Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
| friday november 5 10:39 PM |
i sit and wait for cindy to show up. the bell doesn't ring for another few minutes, but still she's usually one of the first people here. i doubt she'd skip this class anyways, she loves art. she's always bringing it up, i've been thinking about taking her to a museum or something... i'm sure she'd love it.
i look down at our project, sitting on my desk, and sigh. "chris" i call as i tap his shoulder. he sits right in front of me and next to vince. he turns around and looks confused as to why id tap his shoulder. he looked exhausted. "where's cindy?" i ask curiously, knowing she wouldn't just skip a day of school. she's always here.
maybe it's got something to do with how bad her day was yesterday. it seemed like something was wrong with her, she looked like she was going to cry all period. i probably should have asked her about it more, maybe get her to talk about it some so that maybe i could help her. i hates seeing her like that if i'm being honest. i like it better when she is smiling and enjoying her time.
"you don't know do you?" he asks, like i was supposed to know. immediately my mind starts to race to the worst possible solutions. did she die? maybe that's why she looks exhausted and completely out of it. i lean back in my seat and furrow my eyebrows before running my hand through my hair. "don't know what?" i ask frantically, starting to become nervous.
"every year cindy misses today..." he says making me feel more at ease yet more curious. i let out a sigh of relief and move forward again. "why?" i ask. he sighs and looks off before looking at me. "cindy's dad died from leukemia when she was twelve. it hit her hard since they were really close." he explains causing me to start to feel bad. "can.. can i see her?" i ask as i start to stand up from my desk and grabbing my back pack from the ground.
i need to at least know how she's doing. i'll bring her some flowers and chocolate...maybe fruit roll ups would be better.
"she's probably at the cemetery right now... she goes around eleven every time she goes." he says causing me to nod quickly. "okay.. can you please make sure this gets turned in?" i ask as i start to walk backwards quickly.
he nods with a smile. "jack." he starts as he stares at me. "yeah?" i ask. "Thank you... this will probably mean a lot to her"
____ cindy's pov -vote and comment- ____
"hey dad" i sigh as i sit down next to my dads headstone.
i look at it and smile.
john kimberly 1984-2013 beloved father, husband and friend.
i wish we thought of something more creative to put on his headstone. maybe something he'd always say. maybe even something about how much of a delight he was. or how respectable and dependable he was. maybe even how much he was loved... by everyone.
it was hard not to love him. he was always in the best mood and always made you laugh or smile when you didn't want to. he would go out of his way to make sure you were happy.
"can't believe its been six years"
my eyes were watering more than i thought they would.
"i'm sorry i haven't been here lately... i've been busy. not necessarily busy just caught up." i explain myself as i sit the roses i cut from his old rose bush he always took care of. he was so proud of it, me and mom do our best to take care of it. it's just hard with me being at school and doing homework and then her being at work. "caught up with this guy... his names jack." i laugh softly while wiping a tear. this isn't exactly how i expected my first guy talk with my dad to be. i imagined him to quiz me about him and ask all about him, practically interrogate me so he gets to know everything he wants and needs to.
"he's pretty cool. he's the guy i told you about back in freshman year. we're finally friends... you'd like him a lot. he reminds me of you sometimes, just by how nice he is and how he's always making me smile."
"me and mom miss you a lot dad..." i say with my voice cracking. "so does uncle wayne" i chuckle, wiping another tear. i jump when i hear the sound of a car door shutting causing me to turn around. i furrow my eyes when i see jack jogging towards me with some flowers in his hand. i wipe my tears again so he doesn't see them when he's finally near me.
he takes a seat by me and hands me the flowers. he puts his arm over my shoulder and pulls me into him. "chris told me... i had no idea"
i stay quiet not knowing how to reply to that. i look back at his headstone and end up having a few more tears fall.
"i'm jack" he says taking his arm off of me and clasping his hands as he sits them in his lap after a long minute of silence. i don't know what to say with him here. i furrow my eyebrows, wondering what he was doing as i look over at him.
"i've got to give it to you, you're daughters pretty cool" he laughs as he bumps shoulders with me.
he's talking to my dad.
i bite the inside of my cheeks and smile as even more tears fall. i wouldn't think he'd do that. i figured he'd just sit here and pat my back.
"smart"
"and beautiful" he adds with a nod making my heart skip a beat. he thinks i'm smart and beautiful? and he's telling my dad that? i smile to myself as i look over at him. "and funny" i add to seem less like the mess i was right now. "yeah that too" he shrugs making me smile some. we fall quiet again until he looks over at me. "why didn't you tell me?" he asks me softly. "it never really came up" i say with a shrug. i wouldn't even know how to bring it up. i'm actually glad chris did it for me, i hate having to tell people about it. everyone ends up not knowing how to act around me. "i guess you have a point..." he nods agreeing with my statement.
"thank you for coming..." i say looking over at him. he pulls his eyebrows together and looks over my face then brings his thumbs up to my cheeks and wiping away my tears. i let out an involuntary awkward laugh not knowing what to do. "oh i brought you this... chris said it's your favorite" he says as he pulls out an almond joy from his hoodies front pocket. "thank you" i smile. taking it from him.
"actually... could you give me a minute?" i ask softly. "yeah of course" he says standing up while nodding. "maybe we could go get something to eat after i'm done?" i suggest causing him to smile. "yeah, i'd like that. i'll be in my car. take your time" he says as he reaches down and ruffles up my hair causing me to smile some.
when he's far enough away i look down and smile. "that's the jack guy i was talking about... he's nice, isn't he?"
"i wish you could meet him in person. i wish i could hug you again too" i say, my mind was rambling.
"well... i think i'm going to go have lunch with him now. i hope you approve" i chuckle as i stand up from the ground. "i love you"
