Truly Free // COMPLETED

18. An Act of Kindness

a week later

Addison's POV

I didn't go to school all week. I couldn't. But, who could blame me? I've just lost one of the best friends I could ever have, the person who used to hold me when I cried, and made sure I made it home okay, my older brother.

My only brother.

Gray's come by every day and told me about the events of the day. He skipped school on Wednesday for the funeral, at which I was a total wreck. He was too. Everyone was. I'm glad that Grace has her family to comfort her, considering she lost her future husband. On my end, my parents have barely said a word to me. They just go about there business as if nothing happened, but they do so quietly and detached.

This morning, I finally decided to get back in the world. I needed to, you know, not fail school. My phone buzzes and I already know who it is and what he's saying.

I get over my laughing spell at his stupid lyrics and give him a call, just in case he forgets to read my text. He picks up on the second ring.

"To what do I owe this call from Addison Louise at this ungodly hour?" he says, his voice still laced with sleep.

"Hey can you pick me up for school when you leave?"

"Are you sure you wanna go to school today? I don't wanna get there and have you be miserable all day."

"Yeah, it's Friday, so it's just one day. I need to get back in the real world, Gray, I haven't left my house in days, and I'm sure I have a stack of makeup work taller than me."

He sighs on his end of the line.

"Alright. I'll be over in a sec. Love you."

"Love you too. Bye."

I hang up and wander down to the kitchen to wait on him. My mom is up and sitting at the counter, drinking coffee.

"Hey mom," I say quietly, "why are you up so early?"

"Couldn't sleep," she mumbles back. I nod in understanding and grab a bottle of water from the fridge and toss it in my bag by the door.

"Do we need anything from the store, mom? I might go after school-"

I turn to look but she's already walked away. Okay...

There's a knock on the door, and I open it, knowing that it's Gray. We hug before saying our good mornings and heading out to his truck where he has a granola bar waiting for me.

We drive to school in a comfortable silence, not wanting to talk about much. When we arrive, we have about 15 minutes before the bell rings so we just sit in the truck because it's a little cold outside.

"Are you positive today's the day?"

I look at Gray and tilt my head, giving him a knowing look.

"Gray. I get that you're worried, seriously I do, but I need to get back to school, I'm sure I've missed so much work," I finish, trailing off.

"Okay, Addison. I guess. But, just know that I'm here if you need anything-" he says all too fast, but I cut him off by grabbing his hands.

"Gray! I'll be fine, it'll all be fine. I swear you're turning into me." I laugh.

It's time to leave the comfort of the warm truck and head off to the cold dark school. Our school was originally made to be a bomb shelter, so the walls are five-foot thick concrete and the classrooms have no windows. It gets really cold during the day.

We part ways before our first block and promise to meet up at my locker before lunch. I go throughout my day receiving sympathetic glances and a lingering hug from Howard, which I appreciated.

Nat and Ashley, may God bless them, actually said they were sorry for what happened. I could hear the sincerity in their voices and I hope it lasts. But, I don't want people to think that they have to walk on eggshells all the time when they're around me. I don't want to be treated like some lost puppy in need of help. Sure, I'm devastated and upset and angry at the stupid drunk driver who caused all this, but I'll eventually be okay. I don't want this awful thing to taint me more than it has to.

The lunch bell rings and I walk alone to my locker to put some books in and meet Gray. He's standing there, leant up against it, waiting on me.

"Hey, how have you been doing so far?" he asks.

"Good. It feels good to catch up on work and get some grades in the computer," I reply. I go to open my locker and when I snatch it open, maybe a thousand small slips of paper come falling out. Instantly, I'm brought back to the dark day a few years ago, when these papers were Weight Watchers ads, and I'm ready to scream every obscene, horrible thing I can to anyone who'll listen... until I pick a slip up.

I heard what happened. Stay strong, Addy.
-Christopher Raye

I noticed a crowd starting to gather around, but I didn't care. I picked up more pieces, reading sweet messages from my classmates saying that they're praying for me, or telling me that Andrew is watching over me, or saying that they're there for me.

This act of kindness on this big of a level is overwhelming. I start crying while reading some, but when I notice the writers of these notes standing around I stand up off the floor and look around. I see people from the cross country team, kids I grew up with, and everyone in between. But most importantly, I see my best friend, beaming amongst these well-wishers. I instantly know he planned this. He holds his arms out and I walk into his embrace, but soon I feel the large crowd of people herding in around us. Everyone laying their hands on me and the people around us. It's as if I can feel their sympathy and caring radiating throughout the large mass of students. After a few minutes of this, Gray and I break away and in response everyone else does, too. I start thanking as many people as I can and people slowly filter out of the hallway, and the last two left are Nat and Ashley. I catch a hint of a smile from Nat, and then they're on their way.

I look back at Gray to see he's holding a small Rubbermaid container, and we start picking up paper from the floor. Once finished I look up at him, knowing that we missed lunch, but not caring.

"Thank you. That was the best thing that anyone could've done, really. But, how did those get in there?"

"I think everyone found out, somehow and kept asking me how you were and asking me to tell you how they felt. I felt like I would forget so I just put a sign on your locker telling everyone to put their comments in there. Addison, there were lines of people putting in notes."

I'm dumbfounded. I know I'll never forget this wonderful thing that was done in what's sure to be the hardest time of my teenage life, and I'm so grateful for it.

......
A/N: h e l l o

y'all this took forever, but I wanted to get this right, and I think I did. Please don't forget to comment and vote, your thoughts make my day. Have a great one:)

-K. x