Between You and I

Chapter Twenty- Six: Document Two- People

May 18, 2012: 134 Hours After

The wind whips around me as I step out onto the school's rooftop. The havoc is still going about in the gym probably (judging by the fact I can still hear Miley's sobby sceams), and I told Charlie to go back and get Cady. And yes, I admit that I'm being a bit of a dick by ditching him to come up here, but let's face it. If he knows that I'm doing Valentine business, he'll throw a fit.

I scan the walls and the ground for anything etched into the cement, anything that could be Valentine's next password. Everything I've read in that first document begins to run around my head, weighing down on me more and more each second. Do I really want to read what she has to say? Do I really want to know what killed her?

The sun beats down on me as I go around the roof a second time, trying my best to analyze every inch of the ground.

"Dammit," I mutter, wiping the sweat from my eyes with my shirt. It's like I'm cooking in an oven up here! Out of all the places, why would she even choose the school roof? A sigh leaves my throat and I go back to searching.

After another couple of minutes, I find what I'm looking for scratched onto the wall to the right of the stairway exit. My fingers run over the small dents in the stone, and the first thing that hits me is how she did this.

She used something to carve this here when she was alive. When she was breathing. I grit my teeth as I read the words 'life changing'. Yeah, I think bitterly, life changing doesn't even begin to explain the shit you did.

Shrugging the bag off of my back, I lean against the rock and let myself slide onto the floor. Well, better get myself as comfortable as possible because my emotions are going to be roundhouse kicked by Chuck Norris.

I fumble with the bag's zipper and slide the laptop out and onto my lap. A few clicks here and there brings the password screen up for the next document, begging me to type in the passcode so I can read the words behind it. Here we go, I think, typing out the passcode and unlocking 'People'.

+++++++++++++

I don't know if you're reading this, but if you are, I'm sorry. I know I'm asking for a whole shitload from you, but I promise this is the last thing I need. Please, just... Just bear with me, okay? God, I can imagine just how bad you're getting because of me. However, it's just like a fall on a rollercoaster. You fall just to be carried by the momentum up.

Okay, this one goes a long way back. I was only five when my grandpa died. Every time I would see him when he was alive, he'd come down the stairs, wearing bright coloured t- shirts and engulf me in a bear hug and kisses. His cologne was very strong, too. It was so strong, I remember not being able to breathe every time he hugged me.

At the time, I barely knew my granddad. Not even his name was engraved in my head yet. The only thing I knew for sure about him was that he made my dad very happy each time they saw each other. As a matter of fact, he made everybody happy. My grandma always smiled when he was around.

One day, one of his major blood vessels popped, and he was sent straight to the hospital. By the time my dad heard, he was unconscious, undergoing surgery. My dad took the first flight he could out of our tiny town and back to the city he grew up in, just hoping to be able to see his father alive one last time.

Luckily, he did. Even though it was just to hear his last breath leave his body. Dad called after mom tucked me in, but I stayed up, listening to her sobs, and wondering why she was so upset.

They pulled me out of class and my mother and I flew to my dad's home city to attend grandpa's funeral. We were all in a church, and everybody was crying or frowning or closing their eyes in prayer. Growing up, my dad taught me that crying did nothing to solve anything, so I always tried my best never to cry. My dad was the strongest and most fearless man I ever knew, and I looked up to him so much at the time.