Distant

Nate Hansen

I whispered to my mom, “Everything’s okay. He just called me and said that Kool-Aid exploded on him.” She nodded and walked away.

I let him inside and peered on each side of my house to make sure no one was looking. I rushed him upstairs to my bathroom.

“What happened now?!” I was a little afraid now. The last time he came over, he had a gun in his hand.

‘I-I-My mom... she was in the way... I was holding a gun... and... and...” Ashton collapsed onto the ground in fetal position and began crying. I awkwardly started patting him on the back, not knowing what to do.

“Did you kill her?” He started nodding and in-between sobs said, “I didn’t mean to.” Surprisingly, I didn’t freak out. His mom was a jerk. In a way, she kind of deserved it. She shouldn’t have been killed, but Ashton suffered a lot because of her. She needed to know what it was like. No, two wrongs don’t make a right (you don’t know how much I hate that saying, but it works here) but she should’ve been punished.

“I think you and guns are not a good thing.” I smiled and chuckled a little bit. “We need to get you into some new clothes first.” I pulled out a shirt that said Nirvana on it and let him borrow it. I also lent him some sweats. He thanked me, and quickly undressed.

I walked downstairs to further explain things to my mom. She was probably freaking out on the inside, and trying to keep her cool on the oustside. But, she was just sitting on the couch and watching Oprah.

“Hey mom, so I thought I’d explain a little further. Ashton had Kool-Aid explode on him and apparently the Kool-Aid got in his dogs eyes and his dog is in pretty bad condition... it looks like they have to take him to the vet. He feels like it is all his fault, and doesn’t want to go back to his house because he feels like it will bring back bad memories. Is it okay if he stays here for just the night?”

“Of course! I think I should probably call his mom first though.” She picked up the phone and started dialing the number.

“NO!” I yelled. My mom looked at me in shock. “I mean, Ashton already told her that he was coming over here, and she knows that he could be staying the night.”

“Oh, okay. There was no need to yell, sheesh.” She set the phone done and continued watching TV. I let out a breath of relief, and walked back upstairs.

I found Ashton sitting on my bed leaning up against the headboard. He was sitting with his knees bent and his arms wrapped around his legs.

“Why is this happening?” He cried. “What’s wrong with me?! Everything bad happens to me! I can’t-I can’t stand it anymore! I hate myself! I just want to die.”

I slapped him across the face, not that hard though. I pointed my finger at him. “Don’t even say that. I would miss you forever if that happened. Chloe would miss you. Your dad would miss you. My mom would miss you. Just don’t say that.”

“It’s true, though. I- I can’t stand living like this anymore though. And every time you give me this little “pep-talk” I always lie. I say “okay” and smile. It’s not okay though. It’s not true. You need to understand that. I don’t care what you think anymore! I don’t care what anyone thinks. It’s not like the whole world would miss me. Not even ten people would miss me.” He muttered off and I could see tear-marks forming down his face. His eyes were getting puffy.

“I know.” I told him

“No, you don’t know! You don’t know what it’s like! You-“

”No, Ashton. I meant that I know that you faked it whenever I would give you a “pep-talk”. I know that you lie. What I don’t know, is why you feel like this. I don’t know why you would think about killing yourself. I don’t know why you don’t see that people would really miss you!” I tried my best to keep as calm as possible. Positive thoughts, positive thoughts.

Then there was a knock on the door. Ashton started to get up, but then I told him to stay. I rushed to the door before my mom could get there, and I made it in time.

“I got it mom!” I yelled to her. Opening the front door, I was surprised to see a police officer standing at my doorstep.

“Hello, young man. Do you know anyone by the name of Ashton Bennett?”

“Yes, yes I do.” I said. I walked onto my doorstep and closed the door. “Is there anything wrong, officer?”

“Well, he has committed a crime of murder. Twice, we believe. Do you know where he might be?” The officer looked like he was in his mid-thirties, and was bald with sunglasses on. He looked kinda scary because his expression told me that if I said the wrong thing, he would pull out his handcuffs and bring me to jail.

“No. I’m sorry, sir.” I kept my face emotionless. But I felt the lie kept creeping back up into my throat, making me feel sick. So I decided to digress from the topic. “You know, a few days ago, he was really sad. I really wanted to be there for him, you know? He goes to a different school than me, and we just never talk! I wanted to talk to him, but he just kept pushing me away! Why would he do that? I mean, he is my best friend. I would do anything for him. Does he not like me enough to be my friend? Is that what it is? Does he not want to be my friend anymore? Why? Why does he not talk to me? Why does he just leave me in the dust?!”

“Okay, thank you for your time.” The officer started heading off to the patrol car, when I shouted:

“WAIT! Don’t you want to hear more about Ashton?”

“No, I’ve got what we needed. Thank you.” He started his car.

“But I forgot to tell you how we became friends!!” That made him drive off. I snickered to myself as I walked back into the house.

“Who was that?” My mother asked.

“It was a guy who wanted to find his lost dog. I thought I saw him before, but apparently not.” I went upstairs and saw Ashton still lying on my bed.

“Hey, do you remember when we were younger and my mom used to make us hot chocolate before bed? I’m craving that right now.” I grinned at him.

“Yeah, that does sound good... who was at the door?” He looked at me, his eyes beginning to droop because he was tired after his crying. I stayed quiet for a little while, debating on whether or not I should tell the truth, or lie to him.

“It was a police officer. He wanted to know where you were.” I looked down at my bed sheets, not wanting to make eye contact with him.

“What? What did you say?” He started panicking and breathing really fast.

“I told him that I didn’t know. He believed it, trust me!” I laughed at the thought.

“Okay. Good...” he calmed down. “But Nate, what am I going to do when they find me? I’m going to go to prison!! I killed two people! I’m a wanted criminal! Oh my god... I’m going to rot in there! Nate, I can’t go to prison. Nate I can’t!” He started hyperventilating again.

“Ashton, just stay there. I’m going to get us the hot chocolate that I talked about.” I ran downstairs and begged my mom to make us hot chocolate. I explained that Ashton was freaking out again and the hot chocolate would calm him down. She agreed to, because she is the best mom ever.

After she made the hot chocolate, I knew what I had to do. I asked my mom for permission first, and she hesitated, but then said I could do it. He was in a lot of pain, I needed to do it.

I crushed up one sleeping pill in his hot chocolate, just enough to knock him out like a light.

I walked upstairs and handed him his hot chocolate; making sure it was actually his. The hot chocolate did look very tempting. There was whipped cream piled high with chocolate syrup drizzled on it and almond shavings. He drained the entire chocolate within a matter of minutes. I hoped that the sleeping pills helped him feel rested and he would forget about everything. Please, Ashton, calm down. I prayed.

Sweet dreams.