TEN KIDS

What happened after her death?

When Caleb disappeared, there were only Jake and I left. We became different. We were only teenagers when we lost 9 of our dearest friends. Brooks was killed by his own crush Stella that is in jail now. Kayla died because of suicide, Mike that overdosed because he couldn't handle the loss of his loved one. George was killed by a vampire even though everyone still thinks it was an animal attack. Veronica also overdosed on purpose because she was rapped and her life fell apart. And here is my best friend since kindergarten Amy Forbes. She died in an accident when she fell through the hall on a wooden stick.

After I lost her, I was very quiet. I was mentally unstable. I was really depressed and tried to take my life a few times but Jake saved me. I was in a mental hospital for 6 months. Jake was visiting me every day and he was my rock to get through this. I never knew how it felt when you emotionally and physically brake. This feeling when you feel empty and you don't have any intentions to do anything. You just want to stay in bed and sleep. We were past 20 already and we had to work to pay the bills so every day I had to force myself out of bed to get to work. This was happening for 2 years.

Jake and I were still together he helped me get through this rough time and we met some new friends. But w decided that we shouldn't tell them about our past. We did move out of that little town after Amy died because there were just too many memories. We went closer to my mother's place and got married. I knew that Amy wanted us to. We were probably living there for 10 years already when our past came back to us.

I'm 35 now and 5 years ago something unexpected happened. Jake and I just woke up from our afternoon nap after work and went downstairs to make some food. Our kids were at my mother's house because they loved it there. Our oldest girl is 10 and her name is Amy and our youngest baby boy is 5 and his name is Brooks. We were preparing dinner for us when someone knocked on the door. I went to the front door and opened it when I gasped from shock.

"Caleb?" I asked. He was drunk and dirty. His hair was messy. He had his hands in the pockets and he was looking down.

"What are you taking so long babe?" Jake asked me while he was walking towards the door. He looked at Caleb and was surprised. We really didn't expect to see him again.

"Hi, Chloe, Jake. Can I please come in?" He said he was struggling.

"Yeah, sure come on in," I replied. He sat down on the chair in the kitchen when Jake started asking him questions.

"Is that really you man? Where were you brother I was texting and calling you? It's been more than 10 years." He sat down next to Caleb.

"Well, yeah. I was lost. I still feel like it and I... I need help guys. I don't want to be like that anymore." I hugged him without thinking. I missed him he was my best friends' boyfriend.

"We will help you but first go upstairs and shower. Jake will bring you some clothes and when you finish come back downstairs and we will talk" I said he nodded and went upstairs.

"What just happened?" Jake asked me.

"I don't know babe. We will find out soon." I replied and kissed him on a cheek. I went back into the kitchen and finished the dinner. We ate in silence and when we finished Caleb started talking.

"You know guys. I loved her I still do and she was my life. I was thinking to propose to her in a year or two. I know it sounds crazy but I wanted to spend my life with her. When she died a hole started to grow in me. I felt numb. That night after her funeral I sat in my car and just drove. I was driving for a while when I started to shake. I was losing my mind. I wasn't paying any attention to the road when I almost crashed my car into the street light. That night I almost died. But sometimes I wonder. Would it be easier if I did? After that, I went to Chicago and started partying like crazy. There were a lot of girls around me but I never had anything with any of them. I fell into a depression soon. I was living on the streets. One day I had enough and almost ended my life but there was this woman that saved my life. she took me to her house and for the past 8 years, I was living with her. I started working and I was making money for both of us. She died last February and left me with a house and some money. My parents called me a few times but I never answered them. Then last month I quit my job and went looking for you guys. I wanted to know how you guys are. I'm sorry that I showed up drunk but I just couldn't gather the courage to do it. So, yeah here I am now." When he finished, I hugged him, I knew that he must be struggling but I didn't know about proposing to Amy and how serious he was with her.

"Thank you for sharing that. Sorry guys but I need a drink you guys want some?" I asked them and they both nodded. I took a bottle of whiskey out and three glasses and put them on the table. We started drinking and after a few glasses, we were drunk. We were talking about good old days when Amy was alive and how fun it was when we were living together.

Jake and I agreed to let Caleb stay with us for a while. We told him about our two kids Amy and Brooks and his eyes watered when he heard how we named our beautiful little girl. he was really looking forward to meeting both of them.

A month later Caleb was working and giving the money for the bills. He was now uncle Caleb to our kids and they adored him. He was telling them stories about Amy and they were so happy when he was around. We were all feeling better. Thank god he came back to us.

One day I was with my daughter Amy in Walmart when we came across Amy's mother. She still hated me for what happened to her daughter. She ignored me when she walked past me.

"Don't you think it's been long enough? It's been 10 years Larissa" I yelled at her. She turned around very frustrated and almost ran up to me.

"I forgive you. I just needed to blame someone for what happened to my baby girl." She hugged me. "And who is that little girl right here?" She asked.

"Hi, I am Amy. Chloe's daughter." She replied with a smile. Larissa almost collapsed.

"You named your daughter after my daughter? After your best friend?" She asked me.

"Yeah, I did. I had to. Amy was my life and now her spirit and name live on with my little baby girl." I smiled at my daughter and looked at Larissa. She hugged me and thanked me.

And now we are here 5 years later and almost more than 20 years later after everything happened. Amazing how you can make a little mistake and your life changes forever. Sometimes I still think how would our lives be if we didn't play that Ouija Board at the cemetery. My oldest girl Amy is now 15 and Brooks my baby boy is 10 now. Soon I will have to tell them about our past and it's going to be hard but I can do this. Caleb is still living with us because we didn't want him away, we wanted him as close as possible. Jake changed a bit back to his old self when he was with Caleb all the time and I just love it. Life is kind of back to normal.