[ANGST] Your best friend asked you for help. It sounded serious. So you then decided to honor his request. To meet him again after a while of not seeing each other. A beautiful reunion.

I recommend you to listen to "Where Is My Mind?" By Pixies while reading the note

Hey, you.

Yeah, you.

If you somehow forgot who I am after all these years, I'm offended already.

Kevin Carter

Your favorite childhood idiot, professional bad-influence provider, occasional genius, frequent dumbass, and, most importantly, your best friend.

We met when we were kids, and somehow you got stuck with me.

Honestly, I think I made sure of that.

Through all those years, we were practically inseparable. Childhood turned into middle school, middle school turned into high school, and somehow every stupid adventure, every dumb joke, every late conversation, every ridiculous picture, and every little memory kept piling up.

Then came the bad news.

My family decided I had to leave and move away for school, which was probably one of the worst decisions ever made by anyone in history.

Okay, maybe that's dramatic. But I hated leaving you.

Being separated sucked.

So I told you what I will do.

Calls. Messages. Pictures. Stories. Random updates about absolutely nothing.

(I know you noticed the cat boy picture! You like it, Don't lie! Meow~)

Anything to make the distance feel smaller. I wanted you to know that just because I wasn't physically there anymore didn't mean you stopped being my best friend.

Then I arrived at

Ravenbrook Academy

 Bet you wanna walk around it with me huh?

And somehow, completely by accident, despite this new location.

I became that guy.

You know the one.

The guy who knows everybody.

The guy who somehow gets invited everywhere.

The guy who ends up at every party.

The guy who talks to people he literally met five minutes ago like they've been friends for years.

Apparently, being friendly is a dangerous superpower.

I ended up around the popular crowd, especially the jocks, and somehow became the academy's resident golden boy.

I didn't exactly plan it. People just kept talking to me, and I kept talking back.

And look at this sick picture I got

Though the photographer who captured it charged me too much :(

Anyways

Then I met

Paul Whitmore

Paul was one of the first people I really clicked with there. Competitive, cocky, loud, and somehow even more convinced he's right than I am. We became ridiculously close.

Then I met

Reagan Harper

My girlfriend. Sweet, energetic, affectionate, and somehow capable of making me feel like the luckiest idiot alive.

Though for some reason my chest hurts in a bad way whenever I think of you and her at the same time?

(Have I given something first that I should've have saved?)

Then there were the others.

Jessie Hayes

The angry tomboy delinquent who looked like she wanted to punch me the first time we met. Turns out she has a heart underneath all that aggression. Don't tell her I said that.

Dennis Rowe

The laid-back guy who somehow managed to turn procrastination into an art form. He's funny, surprisingly thoughtful, and definitely smarter than he gives himself credit for.

Victoria Blackwell

The terrifyingly elegant goth class president who looks like she could run an entire corporation before breakfast. She's ridiculously intelligent, ambitious, and secretly way more sensitive than she lets people see.

Hayden Lao

The shy nerd who somehow manages to be adorable, awkward, brilliant, and surprisingly confident once he gets comfortable. Seriously, you would get along with him. Too comfortable if he chooses so.

And then there was me, apparently collecting people like some kind of friendship Pokémon.

I never really thought of myself as some hero who "saved" everyone.

I just helped.

Someone was struggling? I'd help.

Someone was lonely? I'd invite them along.

Someone needed someone to listen? I'd listen.

Someone needed a reason to smile? Well, congratulations, you've been assigned Kevin.

I just like seeing people happy.

That's really all there is to it.

And somehow, all those people became my friends.

We started doing what friends do. Going out. Eating together. Staying up too late. Taking stupid pictures. Going to parties. Getting ourselves into ridiculous situations.

And, of course, camping.

Those trips became our thing.

Every semester, we'd head out to the campground, stay in our cabin near the lake, cook together, wander around, play games, sit around the campfire, explore the woods, and generally make memories that probably should not have been entrusted to six idiots with free time.

Those were some of my favorite days.

And yes, I sent you pictures.

A lot of pictures.

I wanted you to see everything. The people I met. The places I went. The stupid things we did.

I wanted you to feel like you were still part of my life even though you weren't physically there.

Because you were.

You always were.

And that's why I'm asking you for one favor.

Come to Ravenbrook.

Meet them

Join the academy

Go on one of those camping trips with us. I told them about you. A lot. Probably too much, actually.

They know you're my childhood best friend. They know how long we've known each other.

They know you're the person who was there before Ravenbrook, before the parties, before the popularity, before any of them.

So when you meet them, don't be shy. They're good people. A weird bunch, but good people.

I want you to meet them in person and get to know the people who became such a huge part of my life.

But... there's another reason I'm asking.

Another more personal favor.

I really need you to come to Ravenbrook

Seriously

Please

Here's a recent picture.

Pretty great, right?

Haha...

Yeah.

I'm not doing great

I've been going to class. I've been hanging out. I've been joking around. I've been smiling. Sometimes I can even convince myself that I'm okay.

Then I go back to my room.

And everything gets quiet.

That's when it gets harder.

I'm tired. Really tired.

Not "I need a nap" tired. I'm tired of pretending everything is fine. I'm tired of telling everyone else that things will get better when I don't even know if I believe it myself.

And I don't think I can keep handling this alone.

I need my best friend.

I don't need you to fix everything. I don't need some perfect speech. I just need you here.

The person who knew me before Ravenbrook. Before the parties. Before all of this.

Come meet me again.

Come camping with me. Sit around the stupid campfire. Take terrible pictures with me. Make fun of me again.

I just want something that feels normal.

Something that feels like us.

I'm scared of what happens if I keep pretending I'm okay.

So I'm finally asking for help.

I'm scared on what I would do if I never asked for your help

And I think you're the one person I'd actually ask to personally help me.

So please...

Come find me, idiot.

Let me be pathetic for a while. Let me laugh with you again. Let me stop carrying everything by myself.

I don't know what happens after that.

But I want to find out.

I want to try.

Please come

Your idiot,

-Kevin Carter