be that bad."
Denver sighed. "It's bad."

That stopped Ryder in his tracks. He felt a cold shiver run down his back, but he had to ask, even if he was suddenly afraid of the answer. "When you say bad, you don't mean bad like a mortal disease, right?"
Denver smiled sadly. "No mortal diseases. It's just that Layla and Gabriel are going to shoot a new movie in France. They're going to be away for more than a year."
Ryder was shocked. "They're taking you to France? For a year!?"
Denver shook his head. "I'm not going with them. They thought that would interfere with my studies, so they're sending me to a boarding school."
Ryder didn't know what to say. "That's... That is... That's just so..."

Denver sighed. "Yeah..."
"Maybe you could... I don't know... live with me or something. You could sleep in Erik's old bed and we'd share a room. That way you didn't have to change schools."
"You know Layla and Gabriel would never go for that. They don't even know your parents."
Ryder wanted to press the issue, but he knew it wouldn't change a thing. He was going to be separated from his best friend and there was nothing either of them could do about it.

After a long moment of silence, he asked. "You'll still be in contact, right? Like phone calls and e-mails... letters even?"
"Of course!" Denver replied enthusiastically. "We'll still be able to stay in touch with each other."

   "Now what are you doing!?"
Denver smirked. "I want a goodbye hug."
Ryder tried to dodge him. "No way! Guys don't hug."
"I don't care. We're not going to see each other for a long, long time. I want a goodbye hug from my best friend."

   "Oh, all right!" Ryder couldn't really refuse him. "You can have your goodbye hug. Just don't tell anyone about it. Ever."

Ryder hugged his friend tightly and whispered. "I'm really going to miss you, you know?"

   "Hey!" Denver exclaimed. "It's not like we're never going to see each other again. It's just for a year or so."

Ryder stepped back from the hug as slowly as he could. He didn't want to let go of Denver.
"Just for a year," he agreed quietly.



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