Broken

The tree house

Emily:

She had asked if I wanted to call my mom to pick me up, but by the time she finished saying it, I was already gone. I ran harder than I ever had in my life. My lungs were probably inhaling fire, but I didn't even notice. I got to my house and climbed through my already opened window and sat in the corner.

My mom arrived at the house about 10 minutes after me. She must have gotten a call from the school telling her I had left because she knocked on the door immediately after the door shut. "Emily!" She cried as she tried turning the knob. It wasn't locked, it just got stuck sometimes. Eventually she got the door open and ran in. She hugged me and told me everything was going to be ok. I was only thinking about Jasen. Tears were pouring from my eyes but I refused to speak or eat for the next few days.

I didn't come out of my room very often. I ate very little and sleep was completely nonexistent to me. Then Will called. I stared at the screen until it turned off. A text message appeared from him after 30 seconds. It read, "Hey, I know you are really upset, and I'm so sorry. If you're feeling up to it, meet me at the tree house in about a half an hour."

The tree house was an old place few people knew about. I wondered how Will knew about it.

I thought about it for a minute or two, and I decided I had to. I needed to talk to another human being, and that other human being might as well be Will. I replied with a "yeah" and went downstairs to take my first shower in weeks. I got dressed in jeans, an old black shirt, and a beanie.

I snuck out my window and walked down the street to the tree house.

When I arrived, Will was sitting in the old wood tree house, playing on his phone. "Hey!" He said when I arrived, probably surprised that I had actually bothered to show up. "Hi." I said quietly, with a sort of sad tone in my voice. That's when I broke down. I cried so much and the worst part of it was, I had done it in front of Will. I should have hated him. I should despise every piece of him, but I didn't. I don't know why, but I seemed to trust him. He had this sort of kindness in his eyes. It made me melt inside and break down into tears. I hated and loved it at the same time.

After 15 minutes of my major breakdown. I managed to stop crying and picked my head up from my hands. Will had wrapped me in his arms and held me until I stopped. God it felt so good to get everything off of my chest. "I'm so sorry!" I said. "It's ok. I know it hurts, but it will get better." He said patiently as I began to slow my breathing to a normal pace again. "Listen, I have some news for you about...Jasen, he did something in his life, and you might not like it. I was told to tell you this." He said.