Death Experience

Chapter 16: I'll Always Remember

     Today was the last day of school.  Today was the official last day of high school for the seniors.  Everyone had said their goodbyes and had departed for the buses.  Erin had said goodbye to Karine, Casmine, and Lylli.  To the point of tears, Erin hugged each of them at the front of the entrance until she heard the honk from her father's car, signaling her to peel her arms off of her friends.  Saying one last goodbye, she ran off towards her father's brand new Subaru.  Erin waved at her friends as she passed by them in the car, until she lost sight of them from the corner view of her mirror.  Sighing with sadness, Erin stared out the window for the rest of the drive home.

     When Erin got home, she resorted to the one major thing on her summer to-do list; cleaning her room.  There were piles of clothes, magazines, books, and paper all over the floor from previous months.  Assorting through everything, Erin worked her way through the mess.  First, cleaning out all of the dirty and old clothes.  Then, stacking up the magazines and books neatly along her bookshelf, everything had been placed in alphabetical order.  Lastly, she cleared out all of the scrap pieces of paper and dust that had accumulated in her room over the time.  Feeling a sense of accomplishment, Erin lay panting on the floor, looking at her newly cleaned bedroom.  It had taken her a solid hour and a half to clean out every single piece of the mess in her room.  She required herself by taking an extra long shower.  She seriously needed a good cleaning for once.

     After she had finished washing herself, she opened up her laptop and put on some music.  A while after, her little brother Rian came back home.  "I'm back home Rin!  Happy summer!" Rian said, walking through Erin's opened door.  "Welcome home Rian!  Happy summer to you too!" Erin said, kissing him lightly on the head.  "You clean your room?" Rian asked with a hint of surprise in his voice."  "Yup!" Erin said, "there is nothing better than a clean room on a clean summer day."  The enthusiasm in her voice caught Erin by surprise.  Erin ruffled Rian's hair, patted him lightly on the back and let him go.  Rian, as mostly everyone knew, was a Type B hemophiliac.  Not sure of how Rian had caught hemophilia, her family had always been cautious with Rian when he went out to play.  Erom couldn't help but feel bad for her little brother, there was very little things he could do, and with it, many of his dreams would be crushed by his hypersensitive hemophilia.

     The summer tradition of the Haruko family was to go watch a ovie on the exact day school ended.  This is it was Rian's choice, so he chose to watch "Star Wars Episode VII."  It was a great movie, Erin had to admit.  She loved the fact that the main protagonist was a female, and the entire movie had revolved around her.  After the movie had finished, they all went out on a family dinner night to Long Horn Steak House, Erin's choice since Rian got to choose which movie to watch.  Erin wolfed down her meal and her parents complained of her being an uncivilized "animal."  Erin laughed at the remark.

     By the time they arrived home, Erin was exhausted, but she willed herself to take another shower.  Before she went to bed, she pulled out her diary and began to write.  Erin felt like she should write something memorable on her very last day of high school.

     June 30, 1965

     Today was the last of high school.  I'll miss everyone, Karine, Casmine, and Lylli.  I'll miss being with them.  All four of us will be attending different colleges.  Karine to Columbia, Casmine to UCONN, Lylli to UCLA, and me, well, I am going to Duke.  I wonder what college will be like.  But for now, I should just enjoy my summer.

                                                                                                                      See you soon,

                                                                                                                           ~ Erin Haruko

     Finally unable to keep her eyes open any longer, Erin closed her diary, stretched and yawned, and tucked herself into bed.  Soon falling asleep, she dreamed about high school and of the fun she had with her friends, despite the bullying, her dream was nothing but the positive, and Erin was finally able to rest in peace for once in a very long time.  And for the first time in her lift, she didn't want to wake up from this happy dream.  She wanted to replay it in her head for as long as she would be able to remember it.  Which would be forever.