Ride or Die

What it Means to Mourn

"The only thing worse than a bad day is no day at all."

-Someone without depression

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That fall had been the busiest of Elmer's high school career; not only in terms of classes, but also in terms of work, volunteering, and having to deal with Piper. Though, lately, his feelings surrounding PIper had begun to change. He wasn't quite sure at what point he did, but he eventually began looking forward to seeing her in front of his locker every day. Of course, Sara was with her, but he'd gotten very good at ignoring her for the most part. Though, as he was always aware that she was there, he still had a hard time being himself.

One afternoon, Mrs. Cicneros had Elmer transferred to her study hall so he could finish helping her grade assignments. Unbeknownst to him, he'd be thoroughly distracted by Piper the entire time with her bombarding him with questions like, "Are you really a TA for Spanish?" and "Ohmygod, that means you speak Spanish, right? Say something!" To which he'd say something simple only for her to freak out as if she'd never heard Spanish before.

That following day, Elmer was transferred back to Mrs. Cicneros' study hall, but this time to help some students with their homework. When he was finished, he actually looked forward to having a conversation with Piper unaccompanied by Sara.

As it would turn out, there was a lot about Piper that he didn't know. Whenever Sara was around, she'd usually end up cutting Piper off before she could get too personal with Elmer, and it always bothered him. Sara would usually say things about, "Having to be Piper's sense of self-control" since she "clearly has none."

While Elmer was initially surprised at how Piper reacted to finding out he spoke Spanish, he came to understand that Piper had never actually taken a Spanish class before. When given the choice for her language credit, she chose to take ASL because a cousin of hers was Deaf. So, even though plenty of other students would've been unphased, Piper was still impressed at "Hola."

Ever since being transferred once or twice, it felt as though every study hall was spent in the Spanish classroom, meaning Elmer hardly caught a break from Piper. Though he was quickly beginning to really enjoy their conversations, it still took a lot out of him to be able to keep up with her. After they both got out of class and after she'd walked him to his final class of the day, he had a feeling akin to how one feels after looking away from the sun after staring at it for too long. Sure, it feels nice—and sometimes, even refreshing—on your skin, but it eventually burns you.

However, it was as if the universe had heard Elmer's cry for help, and his break had finally come:

Sara was absent from school.

Apparently, a relative of hers was passing, so she was taking a leave of bereavement.

Naturally, all of her friends missed her so much. That lunch period, Sara was mentioned for all of two and a half seconds before the topic was switched to the latest fixation for high school teenagers since the annual advent of the pumpkin spice latte: Homecoming.

For Elmer, of course, it wasn't that exciting. He wasn't going to go. But, everyone at the table was, and they were all grilling one another on who they were going with.

Obviously, Rachel and Josh were going together. McKenzie mentioned someone she'd been meaning to ask out. Then, all attention was shifted to Elmer and Piper. Everyone else had given their answer on who they were going with except for those two, who had remained rather quiet—especially Piper.