Chasing Companions

Chapter 12

Light floods my room. The soft, silk sheets of my bed tangle around my legs as I toss and turn. I roll onto my left. Calla's quiet breaths are the only thing I hear.

Her breaths are weezy and her eyes are swollen from crying half the night. She lays perfectly still, curled into my side, her head resting on her hands. I turn my head towards the door when I hear Jack moving around somewhere outside. Calla's eyes open. She stares at me for a few seconds and her eyes suddenly widen. They gloss over with tears and she begins to cry as reality comes back to her.

I quickly wrap my arms around her as she sobs silently. Her side heave up and down as she lets out ragged breaths of sadness. Her tears put dark spots on my shirt.

"Sorry." She sniffles.

"No, no, no. It's ok, let it out." I whisper. She does as she is told. She grieves for a few minutes until she can't cry anymore. She rubs her eyes.

"Thank's, I needed that." She sighs and kisses me. She sits up, then lays back down. "I can't do this." A single tear slips down her cheek. She rolls onto her side like me and stares me in the eyes.

"He's gone." She closes her eyes and cries some more. "He's gone and we could have helped him. We could have stopped him." She chokes up. "This is my fault. If we hadn't gone out, he would have still been alive." She hides her face with her hands.

"No." I pull her hands away. "This was his choice. If we had been here, he would have done it another time. We wouldn't have been able to stop him." I hold her hands in mine.

"I don't know. I just feel like a bad person." She pulls her hands from my grasp and pushes herself closer. I wrap my arms around her, protecting her like a cage. After a few moments, she falls back asleep and we sit like this for the next hour. We finally get out of bed when my alarm clock goes off.

Calla walks into my closet and comes back out wearing my old, blue jacket. She follows me into the kitchen. Jack is nowhere to be seen. It is strange to find no food on the counter waiting for us now that Zack is gone. I open the fridge and out a few eggs. There isn't very much in the fridge; I should go to the store after class. I can't cook very well, but I know how to make scrambled eggs.

We eat in silence. I don't bother to change and neither does Calla. We pull on some shoes and head to class, hand in hand.

Mr. Kent gives us an odd look when he sees us come in. We walk past him and slink over to the bleacher. We climb the steps and plop down on the top row as our teacher walks past The Dark Nightmare. He sits on his desk and stares at all of his students.

"Students! I will be reading off some names. If your name is read, you will stand in a line in right here." he points to the ground in front of him and holds up a clipboard. "Will, Alice, Rachel, Lilly..." He reads the list for a few more seconds as students walk to the front of the room when their names are read. Neither Calla or I are called on. He finishes the list and puts his hands on a boy's broad shoulders.

"Follow me." He leads the line of kids to a door on the far side of the room. He opens it and the lines disappeared inside. He points to somewhere inside and the closes the door and smiles as he walks away. "They didn't pass. But you did." he sweeps an arm over the remaining students. One girl raises her hand.

"What's going to happen to them?" Her voice is squeaky.

"Don't you worry." Mr. Kent brushes his hands together as if to get something off of them. "They will be well taken care of." He reassures her. "Well..." he rubs his hands togethers. "Today is the shortest school day you will ever have. Go home." He waves us off. All of us remaining students trickle out the door. Calla and I go to my apartment.

I sit on my bed and Calla slumps down beside me. She rubs her eyes and I kiss her cheek.

"Go to sleep. I'm gonna' go the store and get some groceries." I say. Calla does as she is told and lays down, her eyes closed.

I leave to the courtyard and enter the grocery store. I collect the things need and head to the chachere. The lady working there smiles at me and starts scanning my items.

"You hear about that kid that killed himself." She speaks with a thick southern accent. "Stupid." She shakes her head.

"Yeah. I did." I reply as she puts the food into bags. I give her the money and take my bags and leave.

"It really is just too bad." She says as I walk away.

The elevator is lonely and seems to be colder as it slowly rises to the ninth floor. The doors open. I walk out and head down the long hall. The bags in my hands slow me down.

I awkwardly open the door to the apartment, my bags still in hand. I don't want to wake up Calla just for her to open the door for me.

I walk in and hear yelling. I close the door behind me as I speed walk to the living room. Calla is on the couch, sitting on her knees while yelling at Jack who is across the room and in the kitchen.

"You have always been a monster!" Calla points a menacing finger at him. "You will never change."

"You are just too sensitive, you little freak! You need to move one! Zack is dead, that doesn't mean you can just be sad all the time"

"What is wrong with you? My friend is dead, and you expect me to get over it in less than a day?" Tears pour down her cheeks. :for all I know, Zack wasn't the one who killed him, it was you! You have never been there for me! How am I supposed to trust you?" Zack slams his hands on the counter.

"I didn't kill Zack! I am not a killer!" His face is red.

'Well you sure act like one! You have the worst anger issues I have ever seen!" Calla becomes hysterical. I drop the bags I'm holding on the counter and rush to her.

"Looks like lover boy has come to help!" Jack says mockingly.

"I could strangle you!" Calla leaps off the couch into the air. I reach out and wrap my arms around her waist before she even lands. She thrashes around in my grasp as I haul her to our room. I close the door behind us and throw her on the bed.

"I don't know you!" she screams at the door. "You aren't my brother!" Her face is bright red and her whole body is shaking.

I pull her close to me and kiss her on the lips. I kiss her until my lungs hurt and I need air. I pull away and look down at Calla. Her face is less red but she is quiet and shaking. Her arms are tense and she stares me with an expression I can't describe. She pulls me into a hug and the sobs start again.

"Oh, Glade. I can't do this!" Her sides heave. "I just can't! I don't know what to do!"

"Neither do I." I whisper.