Still Believe

Chapter 5: a Summer to Remember

Summer. I was excited for it because I hated walking the hallways in school without Wesley being there. James hated it too. The whole class never had seen anything like this before. When school started last year, me, James, and Wesley never got along. Never. But when we started tutoring, something clicked with us. And before that test when we decided to skip it was the biggest mistake I'd ever make.

They did blood work and sure enough, James was right. Wesley wasn't drunk. He was beat up by a bunch of guys and James found him. We drove home with Wesley practically sleeping in the front seat, and it happened. The guy who hit us feels so bad, and he's taking all responsiblity for it. But I still can't believe that Wesley is gone.

It happened in late September and now it's April. I told Alana to forget the tutoring. How it was all stupid in the first place. How I didn't want her help, and certainly didn't need it.

Somehow Alana still stuck around. She always checked up on me, calling me and seeing what I'm up to and waving to me in the hallways. How come she still cared?

James's hair grew back a little. He had to learn how to write with his left hand, because they removed his right hand after he tried to save Wesley. But let me tell you, I've never seen anyone try as hard as he did. He's up to mostly B's now, but still has that C in math. He's doing amazing.

But I've fallen. I've fallen down a bad path, and Wesley being gone isn't helping. I miss jogging on the football field with him. Everyday I sit on the bleachers and just..think. How he's not here, and he's not getting to do the things he's wanted to do. How it's my fault for convincing him to not study and have fun. Some fun, huh?

James walked up when I was sitting on the bleachers during free period. "You okay?" he said.

"No." I said. "But thanks for asking anyway."

"I know it hurts you." he said, sitting next to me. "But hey, he's with us. He's probably walking along this feild right now."

"If he is, he needs to come sit with us."

"Give him time. He died in September, now it's April. He probably doesn't want us to be sad."

I put my head in my lap. "I should've never convinced him to skip studying."

"Hey, he needed to get out and have fun."

"How exactly?" I asked, not believing him.

He sighed. "His parents were hitting him again that night. He called me and said he needed to get out of the house. So, I invited him to study. It's my fault." he sighed.

"It's not your fault." I said.

"It's not yours. And you know, he had a lot of problems. He needed friends like us trying to get him to have fun."

I couldn't believe Wesley was abused. You couldn't really tell. I guess maybe I wasn't the only one with problems, and someone out there was dealing with the same thing as me.

--

I got home that day and threw my backpack on the ground. I made my way up the stairs, passing my little brother's room. He hasn't been home in months. He moved out before school started, and he's two years younger than me.

I went to my room and changed from a band t-shirt and ripped jeans into basketball shorts and another t-shirt. I flipped on the TV, but paid no attention to it. I thought about me and James's talk earlier.

"LESLIE!" I heard my dad yell. Greaaaat.

"What?" I called back.

"Get down here, NOW."