The Iron Lighthouse

Five Years

*Rebecca pictured above*

When Davy and I reached the lunch room, the first thing I did was look for Rebecca, but I couldn't find her.

"Ellie, I was wondering, if six cats are born at once, does that make them sextuplets?" Davy asked me.

"Shut up, I'm trying to find Rebecca," I snapped at him, my eyes still searching the tables.

"Ooh, someone's being sassy. Why do you need to find her?" 

"She was acting a bit off this morning, and she ran away from me. I have to talk to her."

"What? Did she forget to do an assignment or something?" Davy snickered.

"Yes."

"What?"

"She did."

"Did what? 

"She didn't do the essay that was due today."

"You're kidding, right?" Davy laughed.

I sighed. "She didn't turn it in and went to the corner of shame. That's why I need to find her."

"Ah, Scollon. That's serious though. Doesn't sound like something she'd do." 

I nodded, agreeing with him. "Do you think she might be in the library?" I asked.

"It doesn't hurt to look," Davy replied with a shrug.

We found Rebecca in the back of the library, hunched over the table and buried in a book. When she heard us walking towards her, her head snapped up.

"Oh, uh, hey," she said.

"What's up?" Davy asked.

"Um... just reading?" she questioned.

"What the hell."

"Sorry," she muttered, closing the book.

"Rebecca are you okay?" I asked.

"Hmm."

"We're waiting," Davy encouraged.

"Ya, I'm okay," she answered after a moment.

I sighed, seeing that this conversation was going nowhere. Then I grabbed a chair and pulled it up next to Rebecca, sitting down. Davy did the same thing and sat at her other side.

Rebecca buried her head in her hands. "It's nothing, really. Just... the fifth year since my mom died... was yesterday. I spent this week gathering tons of flowers for her grave, and a lot of time... just crying... it hurt, ya' know? Because five years... and two days... ago she... she... she was here..." Rebecca sniffled.

I wrapped my arm around Rebecca's shoulders, shaking her a little. "Rebecca, it's okay. We're here for you."

"Ya, we should have remembered. We're so sorry," Davy added. "I'll get some tissues."

We were all silent until Davy returned with a box of tissues and Rebecca took some, wiping away her tears.

A few minutes passed, and then she stood up. "I'm hungry."

"Me too," I agreed.

"Nothing new for me. I'm always hungry," Davy told us. "So let's go! To the cafeteria!" 

As Davy was skipping ahead of us, I turned to Rebecca. "Are you sure you're okay?" 

She nodded. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have broken down like that. I mean, your parents are also..." 

"Dead," I finished for her. "It's fine. I don't really remember them since I was two when they died in that car crash, but I have Grandpa. I know it's harder for you and your dad because it was more recent.

"Five years isn't recent," she snorted. "Five years ago we were puny twelve-year-olds!"

"Ya, true."

"Are you two just gonna be turtles today? You're walking so slow! And Ellie, you never answered my question!" Davy shouted back at us.

"If you slow down I'll answer it," I yelled back. He stopped walking and waited for us to catch up.

"So... the answer?" Davy questioned.

"You know the answer. It's yes. And you just asked the question so you could say 'sex,' you idiot," I told him.

"Asked what question?" Rebecca asked.

"He asked whether six kittens born at once were sextuplets."

Rebecca just groaned.