Celestial

chapter 21

A/N: So uh I'm sorry about that last chapter. And if some of you are wondering. No. Lynn is not coming back to life. Sorry.

"Aspen. You need to eat," Will said. "You can't just keep staring at your plate every meal." I shook my head. Even though I didn't want to eat, my stomach growled. I felt like if I managed to swallow down anything it would come right back up. I took my fork, hands trembling, and put some food in my mouth. It was my favorite meal, spaghetti and meatballs, but today it just tasted like sawdust. It's been two weeks since Lynn's death and I'm still in shock of the fact that she died. It was not a good week to be grieving as it was the last month of school and final exams were just around the corner and I need to study. But every time I bring myself to study, I end up just sitting on the edge of my bed staring at a wall for hours.

I did the same today, but a knock on my door broke me out of my trance. I ignored it. The knocked louder. Soon enough they were pounding on the door. I sighed and walked over and opened the door. It was Will.

"Geez. What took you so long?" he said.

"I was ... in the bathroom," I lied.

"Whatever. Can I borrow your Celestial History book? I lost mine and I need to study." asked Will looking at my empty desk.

"Sure," I replied. I opened my backpack and took out my textbook. When I handed it to him, he just stared.

"You haven't been studying have you?" he asked already knowing the answer. I stared at my feet.

"Aspen, if you don't pass exams you'll have to do first year over again!" I didn't say a word as he walked away only to come back with Hunter and all of their books.

"We're going to study with you," Hunter said. "Will said you haven't been studying this whole week and usually I wouldn't care but these are final exams Aspen!"

"I'm going to test you on everything we've learned," said Will. I groaned and fell back on my bed staring at the ceiling. I saw Hunter out of the corner of my eye staring at me with a worried look. When I looked at him, he quickly glanced at his book.

We sat for hours, studying. By the time they left, almost midnight, I was completely caught up thanks to Will. And then Hunter died. Oops. That happens later in the story.

I couldn't sleep, like usual. So I put on a hoodie and pants, laced up my shoes and went outside. I went inside the elevator and pressed the red cross, the button that takes me to the infirmary. I saw Mrs. Elmer sitting on a hospital bed looking over some papers frowning. When she heard me come in, she had a look of surprise.

"Aspen! What are you doing here so late? Are you hurt?" she asked with a look of concern.

"No. Actually, I just came to talk."

"Okay." I sat next to her on the bed.

"I can't get over Lynn. I mean, every time I close my eyes... I see Lynn dying all over again. If Celestials could dream, I'd be having nightmares every night. Everyone else seems to have recovered from her death except me. I can't sleep. I can't eat. I can't focus on my schoolwork. I don't feel right."

"Oh Aspen," Mrs. Elmer said hugging me. "It's okay to feel depressed when someone dies. But its not okay to stay like that. Lynn is watching you right now and she wants you to put a smile on your face. She was a hero. If she hadn't died, you would be dead and she would feel terrible. Without her, we would still be in this mess with Dr. Anderson. She died a hero. The reason you're taking it harder than others is because you're the one who saw her die before your eyes and you think its your fault. Trust me, I know. When I was fourteen, my best friend's father killed my cousin with a gun. I was standing right next to my best friend when it happened. They killed her because she was Celestial. They didn't know I was Celestial. I was wearing my Fog Chain. Hers broke when we were there. I thought I would never forgive myself. After that, I devoted the rest of my life to helping Celestials in any way I can. So I became a part of the staff of Hippoplum. Don't blame yourself the rest of your life like I almost did. Learn something from her death. She sacrificed herself for you because she believed in you. And you didn't let her down." I swallowed the lump in my throat and held back my tears.

"Okay," I choked. "I'll try."

"I know it won't be easy. But you'll come around sooner or later."

"I'll head back to my room now. Need a good night's sleep."

"Yeah I can tell. You have black circles under your eyes from lack of sleep. Feel better," Mrs. Elmer said, giving me a bright smile that you couldn't help but not return.

"There you go Aspen. And if you ever need someone, I'm always here to talk and most importantly, listen." When I got back to my room, I laid down and thought about what Mrs. Elmer told me. She was right. I have to make the most of Lynn's death. I'm going to put a smile on my face and be happy. Because that's what Lynn would've wanted me to do. Then for the first time in two weeks, I slept peacefully with nothing tearing me apart.

When I woke up, I could feel a heavy weight lifted off my shoulders. I breathed a sigh of relief and jumped out of bed. I looked at the clock. It was seven. Way too early to be up on a Saturday. But I just feel so great! And plus, there was something important I have to do. I wrote a note in my neatest handwriting. Then I threw on some leggings and a tank top and ran to Will and Hunter's room clutching the note in my hand and my room key in the other.

I pounded on the door knowing that they would both be sleeping like babies at this time on a weekend. No response. I did it again this time with Will opening the door and an angry Hunter standing behind him. They both saw me with a grin on my face and they looked at each other and high-fived.

"SHE'S BAAAAACK!" Hunter screamed.

"Dude. People are sleeping," Will said, annoyed.

"Well we're not, so sucks for them," Hunter replied. Will rolled his eyes but then looked at me and grinned.

"There's something I need to do," I said in a serious tone. I sat on Will's bed, them sitting across from me and told them about how I visited Mrs. Elmer last night.

"Wow," Hunter said in astonishment. "But Mrs. Elmer is such a happy person. You would've never guessed she went through a traumatic experience in her childhood." Will nodded in agreement wide-eyed.

"That's why I have to do this," I said. I made Will decorate the borders of the note with tulips and butterflies in the nicest way he could. Then we went out to the gardens and picked out the most beautiful tulips. Will drew a vase and we filled it with water and put the flowers in the vase. We went inside the elevator and went to Lynn's floor. We walked to her room solemnly. Then we set the flowers down along with the note resting on the ground alongside it. There was only one other person feeling the way I was about Lynn.

The note said:

Dear Riley,

If I can feel happy again, I know you can too. She wants you to be happy. Do it for her.

-Aspen

A/N: Okay not my longest chapter. This was basically a filler. Not much action. I just wanted this chapter to kind've be a part 2 of Lynn's death and everyone's feelings about it.
So yeah.

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