Short stories by Jacob

They Weren't Here

A/N: Howdy Lovelies... long time no see... anywho sorry about dropping off the face of the planet. I honestly forgot I had Wattpad for a hot minute and then I had school and other shit and now I cant even remember when the last time I wrote on here was. So sorry about that... I have gotten into a writing mood recently so expect more updates from me I guess. Again sorry for dipping.
Luv y'all <3

TW: mentions of death, suicide, abuse, eating disorders, and self-harm

The boy stared out the window of the school building he was trapped in, ignoring the long lecture the teacher was giving. The rain was audible on the metal roof of the building as it also dripped on the window. He watched as the drops would race down and disappear at the bottom. Jeremiah was in his second semester of his senior year in high school.

It had been a long four years but he was still not quite processing that it was almost finished. Exams were coming up in a few weeks but he was lucky enough to be exempt from all of his. He sat in his first block Spanish class extremely tired and burnt out wishing for the class to end even though it had barely been 10 minutes yet.

As he stared off he thought about his past four years at this school. It had been a lot. From toxic ex's to practically abusive teachers. He was content with where he was but looking at where he had come from made him appreciate his standing more now.

He had failed all his classes one of the years. His ex would force him to do things he never wanted to do. He would hardly ever eat anything. He would never turn in work. His parents would complain about his grades. He would get to points where he would start packing a bag to run away or kill himself.

He remembered the night where he would lie down on his bed tears streaming down his face hoping he wouldn't wake up the next day. He remembered the times when his ex would tell him he needed to lose weight so he could be perfect. He would remember standing at the end of a long day of school and marching band his director telling him to "walk off" his extreme nausea in front of the entire band. He remembered when his ex hit him...

Jeremiah shook his head in that moment bringing himself back into reality. He blinked a few times before realizing he was crying. He took the sleeve of his hoodie and wiped his face looking around to make sure no one had seen it. He looked at the clock 35 minutes had past. Sighing he placed his head on his desk his arms folded keeping his face from the cold table top.

He then started to think about this past year. It had been hard, yes, but he was still happy. He had all of his favorite classes, he was making new friends and reuniting with others, he was passing all of his classes with straight A's. It was extremely different than his past. Even so, it had still been hard.

Two of his grandparents had died in the past year. They were two of the kindest people he had ever known. He remembered all the memories he had with them. From car rides to vacations. Every single memory with the two of them that he had was always a good one. Last year had been the year when the two of them had started getting sick. They would be in and out of the hospital constantly. Jeremiah's parents would always go to be with them leaving him home alone. It wasn't until this past year that they died. It was painful. He thought about it a lot. The most hurtful thing about it all was that they would never get to see him in his final performances or see him walk across the graduation stage and receive his diploma. It hurt. They had been here with him supporting him for his entire life and just before he reached an amazing milestone they were gone. He would never see them again. The bell then rang dismissing the class to go to their next block and Jeremiah put his sad thoughts to the back of his mind.

Time skip: Graduation day

Jeremiah sat in his spot in the gym waiting for his name to be called so he could go to the line leading to the football stadium where the ceremony would take place. The gym was filled with quiet chatter of all of the students. Jeremiah looked around at all of his fellow peers which sat in the large room with him. Over 400 of them finally finished with the unfortunately unhelpful public school system. He stood up when his line was the next to be called and he smiled briefly to the teacher who called his name as he walked past into the long line of students waiting impatiently to move forward to the football stadium.

He couldn't believe he was finally here. He honestly never thought this day would come. It seemed like a miracle to him that he was wearing a cap and gown. He smiled to himself anxiously waiting for the teachers to tell them to head to the stadium. As he waited his mind wandered. He was so happy to finally be leaving this hell hole of a school.

The past years were not close to how awful he imagined they would be but they were not great. All of his memories rushed back to him. From sitting in the cafeteria waiting for lunch to end, to standing onstage for his final performance on his high school's stage. As the happy memories resurfaced so did the bad ones. Failing, crying, cutting, screaming, dying. Tears welled up in Jeremiah's eyes as he thought of everything. He wished all of these pain-filled memories would disappear. This day was supposed to be happy and exciting. A celebration of his efforts. But then two final memories popped up in his head.

His grandparents... They weren't here. He would be able to see them. They wouldn't be able to congratulate him after so many horrible years. The tears stung his eye and his throat closed up making it hard to breathe. But the pain continued.

He remembered how 2 years ago his sister had her graduation (granted with the state of the world most people wouldn't have called it a real graduation). He remembered how his parents rented out a large van that sat 15 people so that the four of them and all of Jeremiah and his sister's grandparents could come and see his sister walk across the stage. He remembers them piling into the van. He remembers them all being there so excited and happy for his sister. He remembers all their smiling faces. The image stabbed him in the heart.

Pain tore through his body as his tears got worse. They weren't here. He couldn't see them. He would never see their smiling faces as he walked back to them with his diploma in hand. They were gone. Forever.

The line had been moving for awhile now and the students were now filing onto the field into their seats. Jeremiah could hold back his tears as he walked carefully to his spot and stood there waiting for the principal to allow them to sit.

After a few speeches the names started to be called. It wasn't long until Jeremiah's name was called and he walked across the stage. With all the emotions flowing through his body right now the only thing that his face would let him do was smile. He had done it. But at what cost.

After another hour or so the principal finally pronounced his class as graduates. Caps flew into the air as applause erupted from the stadium. The only this Jeremiah could do was cry. As he walked back to the entrance of the stadium with his friends the tears streamed down his face. He couldnt stop them and he didn't try to. He was surrounded by so many people in that moment, but he had never felt so lonely.

They weren't here.

A/N: Hello lovely people! I hope you enjoyed this little short story sorry again that I haven't been very active for the past few months. It has been hard recently. Thank you all for reading this though. I can't wait to finally be able to put out more content for you! Thank you guys for everything and I will see you in the next one! BYE!!!

~Jacob <3

Word Count- 1467