Shawn's POV
The burial ceremony was terrible. Aaliyah couldn't stop crying, it killed me seeing her like this. She's never like this. She's always running all over the place, making my parents laugh, blabbing about something, and annoying me. Today she wasn't.
She didn't do or say anything. She didn't speak to us at breakfast, all she did was nod or shake her head. That's it.
The burial ceremony was awfully quiet. Nobody spoke a word, especially not Aaliyah. Once they lowered him in to the ground, we just bowed our heads and stayed silent. I hate silence, it bugs the living shit out of me. This family isn't silent, nobody is.
You couldn't even hear anyone in the crowd weeping. That ceremony was just a void of dead silence. Coincidence?
We went home right after, still nobody spoke a word to each other. My dad went to his office and has been in there for hours now. I know he's crying in there. They were like brothers, he was my dad's family, and then he eventually became a part of ours. I miss him. I won't cry about it, that'll get you nowhere. It's just a display of sadness. That's all it is, it doesn't help you cope with it, it doesn't release any negative energy from it. In fact, it makes it worse. It's just a waste of time. I choose not to cry, there's no point in it. Yes, I am sad and disappointed. I feel like once we lost him, the world has lost some of its color. It's not like it had much anyways, but everything just seems more dull.
I leave my basement and start heading up to my room. I'm sick of this suit, I need to get out of it. Once I enter my room I change in to some Vans sweatshirt and change in to a pair of black skinny jeans.
I change and then head out to the kitchen to serve myself a bowl of cereal. As I'm eating my cereal with my left hand, I'm using my phone with my right. I'm just scrolling through my Instagram feed, looking through the stupid shit people keep doing over the summer. My phone suddenly starts ringing and Amy's picture comes up. Fuck, she needs to get the hint that I don't feel like talking to her. She blew me off the last time I tried calling her, so what makes her think I won't do the same. She's been calling me every day for the past week. Fuck off already. I ignore the call and let it go to voicemail.
As I put my bowl in to the sink, she calls again. Her picture is just invading my phone. She calls so many times, it almost feels like her contact photo is my lock screen. Might as well make it my lock screen since all she does is call me. The ringing stops for a good two minutes and then continues to ring on a continuous loop once again. She's calling me more than usual, she probably has nothing better to do. I have to put an end to this, she won't let it go. I get it, she feels bad for me. I don't want her pity. I never did.
I take a deep breath, and click accept on her call.
"What?" I mutter.
"Heeeey Shawwwwnnnnnnn." She says in a very preppy tone. What the fuck.
"What do you want, Amy?" I ask sternly.
"I want you.....to come over." She finishes.
"No."
"But whyyyy nooooot?" She whines. Why is she whining? She doesn't sound like herself.
"Why do you sound like that?" I question.
"Sound like what, Shawwnnyyy?" Shawny? What the actual fuck.
"Are you high?" I ask.
"God, no. I would neeeeverrrrr do drugs." She slurs. She's drunk. Why is she drunk? Where are her parents?
"You're drunk Amy. Stop fucking around with that."
"Way to set the mood Shawn." She slurs. I hang up immediately, and slam my phone on to the counter. Fuck, she can't function like this. Not with all this alcohol in her system. How much did she drink? Why did she drink? Is she going to leave her house like this? I can't let her do that. I'm heading over there right now.
I grab my mom's car keys from the counter and shout "I'm going out with Matt, mom! I'll be back soon!" Not a word back. I guess it's okay. I run out of my house and start sprinting to the car. I put my keys in the door and open it. Once I sit down and close the car door
I dial Amy's number as fast as I can. She answers after the second ring.
"Hey Shaaawn!" She sounds pretty excited.
"What's your address?" I snap.
"Uhhh, I think it's 325 Da.....no. Wait. Is it 125 or 325? Umm."
"I don't have time for this shit right now, Amy."
"I'll text you a picture of my mail." She says.
"I don't want a picture of your mail. I want your address."
"The address is on my mail, duh." She's so stupid, but she's right.
"Send it now."
"Kay kay." She says lightly.
My phone receives a picture message. She sent it. It's a bit blurry, but it's visible enough to read.
"See you soon." I say right before I hang up.
I start driving right after I end that phone call. She lives about 10 minutes away from me. I'm just trying to get there as soon as possible.
I brake immediately when the red stoplight flashes. This is exactly what I need when I'm in a hurry. 3 red lights in a row. I grip tightly on the stirring wheel and keep my hands at 10 and 2.
"Don't do anything stupid, Amy. I'm almost there." I say to myself.
Once the light changes, I race on to the street. I'm almost there. I know it.
I pull up in to a dark neighborhood. There aren't many street lights here. I check the time and it's about 7 p.m. I drive slowly so I can scan the houses. I pull up in to a driveway that belongs to a 2-story, brown house. I check the house numbers, this is it. This is Amy's house. It's actually pretty nice. I can see her living here. Calm neighborhood, calm family, calm life. She is a pretty calm kid, so this is understandable.
I get out the car and race up those couple of steps. I start pounding against the door instead of casually knocking on it. No answer, I jiggle the knob a little bit and realize it was unlocked. I quickly let myself in and start scanning the house. The first room I scan is the dining room, she's not here. I check the living room, sign of no one. I look for the kitchen and see a broken vodka bottle on the floor.
"Amy!" I shout. I see her legs, she's hiding behind the counter. Her head is resting upon her palms.
I sit down next to her and try to analyze what's going on in this situation, what's going on with the drinking, what's going on with her life right now, I just want to know what's going on with her.
