Before Sixteen

17 Inevitable

17 INEVITABLE

They say death is inevitable but that's until you loose someone close to you. I'd experienced first hand what loosing a parent felt like but not the way Jay did.

My mom was shot straight to the heart in front of me and she died in my arms. Before she closed her eyes, she smiled at me. That smile, I would never forget it. I didn't think my mom felt much pain before she died but I could only imagine the kind of pain Mr. Jacobs must've felt when his entire body was set ablaze. I don't think there's anything more painful than having fire consume your skin and internal organs while people watched and did nothing to help, instead, they only fueled the fire.

Mr. Jacobs had burned to ash in front of his wife and son. That was one of the worse ways to die.

I eventually didn't get any sleep that night. After Jay had told me what happened to his dad in South Africa, I spent the night crying because I could only imagine how traumatized he was.

"Good morning" I greeted no one in particular after I'd entered the kitchen to find Mrs. Jacobs, Sebastian and Jay preparing breakfast.

"Good morning, dear" Mrs. Jacobs said turning away from the frying pan shortly to give me a smile. "How was your night?" she asked although I was sure she'd seen the huge eye bags and my red puffy eyes.

Without saying anything or even looking up at my face, Jay walked out of the kitchen hastily. I bowed my head and walked to the fridge, "It was fine" I replied to the question Mrs. Jacobs had asked me earlier knowing she and Sebastian had noticed the tension between Jay and I.

"You're sure you're alright?" she turned to me with a concerned look this time around. It was obvious she didn't mean just me but me and Jay but I nodded anyway.

Breakfast was just as awkward as I expected. Knowing Jay, he was the kind of person who liked making conversations while he ate but he was just so determined to finish his food and probably leave the table. He didn't look up or look to his side which made the rest of us to stare at him.

When he finally looked up at us, we immediately adverted our gaze.

"Rachael, Sebastian said you wanted to go and get your clothes?" Mrs. Jacobs asked but it didn't sound like a question. I simply nodded in affirmation. "Are you sure? I can always buy new ones for you. I don't see the need to go back there"

"I have a lot of clothes there. Buying new ones would be a waste of money" I said to Mrs. Jacobs. Jay got up with his plate and left the table without saying anything and that made us to stare at him, or in my case, watch him with the corner of my eyes.

Mrs. Jacobs sighed, "Okay, if you say so then" she continued eating her noodles.

After breakfast, I had a hot bath and a change of clothes. Luckily, Mrs. Jacobs had some clothes that weren't too big for me. They weren't too oversized but they weren't perfectly fitted either.

I left my room to go and find Sebastian afterwards. His room was just down the hall so I entered without knocking.

"Knock before entering" he said as soon as I entered. He was seated on his bed reading a book.

"You've entered my room countless times without knocking" I sat at the edge of his bed and observed the small room that wasn't so different from mine. The only difference was that he had a standing fan instead of a ceiling fan.

"That was before" said Sebastian. "So what's up with you and Jay?" I knew he'd ask that question and luckily, I'd prepared questions of my own.

"Why didn't you tell me Mr. Jacobs is dead?" I asked Sebastian making him to finally look up from his book.