Evergreen

Chapter 15

The flower that blooms in adversity is the most rare and beautiful of all – Fa Zhou in Disney's Mulan

*

It was just as Mrs Jackson had promised. Freddy had left Miss Leverett's English class, never to return, and now Everett could breathe easy. Jade was ecstatic about it.

"You know, I didn't realise how brilliant this would be," she said with a smile, "it's not just you; it's the whole classroom. It's changed for the better."

"Yeah, it's great!" said Everett, though deep down, he felt a small sense of emptiness. Was it that he missed being bullied? No, that would be insane. It was just new and strange, that was all. He'd be used to it soon enough.

Days went by; the strange feeling remained like a tree planted firmly in the ground. Every time he stepped into the classroom, his mind whirled with wild mash-ups of incensed song lyrics and miserable memories and thoughts about Freddy changing his mind about staying away. He couldn't quite believe that his nemesis would suddenly relinquish all his presence in Everett's life – surely it was too good to be true. Perhaps this was the calm before the storm, a time when he could delude himself into thinking it was over. But didn't he deserve to be bullied? He didn't know anymore.

Rain pelted down hard outside the classroom, soaking into the soil where thirsty roots awaited water. The showers were truly taking hold this February - perhaps the April showers had come two months early. Did trees revel in the rain? Or did they bear with it because they had to? But that was a silly thought. Trees don't love or hate things. They just exist.

Everett spent the lesson in silence.

*

"Do you want to go for a walk, sweetie?" asked Mum. "You've been cooped up in your room for a while."

Everett took out an earphone to listen. The truth was, he rather liked being in his room. It was comfy, cosy, cool – everything a good bedroom should be. Even better, he had plane posters all over the walls. The outside world didn't have that luxury.

"Okay, coming," he said, throwing his phone on his bed and lacing up his black and white Nike look-alikes. He picked up his favourite grey hoodie, and he was set to go.

After setting off in the car, Everett realised he'd forgotten his phone. But it wasn't worth asking Mum to go back for it – she'd give him a lecture about how 'kids these days should try to use their creativity'. Personally, he thought that memes and social media were a testament to the crazy creativity of 'kids these days'.

"Can we put some music on?" said Everett.

"Okay. I have a new CD of zemirot that everyone's saying is superb." Everett rolled his eyes. Of course Mum would put on religious music. So he opted to stare out the window and watch shop fronts go whizzing by, giving glimpses of baked bread and colourful clothes and all sorts of fascinating things that he didn't have time to fully take in.

At last, the car stopped in the car park of an unfamiliar forest. A few Land Rovers with outdoorsy-looking owners were also there. They had backpacks, sunhats, hiking boots, the lot. Everett and his Mum, on the other hand, had trainers and trouser pockets. It was clear whose terrain this was.

Nevertheless, Everett and Mum rolled with it. Mum strolled into the forest with purpose like she knew where she was going (which was only half a lie) and Everett followed. Mum smiled.

"Did you know that Japanese people do forest bathing? So they'll go into a forest, like we're doing, and just lie there. Isn't that cool?"

"Yeah," said Everett vaguely, staring into the distance.

Mum slowed her pace. "What's up with you today? You seem a little spaced out."

"Just tired-"

"You've been spaced out ever since what happened in English-"

"But I can't be doing badly: Freddy's not bullying me anymore. It's all over and now I'm fine! Honest!"

Mum walked along a bit more then said: "You know, it takes time for these things to heal. It doesn't just go away overnight." Everett carried on walking. "See these trees? Some of them are evergreen and some of them are not. Some stay green forever but most trees lose their leaves in autumn. Yet they are both beautiful trees, don't you think?"

Everett nodded. Lots of people he knew seemed to be like evergreen trees – always successful, always well – and he'd aspired to be like them for as long as he could remember. He'd longed for a life where everything was wonderful all the time, made up of only the best moments and the best memories. But the truth was, he suspected that most people, if not all people, were more like deciduous trees – at times with leaves in full bloom, at times with leaves falling all around them. The important thing was that the leaves always grew again.

Everett thought that maybe some people looked like their lives were evergreen on the outside when on the inside, their lives were a mess. Like Jade. She was the epitome of an excellent student - (almost) 100% attendance record, A* grades across the board, pleasing to all of her teachers - yet she had gone through one of the toughest times of any of the students at Ferndale High School when she lost her mum to an unexpected stroke three years ago. He still remembered that Monday when Jade came into school the day after her mum's passing.

"Hey, Jade, are you alright?" he asked, seeing trails of tear stains on her cheeks.

"Uh-huh," she said in the least convincing tone, hiding her face behind her locker. Everett leaned his head so he could see her and was shocked to find her sobbing her heart out over a tissue.

"Jade, what's going on?" he said gently, putting an arm around her shoulder and hoping she'd stop sobbing (for it was rather loud, and other pupils were starting to stare).

"I - I can't believe it - it can't be true," she stuttered, blowing her nose into a tissue that was now very wet. Everett offered her another from his pocket, which she accepted gratefully.

"You're going to have to explain yourself, Jade - what can't be true?"

When she finally faced him, he noticed that her face looked sullen and devoid of happiness. He knew right away that this was serious. "Well - um - this will be a shock - my mum -"

A sob caught in her throat, preventing her from elaborating. By now, Marty and Hassan had come over, concerned looks on their usually cheerful faces.

"What's wrong, Jade?" said Marty, kneeling on her left as Hassan knelt on her right.

She took a deep breath. "My mum - is dead."

She went into a fit of sobs again as her friends looked at each other, wide-eyed with shock. Jade's mum wasn't the type of person to get ill. She ate a healthy diet, went for long runs and only ever drank alcohol on special occasions. All the friends could do was hug Jade, even if a hug couldn't bring her mum back. Then they helped Jade to get up off the floor and Marty gave her his usual prescription of bunking off.

"No, I'm not bunking off," said Jade with determination, "I've got a Biology test today."

"But, Jade, you need time to process this," said Hassan.

"I can process it and still do my studies."

"No, we're going to the medical room. They should be able to get you some counselling or something."

Jade sighed. Looking after herself seemed like the smartest thing to do at the moment. And that was how she got given a free year of counselling. There were times when she admitted to Everett that she felt like her life wasn't worth living without her mum in it, and a few occasions where she was too low to complete her homework, but she managed to recover from her depression in just over a year.

Perhaps Everett could overcome anxiety just like Jade had overcome depression.