With You, Everything's Alright

Prologue

PROLOGUE

Death... Death sounded good. To sleep forever. To not have to feel anymore. To not have to deal with the people who tried to hurt him every day of his life.

That's what he was thinking as he sat on the roof of the main building, looking at the ground so far below. There was nothing but silence surrounding him in his desperate isolation. Before he reached the school grounds, he had made his decision. Still, he was uneasy. Who wouldn't be? Should I? he thought. He had thought everything through: he left a note on his bed for his parents, burned all his depressing death poems. He even put on his best outfit for the jump. It seemed more real that way. More definite.

The silence of the school was deafening. He wasn't used to there being only on person on campus. The absence of sound made him feel even more reluctant. What if someone found me here and decided to leave me? What if no one found me at all? His heart was beating quickly, all possible worries and doubts filtering through his head, as he took a sip of the bottle next to him. Liquid courage, his father had always said. Was that before or after mom died? He couldn't quite remember. The days simply blurred together.

His eyes teared up, and he rubbed at them furiously. "Stop. Don't. Don't." He muttered. It was a constant mantra that tore into him. The pain felt unbearable. Was he really going to do this? Jump? End it all in one swoop? Yes. He could feel the attack starting – he'd gotten familiar with the signs. So he did the only thing he could do. He shut down. He turned off all his emotions, and felt the numbness start to seep into his bones, his heart beat slowing. It was his own special method.

He opened his eyes, staring up at the sky above him. This is why he wanted to die. To feel peace. To no longer feel the pain of life and the despair of an empty heart. He didn't want to hurt any longer.

He blinked. When had he stood?

Looking down, he almost lost his courage. He felt sick. Quickly, he turned away from the edge, the alcohol emptying from his stomach onto the rooftop.

He gagged, the smell reaching his nose and making him retch. His body shook as he straightened up, only to take his place at the edge once more. He wiped his mouth, looking down grimly.

So easy, he told himself. To just... jump.

He stared at the ground, preparing to embrace it with his entire body. It felt poetic, ending the pain where it all started. The bullying, the taunts, the endless suffering. All of it needed to end.

It's kind of funny, he thought to himself, how we try so hard to live, when it's so easy to die. How fragile we all are.

He was fragile. He knew that. The other boys knew that. The entire school knew that. How many times had they all watched as he got shoved in the halls? How many people had jeered as he was beaten behind the school where no administrators would see?

He gritted his teeth, and closed his eyes once more.

How many people would actually regret not stopping to help? No one? Everyone? Or would they just go back to their business, as if he never even existed at all?

He stepped up to the ledge. The tears began to leak from his eyes as his thoughts continued to consume him. Sobs wracked his thin frame as he fell to his knees, looking down at the ground below. He didn't want to die. He didn't want to give up. But things were going to be like this forever, and he didn't want to live through a life like that either.

He had made up his mind. He wasn't going back.

Not this time.

He got to his feet for the last and final time, tear stains streaked across his cheeks. He bit his lip, bracing himself for the unbearable pain he was about to experience. He raised his foot and leaned forward, extending his arms at his sides. He lifted his head to the sky, his brown hair floating around him, whipping around his head.

"Fly me away..." he whispered.

Then, he fell.

He expected something more. A huge feeling to hit him square in the chest, the realization that he was going to die. He expected his life to flash before his eyes. He wasn't expecting to feel so empty.

It was over so soon.

One moment he was jumping, the next, he felt a massive force it him, as if he was doing a belly flop from the high dive in the pool. Time seemed to slow as the ground neared.

He felt something wrap around his middle.

He yelled, screamed, thrashing in midair, trying to get away, but whatever it was tightened.

The ground was getting closer. He tried to throw his arms out, but they were being held tightly against his sides.

"Don't move."

His screams grew louder as he thrashed harder, the words spoken in his ear sounding like the wind. He was terrified, confused and his breath was ripped from his throat as he hit the ground.

But it didn't hurt as much as he thought it would. It still hurt like a bitch, and his leg crumpled beneath him unnaturally. Tears continued to flow from his eyes as he gritted his teeth, his head and heart pounding.

"Shit, I told you not to move!" He flinched, looking up at the speaker.

It was a boy, about his age, his dark hair whipping around his head, a pair of emerald green eyes peering down at him in concern. His own eyes widened as he stared at the boy kneeling next to him, already pushing him on his back.

"W-what?" He said. Or, he tried to say, but all that came out was a gurgle. His mouth was filing with something, and he attempted to roll over and spit it out. He turned his head to the side and spit, blood dripping from his mouth. He began to panic and the boy next to him put a hand on his chest, keeping him from moving around.

"Stop, you're going to make it even worse!" He looked up at the boy, his vision swimming. His eyes started to get heavy, and he tried to close them, only to have the boy shake him again. "Don't close your eyes, you can't sleep. Stay awake- please!"

He tried. God knows, he tried. But the darkness seeping in at the edges of his vision were too strong. He was tired. So tired. His eyes were heavy. Maybe this was death. Maybe it was coming after all. The darkness was consuming him, and the boy's words were slurring together.

"Crap, come on, you can't sleep, I've seen enough movies to know that," he struggled to focus on the voice, but it was getting harder by the minute.

"Oh my God!" A shrill voice slipped into his consciousness, another body falling next to him. "Someone call and ambulance!"

That was the last thing he heard before he slipped into the darkness.