Arabella Academy: Perfectly Imperfect

55. Broken Promises

The saddest thing about betrayal is that it never comes from your enemies

~Anonymous

***

“We are gathered here today to celebrate a life well-lived.”

The priest's voice echoed across the chapel. There weren’t many people in attendance. Marcus and his usual group of four were there, Stewart was present too and a few of Jane's workmates were in attendance. Everyone was donned in black outfits as they sat in silence, looking sadly at the huge portrait of Jane place at the front of the chapel. Marcus was wearing dark sunglasses, a successful attempt at concealing his sore red eyes. Stewart had done the same too, although he took them off occasionally to wipe off his tears.

The time for speeches came up and everyone who was closely related to Jane was given a chance to say something. Some tried to keep it professional, while others like Mrs Fletcher caused tantrums at the service. Stewart kept his brief and simple, but it was evident that he was struggling to hold back his emotions. Marcus' turn to say his speech finally arrived. There was an uncomfortable moment of silence as everyone quietly watched Marcus drag himself to the podium, his body void of any happiness. He held the microphone silently for a long time, contemplating what to say.

“There was this one time I got lost at the carnival,” he began, capturing everyone's attention. “I was young then. My mom had gone to get me some snacks as I was waiting at the roller coaster section for her. I got distracted by a teddy bear mascot and had decided to follow it, disobeying my mom's orders to remain where I was. She obviously came back and noticed that I was gone, and started freaking out, thinking I was lost. She literally searched for me for almost two hours, while I was somewhere else; lost, scared and afraid. When she found me, she hugged me so tight that I was certain my bones were literally breaking. She then turned to me and said: ‘Marcus, I'm so sorry for leaving you.’ I looked at her and said: ‘Mom, promise never to leave me?’ She eyed me earnestly and said: ‘I promise I will never ever leave you alone again in this world.”

Marcus turned and faced the portrait of her mother. He suddenly broke into tears, taking off his glasses to reveal a shattered boy.

“You made a promise mother,” he addressed the portrait. “You said you wouldn't leave me.”

Marcus kept quiet to allow himself to regain his composure. He took his eyes back to the portrait and stared at it for a long time.

“I just need one thing from you mom; keep your promise, please,” he glanced at it one more time before making his way back to the seat. No one clapped. They were all too engrossed in their cries to actually do anything. Marcus' speech had moved them, and there wasn't any other way that the grief could go beyond that point.

Jeff and Michelle roamed about the church compound together. The memorial had been concluded, and now everyone was outside the church, giving Marcus their condolences. Stewart had been called immediately after the service and he took off, saying he had some business matters to attend to. Marcus was thus left vulnerable and alone, his only source of help being his three other friends: Jeff, Michelle and Luis. Marcus and Jeff had only known Michelle and Luis for a short while, but the bond that had been created in that short period was a strong one.

“You think Marcus will be okay?” Michelle wondered aloud. Jeff pondered over the matter.

“I actually don’t know,” he said, and then kept quiet for a short while.

“There was this girl before we joined junior high. Marcus had gone bonkers all over her, and was always trying to catch her attention. However, when he finally revealed his true feelings for the girl she rejected him. Marcus was so heartbroken. For the next couple of days, he cut himself off from people and managed to hide the pain he was feeling, but he was hurting so bad. Took him a whole month to recover, but it cost him a lot,” he revealed.

“Oh my God!” Michelle exclaimed.

“Yeah, it's a sad story indeed,” Jeff replied.

“No not that,” she pointed to something at a distance. “That!”

Behold! Not far away from the church was the sight of Stewart and none other than Rocco. They had hidden themselves from plain sight, but not too good enough to escape Michelle's keen eyes. The two teens stared in utmost horror as they watched their friend's father talk with a cold-blooded murderer. Their eyes finally went back to each other and they realised what they had to do, however painful it was. They then made a run for it, going to save their best friend before he got himself from the frying pan into the fire.

“Hope you are fine Marcus,” Luis greeted Marcus, who nodded sadly in return. Luis brought out a packet of cookies and handed it to him.

“My abuelita sends these to you. She says that they always fix the heart, however broken it is,” he spoke.

Marcus was about to thank him when they were interrupted by Jeff and Michelle's sudden arrival. They were panting, and seemed like whatever they were about to say was almost like their lives depended on it.

“You need to come and see this,” Jeff spoke in a hurry. He decided that time for explanations weren’t there when Marcus and Luis gave him a quizzical look. Grabbing their hands, he dragged them to the spot where he and Michelle were and showed them what they had seen.

Luis' cookies weren’t supposed to suffer that fate. Marcus had dropped them in shock, unable to comprehend what was happening. He tried figuring out what was happening, but his mind had come to a complete halt. He watched in utmost atrocity as what had remained of his world came crashing down, merging with the earlier pieces. He wanted to cry and tell himself that maybe he was hallucinating, but instead found himself rubbing his eyes to confirm his sight.

“Marcus, are you okay?” Jeff asked his friend slowly, careful not to trigger him into doing something he might regret.

Marcus expression suddenly went from shocked to angry, and one could almost see the flames dancing in his eyes, ready to consume anyone who had the courage to stand in his way. Before the other three knew it, Marcus had taken off in the opposite direction and taken off from the church grounds, going the other way. His friends tried following him but he was simply too fast for them, and they ended up losing him just outside the church gate.

“Where is he going now?” Michelle asked, desperation on her face. Jeff sadly shook his head.

“I don't know. I simply don't know.”