Last Time Together
November 10th
After first bell
"Ugh,where is that dumb textbook", I mutter to myself as I search through the pig sty I call my locker. Piles of notebooks and binders hit the ground behind me as I accidentally swipe my arm across the bottom shelf. From the corner of my eye I catch the sight of a picture fluttering to the hard marble floor. It was really just like any other picture. Well kind of, best friends sitting side by side, grinning like there was no tomorrow, only one thing. The boy on the left, yeah the one who looks like he's in his own world, his smile as big as the city, well that was a memory. It was the last time I had seen him smile. And forever it will be the last time.
It's been four weeks since the incident, but I'm still in pain. The school assigned me to a court therapist but nothing seems to help. Everywhere I look, the dreaded memories come back. The images of his lifeless body lying on the plush gray carpet, helpless and innocent. The sound of his mom's shrill high pitched scream as she realized her baby has left. The scars, they won't leave, no matter how hard I try to forget, there's no way I can go back in time and change what has happened. There's no way I could've saved his life. There was really no way...
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Chapter 1
Back to School (September 4th)
My fingers scrape the cold metal lockers as I trudge down the long G hallway. "Parker!" , I hear a yell echo down the hollow path. I turn to the smirking face of my best friend Noah. I grinned and slowly opened my mouth. "No braces!", he hollered and enveloped me in a giant bear hug.
"Woah, slow your horses, Noah. I'm not looking forward to drawing attention to myself. Well not yet. This is a new me." Over break I recreated myself. No more metal in my mouth, no more stringy brown hair, and no more glasses. "I want this year to be different, I'm a new leaf, Noah, it's a new year." , I attempt to explain to my overly enthusiastic friend.
He smiled his contagious goofy grin and shot right back, " I'm sorry to upset you, your highness. He topped it off with a curtsy.
I tried not to give in but I completely lost it. I doubled over and laughed till a tear spilled out from the corner of my eye. I slapped him across the arm and gasped words between my giggling. "You're the biggest loser I have ever met, Noah Cooper... I swear something went wrong with you...there must have been a genetic mistake," I finally blurted it.
"Thank you, my dear , he said with his irristable dimpled smile. He looked around him for a second and asked the question I was just thinking. "Where's Grant", He inquired.
My smile disappeared and was replaced with a grim expression. "I don't know Noah, I really don't know. But something's wrong, he hasn't been acting like himself for a long time. I don't know."
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November 10th
After second bell
"Hey there", a familiar voice rang through the hallways. I looked up to see my friend, Noah dragging his new Air Jordans down the empty hallway and directly towards my locker. Once he reached my locker, he whispered again softly into my ear. "Hey, you okay," his cool breath hit my ear. He slowly lifted my chin up and just as we made eye contact, a single tear, small and innocent made it way down a path on my cheek. He turned his attention to the ground where the picture lay and closed his eyes. Slowly his arms enclosed around me, making me feel safe and unharmed and I gave in to his warm embrace. I sniffed the comfortable, familiar scent of his Axe cologne and completely broke down. "Noah, I miss him", I wept into his smooth, leather jacket, "I miss him so much."
"I know you do", he mumbled so only I heard, "But there's nothing you could've done. Nothing".
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September 6th
The lunchroom
"Hey Noah, can I talk to you", I questioned. With a swift nod, he rose out of his seat and passed his lunchmates as he joined me at the broad entrance of the cafeteria.
"Whats up", replied as he leaned against the closest locker.
I frowned, "I don't know Noah, it seems like...well I don't know, this year was supposed to be special. It was supposed to different in a good way but how is that supposed with Grant acting like this? First he missed two days of school and he's not himself, I mean no laughter or smiles. He never wants to hang out anymore. I just..."
Before I finished, Noah cut me off, "You're exaggerating Parker, he's a teenage guy. Not everyone is as perfect as you, princess. Us normal people, face difficult problems like deciding whether to get a hamburger or cheeseburger for lunch. ", he joked.
"I give up...you don't understand. I was crazy to think you would," I shot back and started to walk away.
"Parker...", I heard a plead follow me down the long path.
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November 10th
Homeroom
"Noah Cooper"
"Hey whats happening, Mrs. Juror"
"A simple here or present would have worked, Mr. Cooper."
"Kellen Crane"
"Here, Mrs. Juror"
"Parker Davis"
"..."
"Parker", with that she looked up from her clipboard for the first time today. "Parker?"
I turned to the back of the classroom where one empty seat stood. And it would stay empty forever like it had for the past month. At that moment something took over me. For no reason, all my emotions started to crash. Everything hit me at once. "Grant's dead, he would never come back. He would no longer joke and have fun. He was no longer with us. I couldn't take it anymore. I just couldn't." With tears leaking at an unstoppable speed, I grabbed my books and tore out of the classroom.
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April 6th
After school
"Guess who?", I playfully ask as I creep behind Grant and cover his eyes.
He moves his hands up to his face and prys my fingers off one by one, gently but firmly at the same time. "Not now,"he says, shaking his head as if telling me to back off. I look away feeling hurt and neglected by the two people I care about most. Grant winced regretfully and turned back to me. "Parker...", he started off. He ran his fingers through his perfectly spiked hair and stared at me intensely. I looked up at him and right into his eyes. Thats the one thing that's got me every time. Every since 6th grade.
I remembered the day he walked in Ms. Kales classroom while we were learning about the Vietnam War. He shyly stood in the front of the class fidgeting with his backpack strap as we all stared at the new kid, and thought what to make of him. Everything about him was amazing. His perfectly gelled hair, his expensive clothes which looked like they just came from the store, the new shoes that probably costed more than my allowance from 7 months, we were all wondering why such a rich kid would come to our public school. But none of those items, were what caught my eye. When he looked up, I gasped in awe. His eyes were magnificent. It felt like I was staring at the universe, pale blue almost as if I could see right through them. Rings of fire surrounded the pupil to add a golden touch to them. Specks of green and brown were scattered among the iris. It felt unbelievable like I was staring into the universe, like nothing else.
Now, 5 years later they still haven't failed to disappoint me. Looking into them I saw guilt, pain, and emotions I have never seen in his eyes before. Grant was never the happy, goody, cheerful person who was always in a good mood but this was different. "Grant are you okay, do you want to talk about it". I asked nervously. With a quick turn of his head he grabbed his bag and walked away. I stood watching him escape the pain and heard the last squeak of his shoe.
