High Life | ✔️

37

GRANDMOTHER USED TO say, people die when the Lord calls them back. Truly, there is nothing to mourn about death any more than there is to mourn the growing of a flower. What is terrible is not death but the lives people live or don't live up until their death.

Am I okay? Not right now, but I will be.

Jaxon had returned a decent time later to collect his belongings and to lay a folded note upon my open palm. Warm hands found mine, jerking me out of this reverie I'd stumbled into, anchoring me to this bleaker, darker, colder reality.

"Come on," Jaxon whispered, urging me to compile my own belongings. "It's late."

I forced my eyes to meet Jaxon's brown ones. They looked dark tonight, like all the light had seeped out. Like he'd seen enough bad things to last a lifetime. These weren't carefree eyes, these were sad eyes. I knew a pair from the mirror.

"He..." I struggled to say. "He dead?"

"Looked pretty dead to me," Jaxon nodded. 

"What's this?" I asked, gesturing to the folded note in my hand.

"A note," Jaxon replied. "For you."

I shoved it into my pocket like it was hot coal.

✖️✖️✖️

No one tried to sugarcoat it. Couldn't if they tried.

The papers said it like it was: DuPont Corp's Heir, Elias DuPont Falls to His Death.

The next morning, the entirety of Richmond Park Academy's upperclassmen got summoned to the chapel. There were only three hundred and forty of us. We fit comfortably into the chapel, taking our respective seats organized by grade: seniors in the front section, with an aisle separating us from the juniors.

The vice-principal, in lieu of our departed principal stood patiently at the podium before the altar. I recognized some of Elias's friends sitting a row behind me. They looked like they hadn't slept.

Vice-principal Henrietta Carter tapped the microphone. I knew very little about her, but I knew she wasn't an alum like the previous principal. It was rumored, in fact, that she was the recipient of a public school education. This made it slightly difficult for her to earn the respect of the student body.

"Attention, please, settle down. I have something very sad to share with everyone this morning," the vice-principal informed in a grave voice. "I am very sorry to inform everyone that one of our students, Elias DuPont passed away last night. He, uh, fell from his window by accident. In light of this, we are looking into having grilles installed for the student accommodations."

There was a shocked silence, followed by a confused buzzing.

The vice-principal cleared her throat. "There will be no classes tomorrow. Instead, there will be a funeral service at a nearby church. Everyone is invited to attend. Shuttle buses will be provided for those interested in attending. Afterward, there will be a burial at Oak Hill Memorial Park. Shuttle buses will also be provided for those interested in attending. We ask that everyone keeps the DuPont family in their prayers during this difficult time."

Another throat clearing.

"Suicide is a very serious, and a very real problem that plagues us... not that Elias DuPont committed suicide or anything. We just urge students to reach out if you harbor any kind of abnormal thoughts. We have grief counselors on hand to assist anyone who needs help. School will conclude at noon today. Please return to your second-period classes after this meeting."