Breathing

Chapter Three

I'm walking down the hallway feeling confident, sure I don't have any friends and everyone is scared of me but maybe I could use that to my advantage? I put my backpack in my locker as I watch two girls staring at me and whispering.

"Why are you whispering about me?" I ask fiercely, the two girls laugh.

"You're hilarious." One of the girls says.

"Mai told us how stupid you are and we're on her side." The other girl says. Of course Mai told her new jerk friends stupid lies about me.

"So Mai put you up to this, huh?" I say, trying to sound chill.

"Oh, you're just upset that nobody is coming to your sweet sixteen." Oh my freaking god, I forgot about my sweet sixteen! It's in two days and it was going to be me, Mai, my mom,the baby, my dad and my brother as a ghost, I still talk to him. I'm going to have no friends. I feel like my blood is boiling.

"So this is how it is, everyone hates me just because I fainted? Nothing is wrong with me, give me a break." I run out of school yelling 

"I'm going to be an older sister and nobody is coming to my sweet sixteen and something could be wrong with me and my life is so F-ing horrible!"

* * *

When I'm home, my mom is sitting on the couch.

"What are you doing home from school so early?"

"I'm not feeling very well" I lie.

"Well, whatever it is I can't catch it because of the baby, I'll have to call your father to come home and take care of you."

"No!" I yell. "I want you to take care of me!"

"But sweetie, I can't." She responds calmly.

"Fine." I quickly admit. "I'm not sick. Everyone at school hates me."

"That can't be true, Lexi." She says.

"Well, it is and Mai isn't my friend anymore and I miss Evan and Mai is turning everyone on me!" I say with tears streaming down my face. She sighs.

"I think it's time to visit your brother." So many thoughts are running through my head. I haven't visit Evan's grave since the funeral which was nine years ago when I was seven. "Yes" I practically scream.

* * *

I'm staring at the gravestone that says "A brother, a son and an amazing father." I can't stop thinking about his six year old daughter at the time, I forgot that I'm an aunt that's one year older than my niece. I'm starting to have flashbacks, Evan and I at the ice cream shop, ice cream dripping down my face and him grabbing an excessive amount of napkins to wipe it off. Evan trying to read me a bedtime story when I'm running around with my underpants on my head. My whole family in the hospital when the doctors said that we lost him. Evan's grave is right by Silver Beach, I look out into the water and walk closer to it, my mind getting lost in the choppy waves. I take a big breath in but air doesn't come through my nose, water does. I start coughing as I realize that I'm in the freezing cold water, I'm rapidly swimming up and looking for the top, my fall coat weighing me down. I find a sandbar, I must have been really lost to get this far out.

"Lexi!" I hear the scream coming from my mother who is surprisingly close to me.

"Mom, I'm ok" I respond, trying to reassure her. She joins me on the sandbar, looking shocked. I'm expecting her to go all mother on me but instead she says

"What the freaking hell were you doing? You worried me so much! You made a pregnant woman swim super far out in freezing cold water! I could get a cold and that's not good for the baby!" I open my mouth but it's kind of hard to speak because it's so cold.

"I'm so-orry, I g-got carried away." She is silent and pulls me back to shore. I wonder how this will effect my sweet sixteen.