Arrivederci 🔪

XXII

"You read my diary after all since you found me," chuckled Prudence, "didn't you know it was top secret?"

"I brought it back for you, along with your book bag," said Robin, handing her the bag with Amore in it. Prudence took it and spit her cigarette on the floor. "I thought I asked you not to touch Amore. It's top secret, and now you know everything about me, yes?" Robin was speechless. He didn't want to lie, and there was no point in lying. Prudence knew the real answer. "Yes, I read the whole diary. I couldn't help myself. You were gone for hours and didn't reply to my text messages. I wanted to only take a peek at the cover, but...ended up reading it. I-" Prudence interrupted him: "I don't want to hear any excuses, Robin. I know you'll just apologize and beg me to forgive you. Yes, I was depressed. Yes, I liked beating up Oleg. Yes, I loved Joshik and wanted him to be mine. Yes, I hated my parents and they hated and abused me. Yes, I attempted suicide multiple times and self-harmed. Yes, I dated Wyatt and was friends with Jefferson and Ryan. Yes, I killed Sara Moscow. Yes, I killed myself on November 29th, 2015. Yes, I resuscitated. Yes, I gave the abortion to Rosalind myself with a needle. It's all true. The person that brought me back to this world was an Ancient Roman named Titus who took his life as well back when the Roman Empire collapsed and he told me that nobody will ever recognize me again because everybody I know is aware of me being dead. Vincenzo knows about it, Fred knows, Oleg is aware. My parents know because they saw me do it. The whole school knew,"

Robin: "The whole school knew, of course. Even the towns of Ann Arbor, Canton, Milan, Ypsilanti, Dexter, Saline, Dearborn, and Dundee knew. I have friends in all these towns, all of them had sympathy. I cared so much and was upset I never got to know you. I felt that you wanted to be friends with me, and I felt so bad for ignoring your attempts to get my attention...I was friends with Ryan, Maurice, and Jefferson myself and they told me about you...now since you're back, I feel like a total moron...maybe if I spent more time with you, you would have never assassinated yourself. And I never thought I'd say this out loud to anybody, but since you're the murderer, I'll tell you: I never liked Sara myself and was kind of relieved to hear about her death. I've known her for a long, long time, for about a decade now. Even before you came to our school she wasn't any better. In kindergarten, she would break other kids' pencils or lego towers during play time, push or hit other children at recess, and color over their drawings. She'd do anything to make another kid upset. Do you know Kim Chang, a kid that had Life Science class with us a few years ago? Well, when we were in third grade, Sara pushed him off the monkey bars and he broke his wrist. She got suspended for that but wasn't expelled. In seventh grade, she knocked out Ryan with one punch during passing time. All these years Ryan wanted to revenge, and eventually did it with you,"

Prudence got silent. People did care, after all. "I became a mystery that nobody could solve. But you solved it. That means you truly care," she whispered.

 -"I couldn't resist, Prudence. I had to. You were a mystery. I like mysteries. And I solved one. I figured out who you are,"

Prudence opened Amore and turned to the last page. There was a note in somebody else's handwriting that Prudence has never seen before. And it wasn't written in pen or marker, either. It was written in a style Ancient Romans had.

I forgot to mention this before you came back to life: if somebody does recognize you after your death, that means they're your true love forever. Do not give up on Robin, he loves you. Forgive him. -Titus

Prudence was shocked. Robin turns out to be the person that she'll spend the rest of her life with. She looked at her watch. 9:45 pm. Then, she looked straight into Robin's eyes, and so did he. "Are you thinking about what I'm thinking?" she conquered, taking off her pullover. "If you say so," Robin leaned over and kissed her. Prudence bit Robin's lips.