The only thing that was truly blurry to me was his funeral. I can recall the many various sympathies, and the occasional bouquet of flowers; but I just can’t remember the funeral. The funeral ---along with everything else around that huge production--- was a big blur. Almost as if it was a distant memory, and this was nothing but a bad dream. Any minute I will wake up from it and see his smiling face again. We’d go for a walk through the nearby cornfield or drive 20 miles to the nearest ice cream store. But this is the real world; and in the real world, Jared is dead. He’s never coming back.
I cross the courtyard of the school, just looking back at my week. While most people were either in Hawaii soaking up the rays or at their parent’s home in the Hampton‘s, I was getting regular check-ups with the doc and getting fitted for my cast. Yep, just a totally normal spring break for me. I think the one person I found comfort in at this time was my best (and pretty much only) friend Annabelle Lewis. She had pretty much moved into my room with me for the past week. Without her, a few gallons of Ben & Jerry’s, and The Vampire Diaries seasons 1 and 2 on DVD, I would have gone mad within the first few hours.
So when I reach the front doors of the school, you can imagine how big of a step it would be, in comparison to if it were a few weeks before; especially being on crutches, which makes the task all the more strenuous. Having not found Annabelle yet, I knew I was going to have to face the crowd on my own. So I finally reach the entrance, and I open the doors, hobbling (and attempting not to topple over) inside towards my fate and future.
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Now, I’ve never really been a popular person. In the world of parties, drinking, and wearing exactly the right clothes, I would be at home in my sweatpants and concert t-shirts, with a root beer in hand, reading a book. But when I stepped through the doors of Greenville High School that morning, it seemed like all eyes were on me. I seriously looked around to see if there weren’t any people staring me. Nope. Even the janitor was staring at me, juust peachy. I started hobbling down the hall on my crutches, trying not to look at the eyes that were on me. But judging from the brief passing glances I was making at everyone, I could tell that they were all looking at me with sympathy, scorn (mostly from Heather Jacobs), and worst of all, pity. What had I done to deserve this?
I keep hobbling down the hall, wondering if it’s too late to just go back out the way I came, when I finally spot Annabelle walking toward me, her blonde curls bouncing the entire way. At a height of 5’4” with blonde curls and blue eyes, most guys think she is totally hot, even though she wore nothing other than plaid shirts or t-shirts and skinny jeans with sneakers. You would have to bribe her to get her into anything remotely dressy, aside from homecoming and prom. With my dark brown hair and green eyes, I have had the occasional crush in grade school, but no guy really had shown interest in me. Jared was my first real relationship.
“ Hola mi amiga! Como estas?” she says, bouncing up in a green and pink plaid shirt, dark skinny jeans and black Converse. I grudgingly let her take my backpack from me, and we start walking again. Since she started taking Spanish last trimester, that’s pretty much all she’s been saying (and that isn‘t very much considering how much Spanish you learn in a trimester). She dreams of moving to Spain one day and finding a hot Spaniard named Alejandro (yes, as in the Lady Gaga song); they will own a vineyard and grow old together with their many plaid-shirted children and grandchildren. We discuss these things at our weekly sleepovers; Caroline used to join in the fun, but now she has become an eternal bore.
“Eh, asi asi. Y tu?” I respond. I try to force a smile, even with all of the people still looking at me and now looking at Annabelle. She attempted to teach me some Spanish (because I’m taking French instead of Spanish), and we’ve had some success with it, but still, my Spanish is pretty limited. I can only say basic words. Even though Spanish is what I get out of her the most nowadays, Annabelle is my best friend. We’ve been tight ever since first grade when we shared the same class. I was sitting by myself, reading a story book, and Annabelle came up to me, with her blonde curly hair in two pigtails and her jeans and bright pink t-shirt perfectly pressed, and sat right next to me.
“Can I read that book with you? I really like the Bernstein Bears!” She said, smiling, with one of her front teeth missing. We’d been friends since that day.
“Why are you still carrying your book bag? You should invest in a backpack or something. Carrying that thing around on crutches all day will mess up your shoulder.” she remarks, attempting to take my bag from me.
“What? I like this bag! I’m fine!” I say just as my bag comes dangerously close to slipping from my shoulder.
“Ha! Nice try, dude. Give it.” She says, making a motion for me to give my bag to her. With a huff, I finally forfeit my bag over to her, and silently sigh in relief at the fact that I no longer have fifty pounds of books on my shoulder. A couple people wave at me and smile, and a few are actually brave enough to say hi before we reach Annabelle’s locker.
Exiting a chemistry lab across from Annabelle’s locker and joining our little group is Annabelle’s boyfriend (and our best guy friend for as long as I can remember) Collin Bristol. I remember playing Barbie’s with Annie when we were little, and we always made Collin play the Ken dolls, and having a make-believe dance and having Collin pretend to ask Annie or I to it. We were always the Three Amigos, getting ice cream on hot days, staying up until late watching movies and then Collin had to bike the five blocks to his house. I always knew there was something going on between Annie and Collin, but it never actually became out in the open until last year when Collin asked Annie to homecoming and kissed her on the dance floor. Since then, they’ve been inseparable.
As opposite as Annie and Collin are, they seem to make their relationship work with no drama at all. Collin plays varsity football for Greenville’s team (Annie and I had goaded him into trying out for the team freshman year and he’s been playing ever since) and with a pretty good build, brown hair and eyes, he’s pretty much a big teddy bear; Annabelle is almost the opposite being a blonde and in Drama Club, Language Arts Team, and pretty much everything else that opposes sports. Even with their differences in religion and music and pretty much everything else, they make it work; their relationship reminds me of how I pictured Jared’s and my relationship to go. Too bad it never really worked out that way.
“Hey Liv, how you holding up?” Collin says, with the same look of concern that most people have been showing me all day; as if they are afraid one word is going to send me into a completely mental breakdown.
“Oh same old same old; trying not to slip and fall on my butt like usual.” I say grinning in an attempt to lighten the mood.
Thankfully it works because both he and Annabelle smile. We walk in silence for a little while. I see Annie (my nickname for Annabelle, we were so hooked on the movie when we were kids that the name sort of stuck) and Collin exchange looks every once in a while. We pass the auditorium, and I see my sister Caroline. Being a senior, she is determined to do everything possible to be known long after she graduated. She is in Drama Club (President of Drama Club actually) with Annie, so they are friends, but they hardly associate while I am around. She smiles and waves, seeing that Annie has my bag so she doesn’t bother to walk over to attempt to take it from me herself. My whole family, Annie included, have been chastising me for the past few days on carrying my own things, which hasn’t ceased to annoy me yet. Mom has been trying to get me to invest in a backpack, but she knows me well enough that I would rather wear Crocs then carry a backpack around. So I am stuck with the endless annoyance of seeing my sister or best friend carry my bag around for me for the next few weeks, until I am strong enough that I can use an air cast the doctor said.
We finally reach my English class, and seeing as this is the only class that I don’t have Annie to talk to in, I take my bag with a reassuring nod, say my goodbyes, telling them that I‘ll wait for them to come with me to my next class, and walk through the door without nobody else’s help. Not having anybody to help me as I step through the door, I feel myself relaxing somewhat, a little glimmer of hope instilling itself in me, as if everything is going to be okay again.
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Hey guys! Emily here!
This is the end of the second part of In A Second! As always, vote, add this to your reading lists, send me messages or comments. Let me know what you guys think!
Peaaace!
