The Complication

~Chapter 21~

Jay POV

He couldn’t do it. If he spoke one word, all the emotions that built up inside of him would burst. Walking up to the coffin, he vowed to be strong for Sadie, for his friends and for Drake. When he reached the coffin that held his best friend, Jay clenched his hands into fists and spoke.

“Drake was my best friend. No, he was more than that, he was my brother. Every time I was troubled or needed a friend, him and his mom were there,” Jay glanced over at Drake’s mom and gave her a sad smile,” whenever I walked through his door, there would be chocolate chip cookies waiting for me on the table. Drake would always tell me that he made them but I know how bad of a cook he is.” The room filled with weak laughs.

        “I don’t know what I would do without him. He was the only person I could fully and truly open up to,” tears welled up in Jay’s eyes but he forced himself not to cry, “I’ll never forget the day Drake and I met when we were five. I was playing race cars on the sidewalk when he walked up to me, took his race car out of his pocket, and started to play with me. He said, ‘You know, we are going to be great friends.’” His voice broke in the middle of the sentence.

        “I’ll never forget you Drake,” Jay said to the closed coffin, “You’ll always be in my heart.” With that he got up and walked over to Sadie where she held him tightly.

        A few more family members and friends paid their respects, and then it was done.

        Days turned into weeks and the last day of school came way too quickly.  He woke up, dreading school. He really hated good-byes, even if they were just for a little while.He trudged to the kitchen and sat himself down at the table. His dad was sitting there with, as usual, a beer in his hand.

“Do I have to go to school today?” He groaned.

“Why would you stay home?”                                                                   

“I don’t know, maybe because my best friend just died a month ago!”

“I never liked that boy, do you know what could of happened if that mother of his called the C.A.P.P? Trouble, that’s all you two boys ever caused. I'm glad that kid is dead." Jay’s father spat.

His hands curled into fists and he struggled to keep from throwing a punch.

“Actually, I wish he would have died a long time ago,” Clyde said, setting down his beer and moving around to Jay’s side, “he was a bad influence on you.”

Jay’s blood boiled, “he was a bad influence? What about you?”

Clyde’s face fell, “I don’t want to hear you talking like that,” he warned.

That was it, he snapped. He spun around and sucker punched his father in the gut.

Clyde was surprised by the force of his son’s punch. He soon recovered and hit Jay square in the jaw.

"Now get to school before I do something worse." his father hissed in his ear.

Sadie POV

I sat in homeroom, listening to the announcements about yearbooks and awards and crap. As I was tuning out, I heard a name that brought me back to reality.

“The citizenship award goes to Drake Johnso-“The principal cut himself off, “I’m terribly sorry, I-I-I forgot. Margret, please take over.”

 Most of the classroom was in tears. I can’t believe the principal made such a stupid mistake by calling out his name. He was the one person who everybody loved.

Just as the teacher was trying to calm everyone down, Jay walked into the classroom. He gave me a ‘what happened’ look as he noticed the blubbering students. I shot him a ‘not now’ look as he sat down beside me.

“I’ll tell you later,” I whispered. I was about to ask about the black and blue bruise that was forming on his jaw but thought better of it.

When lunch finally came, I sat down with my friends. Things were still a bit tense; no one would ever talk about Drake. It just wasn’t the same without him here to start up a conversation or make us laugh until milk comes out our noses. I pushed the thought out of my mind.

“So, summer is just around the corner! Who wants to go to the beach?” I could tell Madison was trying to put more excitement into the conversation.

Madison was discouraged, “Come on guys, be happy! Drake wouldn’t have wanted us to be sad when it’s the last day of school and summer is coming!” She dared to say his name. I was ready for the group to start crying when Leslie spoke up.

“Yeah, she’s right. Let’s enjoy this while we can to make Drake happy.” That was the first time Leslie spoke a full sentence in a month.

“For Drake!” Jay yelled.

“For Drake!” we joined in.

At the end of the day, we got everyone to sign our yearbooks. The graduating students were hugging and crying as they said goodbye to their classmates. I was starting to get a little teary eyed.

“I love you guys,” I blurted, “I wouldn’t have made it through the year if it wasn’t for you all. I’ve only been here for a short time but it feels like I’ve known you guys forever.”

“We love you too,” Lucas said. All my friends joined in for a group hug.

“I’m going to miss you guys.” I heard Jay whisper.

That night, I was sitting on my front porch when I saw a dark figure come up the driveway. My heart raced as I prepared to run. The figure came out of the shadows, it was Jay.

“You scared me to death,” I laughed, relieved that it was Jay.

He laughed, “Sorry didn’t mean to go all Grim Reaper on you.”

        “So what’s up?”I asked.

        “Sadie I- never mind. I just wanted to talk to you.” Jay sat down next to me, “I’ll never forget Drake. When I turn eighty, I’ll remember the memories we shared. I just can’t believe I lost him.”

Before I had a chance to say anything, Jay kissed me softly on the lips.

With a hurtful look he said, “Goodbye Sadie.”

I watched him walk down the driveway.

        “What do you mean? I’ll see you next week!” I called after him; but he kept walking.

Jay POV

        As soon as he crossed to the next street, Jay bolted down the road. He saw his dingy old house, and kept running.

Sadie POV

        Everything was getting better. No more boy trouble, for now, and Leslie is slowly starting to recover after the incident.

Yup, things might just be good again. I leaned back in my lazy boy and closed my eyes.

"Sadie!" Miranda and Leslie said in Unison as they burst in the door.

My eyes opened and I saw their sad and scared expressions.

"What?!" I said, startled.

"Jay ran away!" They said in unison again.

Oh.

My.

God.