Sketchbook

Chapter 9

Why is it so dark? I can't see anything. Where am I? I'm so confused.
"Mother! Father!"
"Your parents can't save you, Jayda."
I suddenly turn around startled by a suspicious voice that sounds way too familiar. I don't see anyone though. "Who's there?" I call out disbelieving who I think it is. That's when suddenly, a figure walks towards me, and my thoughts were right, it's him. Charles. He walks towards me with an emotionless expression, hands in his pockets. "Ch-Charles?" I say with a shaky voice. My sadness starts growing inside of me, heart is breaking into millions of pieces.
"You're all alone, Jayda. Your parents aren't here, and I'm not coming back for you. You're stuck in this darkness all by yourself... forever."
"Charles, please don't leave me, please!" I start crying. I try to walk towards him, but my body won't move. I'm stuck in this position. That's when Charles started walking away back into the darkness. "Charles!!" He continues walking. "CHARLES!!" I'm sobbing but still unable to move. "CHARLES, PLEASE!!! DON'T LEAVE ME!!" I start screaming from the amount of pain I feel in my body. It's physically painful and it hurts to breathe. My chest is aching. Suddenly, another figure starts walking towards me, and my heart just stops. My lip starts quivering at the person standing in front of me looking healthy and beautiful. "Grandma?" She walks up towards me standing directly in front of me. I'm completely speechless but still sobbing.
"My sweet angel,"she says with a big smile, "come home." After that, she walks back to the darkness, but instead of vanishing, a bright light slowly starts to shine. It was too bright to look directly at but grandma started walking into the light.
"Grandma, wait!" It was too late. She was gone. I was somehow able to fall to my knees. I laid down on the cold floor and continued to cry... all alone.

I sat up immediately from my bed hyperventilating. I'm crying so much my face is soaked. My actions had startled Gabrielle who was sleeping right next to me. She sat up as well with fear and concern written all over her face and laid her hands on my shoulders.
     "Jayda, what's wrong?? What happened?!" When I didn't answer her, she started moving my hair from my face and moving my head to her chest. I continued to cry and cry. The pain inside of me was only growing. That had to be the worst dream I've ever had in my life.
     Gabrielle and I were sitting at the kitchen table drinking the most disgusting thing I ever tasted: coffee. It tasted so bitter, even with the creamer. However, I decided to drink it because Gabrielle said it would wake me up more.
     "So, what happened earlier?" She asked.
     "I had a bad dream, that's all."
     "Bad dream, my ass, you couldn't even breathe correctly." She gave me a disapproving look.
     "I-It was about... Charles." I say as my eyes began to water. Gabrielle got up from her chair and came closer to me. She started rubbing my back. I continued. "It was dark and lonely. He came out of nowhere and told me he's never coming back to me. I tried to stop him from leaving but I couldn't m-move," the lump in my throat made it almost impossible to speak, "then I saw my grandmother," I started to cry out loud and covered my face.
     Gabrielle wrapped her arms around me. "It's okay, you don't have to finish."
     I hear the bedroom door to my parent's room open, and I instantly sat up and wiped my tears. Mother walked in to see the coffee was already made.
     "Who made coffee?" She said.
     "I did, Mrs. Joseph." Gabrielle said.
     "Well, that's so thoughtful of you." Mother said with a big smile before making herself a cup. Then there was silence. I just wanted her to leave now. "So, how long do you plan on staying here, Gabrielle?" Mother said. I was wondering the same thing. To be honest, I wish she could just live here. I've never hated being alone so much in my life, and she's the only friend I got right now.
     "Well, I was planning on going back today." Gabrielle said sounding a bit upset about it. I was upset about it too.
     Suddenly, someone's phone starts ringing. It was Gabrielle's phone which I didn't even know she had. It was a flip phone. Who, her age, has a flip phone? Maybe she just couldn't afford a better one, that's all. She answers the phone.
     "Hello?" She said quietly. Her mood suddenly changes from a bubbly one to a saddened one. "Okay." Then the person hangs up, and Gabrielle puts her phone back in her pocket. "I have to go now." I felt broken again when she said that, but of course, I knew she couldn't stay forever. "I'll come back everyday though, I promise." She said with a serious tone.
"You really can come back every single day?" I said quite surprised and Mother seemed quite surprised as well.
"Everyday." She said with a smile.
"Are you sure you don't have work you have to go to or something?" Mother asked.
"Oh no, I don't. I promise I'll be able to come everyday."

