Love is the strongest glue

Chapter four : Questions

-- Guys I am so sorry this took so long to get out. I have been focusing on school (and there has also been a lot of procrastination involved as well). I noticed that the chapters have been getting progressively shorter so I tried to make this chapter longer. Thank you all for reading the story!!--

Hazel stared at me. I could see the pain rising in her eyes as she thought of the answer to my question. I knew I shouldn't have asked as soon as the words left my mouth. Her eyes drained of their usual sparkle and tears rolled down her cheeks. I have to try to snap her out of this.
"Hazel?" I lightly tapped her shoulder, but she didn't respond or move. I try again. "Hazel?" Still no response. I am about to go get help when the bell rings, and she jerks awake. She looks confused and in pain, she wipes a tear off her cheek and runs out of the lunchroom. I call after her but she doesn't turn around or stop.

This school is older than my last school, my last one was only a couple of years old. The hallways are lined with green tinted lockers that are starting to rust at the corners, and the floors are covered in scuff marks. Even the air smells old and musty. At my old school everything was shiny, and nice, everything that is except for the people.

I make my way through the crowded hallways to find my next class, but the whole time I am thinking of Hazel. Whatever happened must have been traumatic enough to cause that shutdown in the cafeteria. I have to find out what happened, if not from Hazel from someone else.

I get to class and take my seat at the back of the classroom. This week we are working on a group project so whoever is next to us is our partner. The person next to me is a short, brunette boy with an orange beanie, a black t-shirt, and the strong smell of marijuana. Great.
" Hey im Christian," the boy looked at me blankly, obviously stoned.
" Oh um sorry I don't believe in religion," he said this with a slight slur.
"No, my name is Christian."
" Well why didn't you say so? Im Zane."
" I did say- you know what nevermind." Then my mind pops back to Hazel, I feel bad about talking about her behind her back but I have to know what happened.
" So Zane, do you know what happened to Hazel Brookes' sister?"
" Yeah, She died last summer, it was a major bummer." He looked amused at himself " Hey.. that rhymed dude." He started laughing hysterically. At this rate I am not going to find anything out.
"Well I have that much figured out, but do you know WHAT happened to her?" He stared at me for a little while. Then he looked back at his notebook and started humming some random tune. Well that went well. I finished up my work for today and spent the rest of my class reading To Kill a Mockingbird. And Zane spent the rest of the class... sleeping, I think. The bell rang to end school and Zane jumped out of his chair like someone had stabbed him.
" No! I won't let you take me!!!" He said this and then ran out of the room. What is up with that dude? It doesn't matter, hopefully the internet will know what happened to Hazel's sister.

My walk home was normal, this time no dogs tried to eat my backpack.

My house is a big baby blue house on the corner of a street. It is really big, my dad's job pays well, so our house is pretty huge. I walk in through the front door and drop my bag on the floor. When you walk in, there is a staircase in front of you, with my dad's office to the right, and the dining room to the left. I check my dad's office to see if he is home, he isn't. His desk is empty except for a couple stacks of paper and a picture of my mother. I roll my eyes and lay the picture face down on the desk. The walls are all white with old fashioned wall sconces. I go into the kitchen and make a snack, sour cream and onion pringles with shredded cheddar cheese. It is the best combo of all time. I take a right out of my kitchen into the living room and grab my laptop off of the couch. The television is on and CNN is playing, which gives me an idea, if someone in this town died, it would probably have been covered by the local news stations. I open up my laptop and go to Google.
Brookes Family. Nothing pops up
High schooler dies. Nothing pops up
Local student dies. And the first thing that pops up is, Tragedy in a small town: Local high school student Maya Brookes dies unexpectedly.
I click on the web link and two things pop up, an article, and some news coverage. I press play on the video.

" I am here today at the scene of a tragic event that has shocked this small town." The newscaster looked at the camera with no sense of sorrow or emotion, which is surprising based on the scene unravelling behind her. There are paramedics and cops scattered all around the house, and there are two cops blocking the front door. The newscaster continues to talk but something catches my eye in the background that makes my blood run cold and the news lady's voice dims out. It's Hazel. She is running towards the front doors where the cops stop her. She runs to her mother who is sobbing on the lawn. Hazel runs out of the frame and I don't see her again for a couple minutes when she is being escorted out of the house. She must have snuck in. Her skin looks pale and her eyes are drained of all color, yet red from crying. She drops to the front lawn in tears. My heart pounds. The news lady's voice comes back into focus and I hear her say...
" I am just getting confirmation on what has happened. Maya Brookes, a Senior at the local high school has died of self inflicted causes." She killed herself. I slam the computer shut and stare at the blank wall in front of me. Poor Hazel. That's why she got so tense when I asked earlier. I want to go see her but two things stop me; 1. I don't think she wants company right now based on what happened earlier and 2. I do not know her address. The second reason is the main one. I'll just have to wait until school tomorrow to talk to her, maybe not even then, I don't want to trigger anything. Maybe it's best I leave her alone for a couple days.

I decide to unpack some boxes, we have been here a week and my room only has a bed and a desk with barren walls. I hang up some vinyl music records on my walls, and add some posters behind my bed. My room is a square with a small reading nook in front of the window. After setting up some led lights along the wall, and adding stuff to my bedside table, I grab a book and settle in the corner. The sky is just starting to get golden and the clouds are making the rays of sun beam in different directions. I look back at my book and get lost in the story. My mind hops back to Hazel a couple times but I ignore it. Then I get a text on my phone from a number I don't recognize.

Hey.