We were once 5

Sirius

My 'friends' are all waiting for me on the parking lot. Our relationship is completely toxic but I don't have anyone else, so for now, I shut up and stick with them until I find better. Mia is completely fake and only cares about her looks, so do Nella and Astrid. Alice is okay but she lives for money and money only. If I was the same person but wouldn't be rich, she probably wouldn't even know my name. The last one, Julia is really nice though. She's a friend. My family keeps telling those girls aren't good for me, and I agree, but what do you want? That's how life is.
"Oh hi Rachel!" Shouts Julia when she sees me walking down to them. They are all wearing black, obviously.
"Um..." starts Mia, and I can already feel negativity in what she's about to say. "Rachel, aren't you supposed to be wearing like, grieving clothes. Like, you were, um friends."
"Oh shut up Mia." I say, anger filling me up minute after minute. "Emily wouldn't have wanted us to look all depressed, especially today. A birthday is a happy day. Plus, you guys weren't even close to her."
"WoW chill Rachel." She says, sharing a glance with Nella and Astrid.
I just roll my eyes and go back to my phone.
I get a text from Julia.
-u ok?
-yh I'm good ty
-if u want to talk, I'm here ok? :) don't mind asking
I like her message and give her a smile.

From the corner of my eyes, I catch Helena and Rose wearing the same shade of blue as me. They are both laughing but something is off in their eyes. Like this big grin they're showing to their friends is just a big mask covering up their sadness.

I know Jane isn't coming today. Even though Emily was everyone's best friend, she had the strongest bond with Jane and it's been hard for her lately.

"We should go up, the bell's gonna ring in 3 minutes." I say.
We all grab our bags and start walking up towards the building.
"What do you guys start with?" Asks Alice.
"I have double history." I reply, "Luckily, I'm sitting next to Rose, the class won't be too boring."
"That's nice." Says Nella
"Since when are you and Rose friends?" Asks Mia looking at me like I was some kind of garbage.
I swear to god I'm literally going to kill her one day, she won't see it coming. But rather than that, I just say "We've always been friends. We just aren't as close as before."
Everyone just ignores what I just said, as usual.
Nella and Astrid leave us for their lockers while we walk down the hall to my classroom.
"What the fuck is going on?" Whispers Alice.
A large crowd is standing around the door. Everyone is shouting things at each other, even though I don't understand anything.
And then, I can see Rose crying on the side, hugging Helena and their friend Olivia.
I walk to them, not without difficulty since nearly the whole school is here.
"Girls, what's going on?" I ask worried.
Olivia turns to me to explain everything.
"There was.. a photo. On your class' door. Of... of Rose's brother."
Sirius had disappeared 3 months after Emily's death. No one knew if it was related or not.
"What? I don't understand. I thought he was..." I stop myself before I say the word 'dead', not wanting to affect Rose even more.
"None of us understands. Rose says it's a recent picture. She never saw it before." She explains.
"But... can't it be like a prank someone's pulling to mess with her?"
But as soon as I say that, I know it's not possible. Everyone respects Rose and no one would do that to her.
"No. But it wasn't just picture." Olivia says. She gives a quick look to the door then at Rose. "There was a letter with it for Rose. She's the only one who's red it and she won't tell us what it says."
"God... is there something I can do to help?"
"Could you go and get a teacher? It's a huge mess and I don't want people to gossip..."
"Of course." And I start running down to the teacher's room.
God, it's starting all over again isn't it?