Beautiful Chaos

💜 Senior Year 💜

Erin rushed down the hallway, hoping not to be seen by a hall monitor. It was senior skip day, but she was too good to miss an entire day. She had a test second period, and refused to miss it.

While senior skip day was obviously a tradition everyone knew about, the teachers and other school faculty did not really approve of it. She didn't care though, her and her friends planned to go out to eat and hit the mall. They were all so excited to be graduating together, and Erin felt like everything was perfectly falling into place.

She ran down the stairs and into the common area. It was quiet, usually there was at least a hall monitor or AP. She walked along the red spotted floors and peaked around the blue side wall her friends were supposed to meet her at.
"Where are they?" She muttered to herself.

She walked around the wall and started to hear voices, and what sounded like sniffling.
"Ash? Melody?" She whispered.

The noises were coming from a door that led to the auditorium. She wasn't sure if she'd run into her friends or a hall monitor, but she didn't care. She knew something wasn't right when they didn't meet her there, they wouldn't flake. She walked into the auditorium and was startled to find her boyfriend, Ash, sitting in a chair. His face was in his hands and he was surrounded by Melody and a couple other faculty from the school. They were all hunched over him, placing a comforting touch on his back.

"What's going on?" Erin asked.
Melody looked up at her and gave a concerned look. She walked over to Erin and pulled her to the side.
"Ash's dad has stage 4 cancer." She said.

"W— what?"

Erin's stomach went up in knots. She felt like she was going to get sick, especially when she looked up at Ash, who was finally looking up, but had tears on his face. Ash's dad, Clyde, had been in Erin's life for the past four years. That might not sound like much to someone else, but to Erin it meant everything. Erin's dad wasn't exactly her favorite person. He was a hypocritical pastor who was judgmental and verbally abusive. Erin spent more time at Ash's house their entire relationship. Clyde was caring, respectful, and accepting. He loved Erin like she was one of his own. No wonder he had raised such a good son.

"How long has he had it?" Erin continued.
"Quite some time I guess," she looked over at Ash and sighed. Erin could tell she was deeply saddened too. He was a father figure to more people than he ever knew about, "His mom just called the school and told him because she has to fly on a plane to the medical center his dad is being admitted to."
"So Clyde is gone? Where is he going?"
"He's going to a really good center in Wisconsin. Ash made him promise he'd go to the best one."

Erin looked over at her broken boyfriend. The faculty were whispering comforting things in his ears and Erin knew exactly how Ash felt at that moment. Nothing anyone can say will make it better. The thought of losing a parent would make anyone sick. Erin hates visiting the past, but couldn't help it in this situation. She lost her mom 2 years ago, and it hasn't gotten any easier.

She felt bad for thinking about herself while her boyfriend was grieving, but she couldn't help it. She knew that pain too well.

Erin ran to Ash's side and stood him up. She wrapped her arms around him and squeezed tight. She couldn't really think of anything to say. She remembered how irritated she got when people said sweet nothings about her mom passing away. She just wanted everyone to shut up and not speak on it. She felt misunderstood and alone. She hated that Ash was going through this.
"I love you," she whispered, "so so much."

He pulled away from her and caressed her face, tucking a hair behind her ear.
"I love you too."

He wiped his face with his sleeves and turned to Melody and Erin, fake smiling. You could tell he was trying to be convincing, but Erin knew he was not okay at all.
"We should go," he continued, "I still wanna go out to eat and to the mall. You guys still down?"

Erin and Melody were shocked at his sudden enthusiasm. This wasn't the first time he'd hidden emotions, but it had never been something this serious.

The faculty looked confused but didn't stop them from walking out of the building.

They walked around to the back towards Melody's car. It was quiet, and it was driving Erin crazy. She could feel the tension of Ash being upset but couldn't find the right words to console him.

She looked up at the school building and smiled. Even though there was an issue at hand, she could help but reminisce about her years at the school. Both bad and good moments passed through her head, and she learned from them all. Most people would be excited to graduate, but she knew she would miss it. She had witnessed first hand what adult life can do to someone, and she wasn't sure she was ready for that.

"You okay? You look like something is on your mind." Ash said while putting his arm around Erin.

She thought it was sweet that he was worried about her even though he was going through something. She smiled at him.

"I'm fine. Are you okay?" She asked, and immediately regretted it after he shrugged and hurried into the car. All he ever did was shut Erin out, and she hated it. She just wanted to help him.

After eating, they arrived at the mall. Things were finally starting to lighten. Ash was cracking stupid jokes and acting like his normal self.

"Why are we in this store?" He asked, motioning to all the girly items. We had just walked into Rue 21. Melody rolled her eyes, "there is guy stuff here too, dork" she said.

After some convincing, Ash went into the store with them. He started to pick up bras and press them to his chest. Erin laughed.
"You're an idiot" she said with a smirk. She turned around to see what Melody was doing when she ran into a woman, knocking a ton of paperwork out of her hands.
"I'm so sorry!!" Erin said while hurrying to pick up her papers. The woman placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Don't worry about it, it's okay."

She reached for Erin's hand and helped her up, taking the papers that were picked up out of her hands.

Erin felt chills on her spine, and felt strange. Her body tensed up as she stood up and looked this woman in the face. She had bright blue eyes, and freckles that touched all corners of her face. Her hair was shorter on the bottom and longer towards the top, her bangs caressing the sides of her face. Her hair was a sandy light brown, and seemed to glow in the fluorescent lighting of the store.
Erin wasn't sure what to say, and wanted to just walk away, but she couldn't.
"You alright?" The woman asked, smirking. Erin shook herself out of the daze she was in.
"I'm fine, thanks."
Erin looked down, trying to avoid how awkward the situation was. She noticed the only papers left on the ground were job applications. The woman picked them up and handed her one.
"We are actually looking for someone right now, if you're interested."
Erin took the paper, "I'll definitely fill it out. Can I ask for you?"
"Yes. My name is Aaliyah, but people call me Leom. Can I take down your phone number? I might be able to get you interview the day you bring your app in."
"Yeah, sure."

Erin wrote down her number and handed it to Leom. She smiled and turned to walk towards her boyfriend who was standing with Melody, staring at her.
"What??" She asked, confused. They began to walk out of the store before anyone said anything.
"That chick clearly thinks you're hot." Melody said.
Erin laughed, "And if she does? What does it matter?"
"Because you just gave her your number and didn't even realize what you were doing." Ash said, laughing.
Erin put a hand to her face.
"Well if she takes it the wrong way then so be it, but I'm not gay, and I could use a job."

They all laughed and headed towards the car. Erin couldn't shake this weird feeling she had. Something was off about that girl, and with how peaceful her life was, she didn't wanna find out what it was about her that made her feel strange. She brushed the feeling off.