Five Years Without You (HIATUS)

Chapter Three

~Raelyn~

I'm at home and in my room, sitting on the edge of my bed, writing poetry in my notebook. Renae gave me the notebook for my thirteenth birthday, and it has tons of pages and a leather cover with white lightning bolts stitched on it. My sister sewed the lightning on herself. The notebook has been my 'vent book', per se, for the last three years. On the inside of the cover, I wrote my name in fancy cursive, but beside it, on the first page, I wrote a string of swear words. Indecent, foul-mouthed little girl.

Right now, I'm writing a deep, rather triggering and slightly vulgar poem about teenage problems. Such are the teenage years, encapsulated in the inescapable maze of words and rhyming schemes.

I hear the familiar ping of my phone's text tone, and reach over to my bedside table to read the text. It's one of my best friends, Cedar.

Conversation with Cedar Birchfelt:

Cedar: hi lyn

u busy?

Me: not at all. what's up?

Cedar: do u think u could watch marten for an hour or so

i have extra help for summer school i gtg to

Marten is Cedar's nine-year-old brother. He's awfully quiet and spends a lot of time reading comic books. A pretty forgettable looking kid, too. Tan skin, dark brown hair, simple facial features. He's very low maintenance, though.

Me: woah, you have extra help for summer school, which is supposed to be extra help?

Cedar: yeah

i'm rly failing school rn and yk that

my parents boutta disown me or smth if i dont get my grades up smh

Me: oh. i can definitely watch marten, though.

Cedar: thanks

Me: i'll be there in fifteen.

Cedar: ok

I close my notebook, place it, along with my pen, on the bedside table and turn the desk lamp off.

I'm not dressed yet, so I head to my bathroom. I throw on a brown button-down shirt and tuck the shirt into a pair of mom jeans. My hair looks okay. It's dark brown, almost black, and goes halfway down my back. I just leave it as is.

"Autumn, I'm going out!" I call as I walk down the stairs.

Autumn is waiting for me at the bottom. "Where are you going?" she asks.

"Cedar's place. He needs me to watch his brother," I reply.

"Ah, ok. Drive safe!" Autumn says.

I share a car with Autumn due to our lack of sibling funds. It's a black Toyota sedan. I don't know what model or whatever it is. I'm not a car girl, I read books and write poetry.

I decide to call Cedar in the car.

Calling Cedar Birchfelt

"Raelyn?" Cedar says, his voice melodic and clear but yet unmistakably masculine.

I reply, "I'm on my way to your house, Cedar."

"Yes, thank you."

"Tell me though," I say, "that you won't fail school."

Cedar laughs his low, raspy laugh that so uniquely belongs to him. "Rae, you're such a mom friend."

I laugh, caught up in the joke with my friend.

Suddenly I see the signal lights of another car, and I barely have time to gasp before I crash.

Then the world goes black.

-

A/N: Hi! This is the third chapter. Sorry it took so long. Let me know what you think. Next chapter, Raelyn and Marissa will *really* get to meet (even though Raelyn is unconscious, but that's besides the point). Anyways, hope you enjoyed :)

-PFJ