Old Friends Die Easy

Malekebu

[October 20 - 3rd period]
"Stephen, get your ass over here and come sit with us" said Emily as she pulled him down to his seat while speaking in her alluring voice. She urged Stephen to notice the tempestuous overtone that fell over their group of peers. Sitting in a circle, friends came together in pairs: Stephen/Emily, Morgan/Angela, Sage/Kristal, and Jason/Mike. As Stephen sat pondering, he had noticed that no one was talking. The one person who had the courage to say anything was Morgan. She would start the conversations and usually end them. Morgan was not only talkative, she was blunt. Blunt to the point where she would call out absolutely anyone on their faults. She said, "ok, why is Kristal crying, and why is Sage on the verge of crying, can't we all just get out of our feelings?" Kristal couldn't bring herself to say one word. Sage looked vacantly, they'd already lost him.

[Reluctantly, Jason sat next to Morgan]
Jason: "Morgan, didn't you hear?"
Morgan: "Well of course I didn't fucking hear, that's why I'm asking!"
[Jason calls her in close and whispers]
"Lilith died last night and Kristal found her body, so could you please..."
Morgan: "I don't believe it."
Angela: "Me either, I mean the chick was crazy but she wouldn't commit suicide!"
[Kristal yells out from hiding]
-"She didn't commit suicide! She was murdered!"

[Silence.]

Suddenly, all emotion left the room while a cold aloofness entered. Emily enclosed her arms as if she had gotten the shivers. She looked throughout the circle and wondered "should I cry?" Kristal and Sage were certainly crying. Everyone else was stagnant. Almost as statues, each with different expressions. Morgan moved her eyes like a nefarious owl, Angela some how had a smirk on her face, Jason held his right hand to his mouth and stared, Stephen quietly observed, and Mike sat back and turned to the next track on his playlist.

Morgan: "She can't be."
Kristal: "Yea keep saying that, it isn't going to change anything."
[Krystal falls into Sage's arms] Morgan: "Ok, I'm fucking done, Kristal you can stop acting now, and Jason I can't stand your ass so don't test me right now."
[In the midst of conversation, their teacher barges in]

Mr. Henderson was the theatre teacher. Not very tall but very theatrical. He walked slowly and sat behind his podium; it wasn't even a podium, it was a hollow block splattered with paint. As he sat, he seemed to have walked in with the same aloofness.
Mr. Henderson: "[sighs] Ok, we're moving on from last weeks project to something new, I know we're all heartbroken about Lilith but we have to keep going."
[Angela raises her hand]
"What exactly happened?"
Mr. Henderson: "That's not for you to know Angela!"
[Kristal adrupts]
-"I found her in the parking lot on Friday, she was.. was missing her teeth and her eyes were gouged out, all.. all I saw was blood."
Angela: "Well damn!"
[Morgan stands up and pulls in Kristal]
Stephen: "Krystal, you know we're all here for you, you'll never have to be alone sweetie."
[Kristal doesn't reply]

The day had fallen into a dark shade of blue. Each pair went on to their seperate classes and each discussed this during and after classes. By the time the final bell had rang, they all dreaded one thing, rehearsal. Lilith was the stage manager for almost every single play and she wouldn't be there. Her leadership qualities and director's attitude would both be gone. They had to start Act I, Scene III of Shakespeare's Macbeth. It didn't help that Kristal was the second witch. And it definetly didn't help that Lilith was the third witch who said, "sister, where art thou?" They continued.

Mr. Henderson: "Ok guys, let's start."
Jason: "Mr. Henderson, what scene are we on?"
[Kristal answers softly]
-"Act I, Scene III"
Mr. Henderson: "No actually, due to difficulties we're skipping that scene and probably not coming back to it for a while."
[Kristal walks over to Sage]
-"Sage, I swear he acts like someone's dog died and it's pissing me off."
Sage: "Just don't worry about it Kristal, worry about you, worry about this play. I mean look at how he handled his wife's death, do you really think he cares?"
[Kristal glances to the side]
Emily: "You guys! Where art thou fucking Romeoooo! Hello?"
Jason: "Wrong play Emily."
Emily: "I know dumbass!"
Mr. Henderson: "It's time to begin, places."

At this point, everyone seems to have forgotten about Lilith. Kristal kept thinking "why don't they care? They're acting like children!" Perhaps, this is how her friends coped with mourning. They each went through different stages of it: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. Sage was in his own denial, he was as talkative and erratic as ever, moving from place to place. Morgan handled the situation with anger, Stephen was her new punching bag and he understood what she was going through, even though she didn't. He was the one bargaining, he would say "god, goddess, universe, who ever is up there please bring Lilith back." Depression found a new home in Kristal, she went through the most pain and it seemed as though one day had become a lifetime of grievance. Acceptance played a role in the lives of Angela, Jason, and Mike. No one thought that it was because of their maturity, they did think that it was their way of dealing with death. The three would reason with the heart; allowing the mind to be a haven for sorrow. They made sense of it, they accepted. Death, a different meaning for each of them.

[After hours]
Mr. Henderson: "Ok guys, let's rap it up."
They each left one by one. Angela and Jason had been the first to leave, then Emily and Mike, then Stephen, Sage, and Kristal, and Morgan was left lonesome waiting in her dark green, Toyota camry. She opened the door with a distraught look on her face. Looking to the far left, she saw Catholic saint's candles in the middle of the parking lot. She walked towards the quivering flames seeing that it was a memorial covered in images of her friend. She talked to Lilith as if she were still alive.
Morgan: "We didn't say much to eachother but I will miss you and hey, sorry about what I said earlier, you know how no one takes anything serious in that class."
[Foot steps are heard in the background]
Morgan says, "alrighty then" and rushes to her car, taking out her phone, quickly calling Angela.
[Angela answers]
Angela: "Hello?"
Morgan: "Ok, so, I decided to be a dumbass for lack of a better term and stay in the parking lot and now I heard footsteps."
Angela: "Well then what are you calling me for? Girl, put your foot on the gas and get the hell out of there!"
Morgan: "You're right!"
[Morgan steps her foot on the gas and drives forward]
A hand comes from behind her and grabs Morgan by the chin. She struggles to drive and fight at the same time. She screams "how the hell did you get in my car!?" The murderer whispers "I've always admired your driving Morgan." With just one slash, the murderer slits her throat. The car crashes into the parking lot fence and all the blind eye can see is Morgan's lifeless body. Her head banged against the steering wheel, causing a loud noise; her car's horn would soon awake the entire neighborhood. The back door opens as one shoe comes out and then the next. The killer runs away at the sound of police sirens. A corpse is left, Morgan Malekebu's gone.