Depressing Oneshots

Fall

I made my teacher cry with this one!

< ~ >

"Is this Julia Andrews?" The masculine voice asks.

"Yes, who is this?" I ask.

"Hello, I'm Officer Jackson from the NYPD, I'm sorry to inform you that Jacob Williams has died, you were listed as Jacob's next of kin. I'm so sorry for your loss." He replies, his kindness seeping through the phone. I start shaking, feeling like the room is spinning around me.

"H-how...what happened?" I ask, sniffling between words. I can't lose another.

"He jumped off the balcony. Again, I'm so sorry for your loss." He seems sincere but tired so I thank him and let him go. I walk into my bedroom, tears streaming down my cheeks.

"Honey?" My husband asks. "What's wrong?" The tears become more violent, a steady stream crashing against my cheeks.

"He's gone, just like her."

19 years ago

"Iris!" I yell, running towards her, giving her a kiss on the cheek as soon as we were close.

"Julia! I missed you so much! I was so miserable without you." My girlfriend, Iris, had gone on a four month long trip, leaving me lonesome and forlorn. Her parents, still having control over her as she is only 18, force her to go on these "family business trips." But, I know they're just setting her up with guys her mom sees fit.

"Julia... they found one." I knew it was coming. The second I saw her face, so stricken with fear of the future, I knew her mom had done something. Their relationship was strictly business, no love between the two. I will always hate her mom for trying to break us up, trying to force her into a marriage she doesn't want. It's the 21st century, Iris should be able to make her own decisions. I wrap her in a tight hug as I fear she might disappear from my grasp at any moment. Her hair has the most intoxicating smell, a mix of lavender and fresh rain: bliss. We stay there for a while, ignoring our classmates staring at us.

"When, when do you leave?" I ask her quietly, feeling the pressure of our doomed love. Their arrangement was always that Iris could go to college until she found a well suited husband to take care of her.

"Two weeks. The wedding will be here though. I think I can convince my mother to let me keep living here." She says the last part happily, as if it poses a solution to all of our problems.

"Iris, I can't just let you go! You can't just let her win!" I cry, drawing attention from people around us. I apologize quickly before turning back to her. She looks at me wistfully, regret dancing around her.

"It's going to be ok. He seems pretty nice... I think."

"You're not supposed to marry someone you can live with, you should marry someone you can't live without!" I say, my rage growing by the second. I'm hopelessly in love with her, hopelessly. I thought I would never have to let her go.

"Julia, I have no choice, you know that. Can't we just be happy about the time we have left?" she asks softly. I look at Iris's tears as they threaten to fall.

"No, no we can't." I turn my back to her, heading to class.

"Julia, please wait," Iris calls from behind me. I almost turn to her, but I know the second I see her pleading eyes I'll succumb, so I just keep walking.

2 years later

"JULIA?"

I whip my head around, surprised at the familiar and calming voice I hadn't heard in so long. I am quickly enthralled by the sweet smell of lavender that accumulates around us. It brings me back to high school: the walks we would take by the river, the picnics we would have in the meadow behind her house, all of it.