Guarding the Colors

Chapter Six

The band marched on. It was halftime at the last football game of the year. Red Creek High School had one major rival: the over-egotistical students that attend Grove Shore High School. Without a doubt, Red Creek was ahead by a score of 24-7.

The football team may have been good, but the band was even better. Many people did not understand the band kids. They were all so weird. Why did they get excited about going to state? Everyone does that, right? Wrong. Not to mention non-band members did not even know how scoring worked at a band competition, so when it was made clear they earned an overall 1 last week, most people didn't even catch the significance of it.

The sound of John Lennon's Imagine flooded the ears of all the fans in the crowd. Suddenly, all at once, everyone in the bleachers went silent.

The band had hit a soft part in everyone's heart that night. Regardless of win or loss, each person would go home with a sense of belonging. They would all pass on the peace to those around them.

After the game, the Creek band kids all got on the dreaded bus to travel approximately 20 minutes back to their home school. The seniors started the Alma Mater.
Everything seemed normal. It was all very sad, but it was still normal.

The seniors were sad to go. The only thing left ahead of them was state, which was only a week away. The underclassmen were sad to see the seniors go.

Clair was sad because she was sitting in a bus seat all alone. Her bus buddy, of course, was Jade.

***

Jade refused to get out of her bed. The various perfumes and lotions that were sitting on her brown vanity earlier are now scattered everywhere throughout her room. She threw them hours ago, trying to channel her anger into negative actions; however, she was still very much in pain.

He was gone. The guy she had spent the longest time getting to know. Her lovey dove was gone. She called his voicemail one final time to hear his voice. "Hey, this is Mike. Give me a call back sometime later, I must be busy. Leave a message," and silence was all that was left after the beep.

His voice was still so full of life at that point, yet his body and mind were six-feet underground. His parents had a closed-casket funeral, and no one from school was allowed to attend. Mike's parents claimed that it was too gruesome of a sight.

So here Jade was, alone and all distraught. Jade's mother was horrified as well, but she did not spend her days confined to one room. Jade's mother, Amy, was keeping herself busy in the kitchen to take her mind off of the flaming scene flashing vividly in her head.

Ding-dong!

Who could that be? It's almost 11 p.m. on a Friday night. It could not be her husband, for he was working night-shift at the hospital. It wouldn't be any of her relatives since they all lived in Florida and did not inform her they would be taking a trip up to Ohio. It must be for Jade. Poor Jade, she is so devastated. She is refusing to talk to anyone, even Clair.

Peeping through the small circular hole in the door, Amy was surprised to see a young man with spiky blonde hair waiting patiently on the other side. She opened the front door and welcomed Derek into her home.

"I'm sorry, Mrs. Anderson. I know it's late, but can I please speak with Jade? It's urgent" Derek pleaded smoothly.

"Well," Amy hesitated, "I believe Jade wishes to be left alone".

He looked down, full of woe. "Mike sent me" he insisted.

That was enough. Amy led Derek down the long hall following the kitchen, up the same set of stairs Jade smacked her head on, and turned left to her bedroom.

Derek thought Jade's house was big from the outside, but it was even larger inside. It was almost like a maze just trying to go through the halls. Pictures of Jade at all ages lined the walls. One that specifically stood out to Derek was the picture Jade had hanging on her door of herself with Clair at a competition from a few weeks ago. Jade looked so happy.

Amy knocked on the bedroom door sheepishly. A sob-filled "GO AWAY!" made Derek stagger back a step.

Amy handed Derek a key to her daughter's locked bedroom door and whispered "good luck" to him quietly.

Jade was a mess. Derek was positive that no one had ever seen her this way prior to this very moment. Her mascara stained the pillows on her bed. There were various beauty products laying here and there on the ground. It literally looked like a tornado flew through the room of Jade Anderson.

"I said go!" Jade announced, grouchily. She then looked up from one of her pillows and saw Derek Smith in her doorway.

"We missed you tonight. We beat those dumb Grove kids and put them in their place. By the way, are you hungry? We could go get something to eat, you know" Derek stated.

Jade wouldn't reply. Derek felt so bad for her. "How about some ice cream?" he asked. Again, nothing.

Derek took off his shoes, and decided to stay awhile. He sat down on the end of Jade's bed and took an envelope out of his pocket. "He wanted you to have this. Mike, he - um, well, he really liked you a lot" Mike mumbled.

Jade cleared her throat. "How did you get this?" she wondered aloud.

"Mike's parents, Jan and Al, let me come in when I stopped by to give them the pie my mom baked for them. I asked if I could go in his room, and there it was."

The envelope was plain white; in contrast, four bold black letters were smudged along the front.

JADE

Derek let her read the letter by herself. It was addressed to her for a reason, he thought.

Her eyes filled with tears. She pulled Derek into her arms after finishing the letter and cried to him. She was so upset Mike was gone. Derek was, too, and Jade was glad she had someone to vent to about her sadness.

***

On the other side of town, Clair was crying. It wasn't because of a specific event, necessarily. It was just another usual night in the life of Clair Rose.