Short Stories

When I died... Part 2

That happened in each and every year to come. I watched, silently, as Aria grew up from a troubled 12 year old to a heartbroken and depressed 15 year old. She was now a year younger than me, seeing as I remained 16 all this time.

Life never agreed with Aria. Her parents only got busier and busier, and they rarely spend their Saturdays with Aria anymore. In school, she was treated like anyone would a ghost. People rarely talked to her, and even if they did, it would most likely because they needed help with their homework. Aria had excellent results, yes, which was the only reason she hadn't faded into the background of her class, or drowned in the crowd.

9 years together, I've seen much change in this once lively and cheerful kid. As she progressed to Primary School, her attitude started collapsing. Neither of us could recall the reasoning behind it, but it happened. As she started Primary 4, her excellent results dipped slightly and she was turned into a cast-out by that popular girls group in her class.

That made her vouch to get good results and study hard for her exams. Slowly, her days had become a cycle. Wake up, go to school, come home, study, sleep, repeat. She had started to develop depression and a slight eating disorder. I was no therapist, but I knew that I had to help her. I slowly helped her over her eating disorder, but there was no help with depression. I didn't know what to do except to listen to her rant and keep her company. Those times that I used to read books in her school library were spent beside Aria now, sitting beside her, testing her on the topics tested in the upcoming exam.

"Define accessibility," I tried. Geography was one of Aria's weaker subjects. "Accessibility is the ease of reaching a destination," she replied easily. "Well done! Flawless like always," I said happily. However, instead of being happy, Aria only sighed. "What's wrong, honey?" I asked. Since her parents rarely spend time with her, I had taken on the role of Aria's mother/big sister.

"I just wish that I could have a stable life. Stable friendship, stable results. But no. I had to become some sort of.. some sort of freak that everyone is creeped out or disgusted by. I mean yeah, I'm a little mean, but who isn't, honestly? I can only hope that some time in the future, I can finally have this stable life I want to have." she fell silent before starting again, sounding angry and upset at the same time.

"Hope is such a dirty word, Eve. It seems so innocent. Anyone would think of it as a beautiful word. A word that gives warmth to someone stuck in the cold wind. But in reality, this 4-lettered word is nothing, but a distraction." she paused. "You get distracted easily from what you're meant to be doing with that small fragment of hope. Hope is something that could easily break someone. Something that could be the cause of a monster. Hope, is just another enemy that I'm too weak to defeat." she finished.

I bit my lip. "Aria..." for once, I didn't know what to say.

"You can plant a bed of roses, just to pluck one and get pricked by the thorns. The only true price of success is pain." Aria sighed. "Yes, that's a profound way to look at success. It's true that there can be challenges and pain along the way, but remember, it's often the difficulties that make success all the more rewarding. Keep pushing through, and you'll reap the beautiful roses you've planted." I returned.

Aria opened her mouth to retaliate but closed it again. "Don't forget, Aria, I'm always here for you. For as long as you want," I added, taking the sting out of my slightly hot words from earlier. Aria nodded lightly. "Thanks, Eve." I nodded in return before continuing with the test, this time keeping a close eye on her behavior.

When Aria was satisfied, she dismissed me and promised to buy me ice cream afterwards. I felt like her child, but I definitely won't say no to some ice cream. I made sure she was okay, comforted her some more, made sure i wasn't crossing the line and double checked everything before walking over to the school library. I picked out a book, "It ends with us" (A/N I've never read it before but my crush (cough) did and he told me it was good so i decided to put it here) and started reading.

It seems like a lot of time had passed since I had started reading. I had already finished "It ends with us", "It starts with us" and had started on the "Heroes of Olympus" series and was almost done with "The House of Hades." Yet, Aria hadn't summoned me. I couldn't shake off the feeling that something was wrong. Terribly wrong, in fact. I set down my book and started to walk back to Aria's class. As I walked, I could feel an unexplainable chill roll down my back.

When I got back, Aria was nowhere to be seen. I glanced at the clock. Of course. It was already 6.45, which meant that Aria would be on the way home. I quickly scanned the classroom for good measure then whipped around and quickly ran back to Aria's house.

"A-Aria, are you th-there?" I gasped, out of breath. A funny thing, a ghost who can run out of breath. No replies. "Aria?" I asked again, finally catching my breath and climbing the stairs to Aria's room. The door was slightly ajar. That was unusual, Aria never leaves her door open. I walked over to it, feeling very worried. "Aria?" I had to ask again. I was afriad that Aria was upset at me. There was still no replies.

Unable to bear the suspense, I pushed the door open. The sight was a terrible and traumatic one.

There was Aria, neck hanging from a thick rope, a wooden stool standing a few metres from her feet. Her face was pale, and her eyes were lifeless, so unlike that pair of beautiful green eyes that had welcomed me to her life. I rushed over and knelt down in front of her.

"Aria.. no." I rasped out. I was so caught up in staring at her eyes that I hadn't noticed the notes on her bed until I decided to release the rope. Once i saw them, i felt the itch to read them. But i had to release Aria from the rope. I walked to where the rope was tied, and released it slowly. Aria's legs buckled under her as her knees hit the ground with the smallest 'thud'

I gently walked over to the notes. They were folded. One said "To: Mum From: Aria" and the other said "To: Evelyn, whom I can call Eve From: your little sister, Aria" I opened up the note for me.

"Dearest Evelyn,

I'm sorry for doing this to you. I know that you've tried very hard to be my friend and to help me remain happy but as much as it hurts me to admit to you, there are hundreds of people who overpowers that love with hate. There's a reason I ask you to spend most of your time in the library, I didn't want you to realise the pain that I go through in secondary school. It was too late when I realized that you were the only reason I kept myself going. I'm sorry that I resorted to suicide. But it was all too overwhelming. But on the bright side, (not really haha but still) I'll see you in heaven! Thanks for being here for me all my life and taking on the role of my mother, I really appreciate it.

Love, your daughter/little sister,

Aria <3

P.S. The ice cream I promised you is in the freezer, eat it or else"

I stared at the words in disbelief. Oh, how I wished that this was all a prank! How I wished that Aria would jump out of the closet, and laugh at me for thinking it's real! But I knew that it was impossible. Aria never kids about this type of serious stuff.

I shook myself a little and headed over to the window, where I had sat on my first day in this house. I settled down on the cold floor and stared at the sky. The sun had begun to set and the sky turned into a spectrum of colours. I thought back to when I had first watched the sunrise, sitting in this very spot. Behind me, a soft, rotten smell had begun wafting from Aria's body. Any last hopes of this being a prank dissolved as the sun continued to set. I looked down in my hands, where Aria's letter was clutched so tightly wrinkles had formed on the pristine white paper. So much like that pristine white shirt I had worn, 9 years ago. "Where ever you are, Aria, I hope that you're finally happy," I whispered.

Only then, did the tears start to fall. 

1457 words

Sorry not sorry :) Hehe.

baii~

-Vi