Brandon Paisley looks utterly shocked. He's a fast reader, and he skims the pages quickly, taking in every word. The time is 2:00 P.M. If I can't leave here soon, I'll miss Andrew's funeral. I can't let that happen. "As much as I'd like to stay here to hear your reactions to my story, I'm going to miss my friend's funeral, and I have to be there," I cough, catching the attention of Araceli and Shayna, but nobody else.
"I'm sorry that you will be unable to press any charges on the woman who abused you, as she has passed away, but is there anything we can do for you?" Shayna asks politely. "What could you possibly do for me?" I ask, trying not to sound too irritated. "Well, there is nothing we can do about Dr. Charleston, so the best we can do is offer our sincerest apologies," Araceli answers, a fake smile on her face. Both women smile at me, but it's all a charade. They feel nothing, and it's too clear to see. They're only here to do their jobs; they could care less about what happened to me. I don't really care about this, but I can't help but get annoyed over the fact that they don't even bother to hide their emotions.
"Do you not understand what happened?" I ask, seething. "Not only was I paralyzed by this woman, but she murdered my best friend. She murdered him and three others. How can you not do anything for that?!" I'm beyond mad now, but I do everything I can to keep my composure and act like the mature adult I need to be. It's hard to do, but I'm trying.
The women explain that I can't do anything about Charleston, since she's dead and all, but that's not what I'm looking for. I don't need to press charges on anyone, no matter how much they deserve it. All I'm looking for is a little compassion from these people, and I'm not talking about for me. I want it for Andrew. For Nate. And Nate. And Ricky. Four people who did nothing to deserve the fate they got and the officers in front of me couldn't care less.
Brandon Paisley pauses his reading to look at his co-workers, then look at me. "I'm so sorry about my employee's behavior. And I'm sorry for your friend as well. The district should have done a better job when they hired that woman as the school principal. If we could go back in time, believe me, I would. There is no condolence for what is happening right now, but I hope you can forgive us." I shake my head, but don't speak. I don't know what I'm supposed to do here. I'm barely an adult, after all. This isn't normal, I never learned anything that would help me understand this more, and I'm confused. "Why am I here then? Is my story just entertainment for you?" I ask calmly.
Nobody answers, and I rise from my chair. "I'm late for the funeral," I say before spinning around and walking out. My head is pounding. I can't see anything; I'm so full of anger that it's controlling me. "Wait!" Brandon Paisley calls from the door. I turn around and look at him. He's the only officer that didn't bother me, and I'm okay with talking to him. "I wanted your story so I could share it with people. The community needs to know that things like this do actually happen, and it happened to one of our own. I wish there is something we could do about this, but unfortunately there isn't. Your story isn't just entertainment."
Krystine's car pulls up to the station, but I don't turn to join her yet. Instead, I step closer to Brandon Paisley and say, "then let it be told. There is something you can do. Andrew doesn't deserve to just be forgotten. He didn't die of some natural cause. He was murdered by the same person who put me in a wheelchair for months; it would have been longer if it wasn't for my surgery. I want you to do something with those papers. You said you got Krys and Andrew to write about their time in the office? Fantastic. Publish it. Stick it all together and get it published, so the whole world knows that Andrew didn't die for nothing. Publish it so the families of the two kids called Nate and my old friend Ricky know that the deaths of their kids aren't going by unnoticed. Publish it so anyone who could be struggling with something has horrendous as this knows they're not alone. Publish it because it is the only thing you can do for me." Those are the words I've left unsaid.
The story I told is so much more than some words on pages. It's the life, loss, and everything in between of people. People who are loved, people who may only be memories now, but were everything to someone.
Brandon Paisley looks at me, his face hard to read. After a minute, he opens his mouth and says, "What would you like it to be called?" I think for a second. I think about the pointless thoughts and events that happened to me lately, and there's only one title I can possibly think of, and it reminds me of a song. One that makes me think of all the miscellaneous conversations and moments with my best friends, Krystine and Andrew.
"I want it to be titled Chasing Cars."
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AGH NO I'M DONE. except the epilogue but sTILL. I'm as sad as I was when I finished it for real haha!!
Now I just need the reactions from the people who ARE the characters. Krysue, Andrew, Ryan, Abby (both of you guys), Aiden, Carter? Where you at lolol!!
YOU ARE READING
Chasing Cars
Novela Juvenil(Now available on Amazon for free! LIMITED TIME!!) "You have to promise you'll come back. I didn't die, so you can't die either." For high-school senior Karev Grey, life has never been completely normal. Her parents are secret drug dealers, and at h...