She sure did keep her promise too. Everyday from the moment I woke up, she would text me asking me when she can come back over, and she would leave at the end of the day, occasionally spending the night. For months, as I was growing, she would come over and help take care of me. We even developed a weekly schedule. On Sundays, Gabrielle would join us for our Sunday service. By the way, people at church were eventually told that I was pregnant, by Mother, but I refused to listen to their responses. I knew that they would be so judgmental about it. Anyways, after church we would hang out in my room and talk about life. What's the hardest subject in school? Who's the worst teacher? What's our goals in life? Why are guys so fucking stupid? You get the idea. On Mondays through Fridays, we worked on school work. Unfortunately, she's not homeschooled, so I don't see her until about 3:30. She does end up skipping school every once in while and doesn't tell anybody about it just so we can spend more time together. Not once did she ever get caught. I don't know how she did it, but I wasn't complaining. Lastly, on Saturdays, it's basically a fun day. We go on road trips to different restaurants, parks, and malls. We go shopping for me and my baby since I'm starting to get too big for my clothes. Speaking of the baby, when I went to the doctor after reaching 4 months, I had been scanned to see what the gender of my child was... and it's a boy. I was so excited to know that because I was secretly hoping for a boy. With that being said, I decided to name him Damien. Damien Joseph. I know, it's nothing creative or different in any way but I liked it, so alas here we are.
     Every morning, I'm looking at myself in the mirror growing fatter and fatter. I'm just so impatient for this baby to get out of me. I've been experiencing terrible cramps and some swelling in my ankles and feet. In the second and third trimester, Gabrielle was basically my babysitter. She rubbed my back and feet. She cooked food for me. She even bought fuzzy blankets and socks for me when I get cold which was a bit unnecessary since we were getting into the warmer seasons, but I still appreciated the effort she put into taking care of me. Every time I needed to take a rest, she would sit by my side and massage whatever part of me that was sore until I fell asleep. Every morning I would intentionally sleep through my alarms, and she would always wake me up in the most peaceful ways. She'd rub my back or play with my hair, and she always spoke in a whisper. I swear she was like a second mom. My actual mother was also very helpful, she just had to work all the time, that's all. Gabrielle even considered spending her birthday taking care of me, but I refused to let her do such a thing. She ended up coming over anyway though. I got a little pissed, but we ended up go shopping and getting our nails done. Mother payed for everything.
Gabrielle became my absolute best friend. I regretted every negative thing I ever thought about her before. Gabrielle kept her promise about coming by every single day. She had a whole 8 months streak. Until...
The week I turned 8 months was one of the worst weeks of my life, and probably Gabrielle's. That Monday, she didn't show up. I seemed really worried at first, but thought maybe she was going to text me at any moment... but she never did. I tried calling and texting multiple times but never got a response. I tried taking my mind off of it, and Father decided to take the day off to take care of me. He did the exact same things that Gabrielle was to do: feed me, rub my sore muscles, cuddle me to sleep, etc. He was able to do an even better job too, probably because he's been through this before already, obviously.
     The next day comes, but Gabrielle still never contacts me about where she is and if she's alright. It was early when I woke up, so I went to take a shower and see if maybe she'd be here by the time I get out. Well, she still didn't. However, Mother calls me to come downstairs, and her tone sounding panicky made it seem urgent, so I ran down still in my robe. When I get down there, I see both Mother and Father standing in front of the TV watching what looks like the news. I walk up next to them and listen to the news reporter.
     "...17 year old, Gabrielle Hernandez was reported missing yesterday morning in the small neighborhood of Ridgemend Lane here in Denver. Witnesses say they saw the young girl fleeing from her home late Sunday night after hearing screams and breaking glass from inside the home. She was last seen wearing an all black oversized hoodie and sweatpants with black converse. We'll have more information on this case later on today..."

Oh... my... god.