Seven Reasons Not To Die

vii | deathly revelations

Maria wasn't greeted by Poppy that day, even though she had wanted to be left alone before, it still worried her. Something was going on and Maria wasn't sure if she wanted to know what it was. Still despite the part of her that relished in the fact the annoying girl was gone, there was another part of her that didn't want to simply pretend something wasn't wrong.

"Where are you going so early?" Gloria looked away from the morning news long enough to see Maria tugging her shirt over her head, stepping around blindly through the living room and to the front door.

"I'm going to Poppy's," She muttered, and she wasn't sure if she had a real reason for it. If Poppy were to skip out now, shouldn't she have been glad? To reach her freedom earlier, because there was no one pestering her to stop her. She didn't have someone breathing down her neck.

"So much for just some annoying girl," Gloria smirked to herself as Maria slammed the front door behind her.

Maria's thoughts fought at each other, why did she care so much? Why did she put her pants over her pajamas? She didn't need to care. She should care. Poppy helped her. So you didn't ask for her help. She's just a stupid meddling girl. She should have minded her own business. What about Auntie Gloria, where would she be if Poppy hadn't showed up? You could have been happy! But what if I-

Her thoughts were cut off as she was greeted with the bright red of Poppy's front door in front of her. Was it too late to crawl back under her blankets? Probably. That's what led to her giving in and knocking in a pattern, as her hand made contact with the door and even if there had been a possibility of running home, it was gone now.

"Oh hello, Maria!" Eliza was the one to answer the door, not Poppy like she had hoped, "I thought you'd be with Poppy," The woman smiled at the teen, but something about it to Maria didn't seem right. It seemed almost forced, an air melancholy.

"Is Poppy not here? She said she was going home last night." Maria explained, and Eliza's false smile crumbled into a look of desperation.

"If she's not with you, and she's not here then she'll be at the cemetery. I don't know what it is, but my daughter likes you. She really does, and when you find her tell her I'm sorry." Eliza explained, not offering further explanation.

However it wasn't as though Maria was given a chance to ask why Poppy would be at the cemetery of all places, before Eliza had disappeared quickly behind the seemingly mocking blood red door. So the blonde was left in another dilemma, go home and face her aunts nosy personality, or find Poppy and figure out what was going on with her... Could she even call Poppy her friend. This whole ordeal could be a production of pity. Maria shook her head in annoyance, she had already set her destination on the cemetery. Yet the thought still lingered on how easy it would be to travel to Dover Peak.

Poppy wasn't sure at what time she had dragged herself out of her house. Though she knew it had to have been before any light at made it's home on her town for the day. She could have assumed everything was alright, but waking up to someone shaking furiously on her shoulder told her a different story. So stained face, and teary eyed Poppy refused to get up off the grass she had made her bed for the hours.

"Poppy? Poppy dammit wake up!" Maria yelled at this point, respect the dead be damned, the five minutes of pushing at the brunette hadn't done anything to help. She didn't know how long she had been out here, considering she still wore the borrowed t-shirt and shorts she hoped it wasn't as long as she thought. There wasn't a choice anymore as Poppy shoved Maria away, groaning as she sat up.

"How long have you been out here?" Maria appeared angry, why would she be angry? Poppy thought as she ran a hand through her hair, she appeared confused.

"I don't know? Since four I think," Poppy's nose scrunched up as she thought, trying to remember. She knew her mother had gotten off work by the time she left, but it wasn't until Eliza had went to bed then she go out the back door. As well at the time of sneaking out, Poppy hadn't chosen a destination though she supposed her conscious knew where it was going the second she left her house.

"It's almost noon now, Poppy why were you out here?" Her question could have been better, or not asked at all. It only took a second for Maria to look at the tombstone Poppy had undoubtedly been sleeping on, and the name carved within it was enough to conclude the situations reasoning.

Joseph P. Perkins

"You know I thought I was saving him this whole time," Poppy giggled to herself, "It wasn't until my mum pointed it out, you're not my dad. You have nothing in common with him, besides the suicidal part I suppose."

"Poppy I don't understand?" Maria was sure there was a possibility this girl was running on a lack of sleep or possibly something deeper that she had yet to infer due to her own battling thoughts.

"At first I thought I found my father on Dover Peak, I saw a chance to make up for not saving him. All this time, I refused to see you. Yet I see you now, yeah? You're Maria, not my dad. So I'm helping you not him, and maybe in a way I am or maybe I never was helping either of you. I'm not making any sense to you am I?" Poppy sighed as Maria just stared at her.

"My father jumped from Dover Peak when I was thirteen, I knew he wasn't in the right mind for awhile. My mum said it was work. It was obvious though, he wasn't happy anymore. I questioned it after that , he had my mum and I. He had family and people who loved him, why wasn't he happy? I thought if I could find him something to live for he'd stay. It wasn't until I was fifteen did I realize it didn't matter if he had people who cared, because depression doesn't care about that." Poppy was crying, but she wasn't to sure if she had any tears left after the night she had.

By now Maria had registered everything she had heard, and now she didn't know what to do. Poppy had seen her as a selfish chance to redeem herself, and after tomorrow would she have ignored her from then on. Poppy hadn't cared about Maria herself, because she hadn't seen Maria through all of it. Yet could she understand what Poppy felt? Poppy saw her now though, couldn't that count for something in this whole situation? Maria was left with another choice, she could emit only anger and curse the ground Poppy walked on, or she could figure out a way to stay around and try and forget Dover Peak urging her forward. Still she wasn't used to the idea of friends, nor was she good with any form of crying. Either way she couldn't leave a hysterical girl sobbing in the middle of a cemetery.

"Hey, Poppy calm down- There now are you alright enough to stand?" Maria was trying to keep herself calm now, as she received a steady nod from the sniffling girl, "Alright, carefully now. I think I have a place we can go."

Maria had assumed on her own, she judged before she should've had the ability to do so. She had seen Poppy as a girl who had never known what it was like to be hurt, to be so badly wounded that there was no one who could possibly relate. Yet Maria had that one person before her, lip quivering and eyes burning red. This girl had been so ready to hide her intentions, to forget her pain long enough to see Maria turn out okay. Even if she hadn't seen Maria for herself in the beginning, that didn't matter because there had been an urge to not see another soul lost.

"Where are we going?" Poppy questioned after a few minutes of guidance out of the cemetery, her distance from her father growing with each step.

"It's a surprise, but I'm sure you'll like it." Maria smiled encouragingly as she stepped in tune with Poppy, her arm ready to act like a brace if there was a chance of the other falling.

"This is the middle of the sidewalk?" Poppy looked confused as she continued to wipe her nose on Maria's borrowed tee, "Why?"

"This is where the largest amount of dandelions bloom, now sit please before I change my mind." Maria muttered plopping down onto the section of grass separating the sidewalk from the road. Hesitantly Poppy joined, and both could only smile to themselves at the idea of what they looked like to others outside their two person club.

"I thought dandelions were weeds?" Poppy sniffled, as she looked at Maria in confusion.

"Well, a certain someone I know thinks they're simply alluring." Maria grinned and soon she began the process of twisting dandelion stems together. There wasn't a reason today, or at least Poppy saw it that way. Maria though didn't need Poppy's assistance because she had found reason six all on her own.