Claire's Diary ( On Hold )

Chapter 7

"She never found out how much I tried - all of the sadness she kept made me blind She never found out how much I cried - the rope so tight on the night that she died..." -Seether -Love Her

Chapter Seven

I stood right behind the camera with Chloe and her parents. A short week had passed, and now here we all stood in the news room, waiting to be called onto the floor. My hands were shaking hard and I was doing my best to even out my breathing. I had never been on television before, and I was twice as nervous because I had to speak of Claire's death.

My mother wasn't so happy about me going on the news, but I didn't understand why. I told her I wanted to make it known how much suicide effects everyone around the victim. I wanted to explain that if one is considering taking their life, they needed to get help. But my mother just thought I was going to look foolish. I tried to ignore her opinion.

"You ready?"

I turned my head to see Chloe looking at me with the tiniest smile.

"Uh...yeah," I lied. "You?"

Chloe shrugged softly. "I guess."

I didn't get to respond as I got distracted by the reporter. "And we'll be back to talk over the horrible recent suicide with the victim's family right after these messages."

"And...we're off," said the man holding the camera.

I had never seen something like this before. I never really knew how the news broadcast worked, but here I was, behind the scenes.

I recognized the reporter from the news, he did practically everything with this channel. He jumped off the stool he sat on and made his way to us. After he stood before us, he flashed us a smile.

"If you all are ready, let's go on to the couches over there," he instructed with a pointed finger.

I followed his finger and saw a small area with two couches and a coffee table. Claire's parents headed in that direction, then me and Chloe traced their footsteps.

Right when I plopped down on the couch, I felt my nerves take me over. The cameramen were adjusting large cameras before us, aiming at all angles.

None of my family was here with me. My parents and Thomas were at home, ready to watch me on the television. I already had everything that I wanted to say planned out, but yet I was scared as hell.

"And we're back in three, two, one!"

I watched as the newsman stared into one of the many cameras. He sat on the couch across from the rest of us. We all sat in a line on the other couch. I was on the edge with Chloe on my right.

"I'm sure everyone has heard about the suicide which was committed about two weeks ago. Claire Benet attended Clayson County High School and was a senior. Here with us today, we have her family and girlfriend to talk about the loss."

He glanced at us with a small smile, and I instantly fixed my posture, guessing our faces were being flashed across the screens.

"Mrs. Benet, did you notice anything odd with Claire before she died?"

I thought that was a real blunt question but instantly I knew what my response would have been. I had in fact known something was up with Claire, but I didn't know about her mother. I hadn't even thought of that before. Did her parents even know?

"I did recognize that her eating patterns were off. She ate very little and would always dismiss herself early from our meals."

"I see. And what about you, Mr. Benet?"