Song: kate's not here - girl in red
They say there are five stages of grief: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. After two years, Sage hadn't reached the final one. But neither did Aelin, Louis, or Hannele. A new phase of life was approaching, it was time to move on. Things had changed, but Michelle was still not there. She was never going to get back.
Cole and Sage were now living in that little apartment. He and Jake graduated a year ago and were working at a private company. Nia became successful in her dancer career and was traveling around the world on tour alongside famous singers and dancers. For that reason, Hannele found out that Skye was a perfect person to share a house with. Louis, that had graduated by the time Michelle died, moved to Europe with his girlfriend. And Aelin disappeared. After finishing high school, on a hot summer day, they showed up at Sage's house with an art exposition invitation. The only difference was that their hair had gotten longer. She was still with four feet, wearing dark make-up and clothes.
"I think you'll like it." They didn't go inside. Said that invited others as well, Aelin hugged Sage, hugged Hannele, and left.
On the day exhibited on the invitation, the two girls headed to the third floor of a building not too far away from their house.
"When did they do this?" Hannele asked as they crossed the corridors. It was all black and eggplant purple, unaccountable at first, with nothing but canvas with weird stains, and raw textures, yet that would transmit a vibrant and agonizing feeling. "Is that... Michelle?" Sage's eyes widened, about to get watered, staring at the picture of her tattoed back. That band logo. Random chopsticks next to a noodle bowl. The Chinese characters.
Hannele gulped and nodded just in time Louis appeared out of nowhere, looking at the captured sleeping girl. "And Aelin?" She inquired when already knew the answer.
"Left." He said.
And the three of them, tightly holding salty heavy tears, traveled between the thin white walls exposing paintings with pain, grief, anxiety, anger, and photographies brimful of joy, smiles, peace, excitement, timeless loving moments...
On the second anniversary of Michelle's death, even though busy and anxious among university last days, some found a time to gather on her grave. It didn't feel as sorrowful as Sage thought it would. There were no tears, no sad faces, and melancholic words. The pain never got to vanish from their hearts. On that day, there was alcohol, punk rock music, reading books aloud...
"Does anyone want to say a few words?" Sage asked, holding a bottle of shoujo. Booze wasn't a big deal for her anymore.
"I do, I do!" Hannele jumped out off the floor, lively, full of energy, and with red cheeks. For no specific reason, she laughed and said, "We all know things didn't always go well for her. I don't know if things ever went well. She could be so impenetrable and yet so emotional." She paused, staring at the floor with widened eyes. "She was..."
"Stop!" Our eyes turned to Skye, laying down on the floor, with a book on her belly.
"She was so funny," Sage continued, "and, despite her grumpy face, so friendly with everyone."
She never managed to figure out what she truly felt for her roommate but there was no reason to keep fussing about it after her death. What she could say or do is now impossible. No words would reach her. Dreams would torment her, forbid her to get out of bed, to patiently wait for Michelle's guitar to sound.
"Sage! Sage!" She heard a voice. Two hands were shaking her by the shoulders.
Open your eyes! Open your eyes, Sage! She thought to herself. She tried to relax and her eyes opened moments later. Cole's worried face was close to hers. Cole...
He hugged her. "Are you okay? Was it a nightmare?" He cleaned tears off of her face.
Sage was so confused that she got up and walked out of the bedroom, without even knowing where to head to.
A few weeks later the graduation ceremonies happened. Most of them
After the ceremony, they agreed to have lunch together. So at one o'clock, Sage, Hannele, Jake, Cole, Skye, Anna, Kamala, Ryan, Jonathan, and Eli were around a huge rectangular table on Kamala's dad's terrace.
The sun in June was shining, maybe too much, hitting hard on the group of friends' skin.
"Now what guys?" Sage asked, sitting next to her boyfriend after placing a platter of chicken fried rice between Anna and Ryan.
"Now you look for a job and get ready to suffer and stress, my dear," Jake said with a smirk, seated in an awful posture.
Sage laugh and said she was positive about being a psychologist. The other recent graduates shared what they were going to do next. It was otherwise to keep studying and amplify the knowledge line or to get to send curriculum to various companies. Life was just now starting to get serious.
It was a great lunch that stretched out until 8 PM at the skate park.
"Sage, please, go clean your room. You know I hate disorganized people!", Hannele sighed as placing the keys on the entrance furniture.
"You sound like that small ass anime character, " Sage smirked. "Levi Ackerman." She said with a low voice and a Japanese accent before bursting into laughter.
YOU ARE READING
I Hate My Roommate
Teen Fiction«It felt like things were going back to normal, their balance, the peace between those walls that sooner or later would reach a climax and everything would break into pieces, it would look like the damage is irretrievable and there's no turning back...
