I guess it was just one of those days again... You know, when you lose the will to live. These days have been quite frequent since we were forced into exile here. They’ll arrive soon, all my friends will be with me soon enough... Right? I started becoming somewhat lifeless and depressed also since we moved into the greenhouse. Mum has taken me to the doctors here on a few occasions because I had lost appetite and my skin had started to become paler. To her dismay, they said I was completely fine and said, “Such a big move in a person’s life and lifestyle will cause effects like this because they aren’t used to life here yet, he’ll be fine soon, don’t worry”. This all swamped my mind as I got ready to go to another day of boring Biology, painful Psychology, enraging English and ghastly Geography. Leaving the house, I walked the short route to the school. Along the way, I meet with Adam, a boy in my Biology and Psychology classes. He’s nice to talk to in order to take my mind off of the day. Adam is extremely smart, a genuine genius. I mainly like him because he shares my opinion on the teachers and of school. He wasn’t fussed about moving to the greenhouse, in fact, he actually wanted to move here. Unfortunately, back where he comes from, he’s bullied on a regular basis due to being a “nerd” and a “teacher’s pet”. If I’m honest, I felt sorry for him, so befriended him. Shame really, he’s a really nice guy actually; he’s just subject to stereotyping by the cavemen of our society.
“Hi Jake!”
“Alright?” I replied
“I’m fine, extremely tired, just spent all night teaching myself about the liver, the teachers here really don’t do it justice, it’s a truly fascinating organ”
“Mind if you teach me? I mean, teaching it to me may be able to fortify your knowledge of the subject area”
“Good thinking! Sure I will!”
“Awesome” I smiled, “You know, you should just teach us all, I mean, you’re more interesting than that baldy who teaches us... He’s such bad teacher, I didn’t even learn his name! Let alone all the other crap...”
“Mr Taylor is his name and yeah, he’s as dry as a desert...”
We laughed as we made our way into the school building. It was essentially a massive cardboard box made out of concrete. The rest of the building matched the mood of the exterior, grey and unforgiving. Adam and I parted as he went to his Physics lesson and I continued down the corridor to English. I had half a mind just to leave there and then but I decided against it because I needed an education and I knew it. To my surprise, as I entered the classroom, there stood a familiar figure talking to my teacher with papers in hand. As I walked toward them, they finished their conversation and the familiar person pointed towards the door. I was confused, but I went along with it.
“I’ve booked you the day off school, and got all the work you would’ve done today, I’ll sit down and help you with it later, I’m no teacher, but if you ask me, the way I’ve seen lessons being taught here, I might be able to teach it better”
“Why are you here?”
“I know what’s wrong with you, unlike mum, and I know you’ve been skiving school lately... So, I thought we’d have a nice day together, just you and me, to take your mind off of it all” She said, looking at me
“Does mum know about this?!”
“No she bloody well doesn’t, and if you tell her I’ll rip your throat out” Lily said, violently
“Nice to see you haven’t changed that much”
“I’m doing this because I care about you ok? You’re my little brother and it hurts me to see you like this.” she said, “Today I ask you to trust me fully, you can tell me anything you want to, I won’t pass it on to anyone, I just know how you feel...”
“Thanks sis” I replied, regretting being sarcastic towards her
“That’s not a problem”
After dropping my school stuff at home, Lily and I decided to go cycling and mountain biking around the mountain, as it would ensure no one could hear us and there we’d be completely away from the hustle of the town. I have to admit it, she was right, having the day off and going mountain biking felt good. I felt happy for the first time in a long time. The air here felt fresher than that of the town and we found a lovely spot to have a picnic. There, I opened my feelings to Lily and she sat, listened and provided support, emotionally and physically, through hugs and trying to cheer me up. She also shared her feelings with me and we sat there and huddled for a bit, comforting each other. Soon, all that was needed to be said had been said and we decided to leave. The track down was rocky and steep. Lily led the way, as she was more experienced than I and was able to pick the safest routes. I was much slower than she was because I always had a fear of not being able to stop in time. Lily had built up quite a bit of speed however and was riding the bumps trying to show off. I was impressed, I have to say. She jumped again. This time though, something wasn’t right. Lily landed funny and lost balance and control of her bike. She was going too fast she couldn’t stop and at the end of the track was a cliff. She jumped off the bike at the last minute to avoid falling off. Her momentum, however, took her over the edge and she hung onto an exposed rock for her life. The drop was at least 20 meters and I dismounted and ran to her aid. I put my hand out to help her up. Luckily, she grabbed me and was able to pull herself up, to some extent. All of a sudden the weight on my hand decreased as I lost grip due to my sweaty hands. She’d hung onto another rock as she fell. I looked down at her. She looked and me dead in the eyes.
“DON’T YOU THINK ABOUT IT LILY!”
“JAKE! I CAN’T HOLD ON MUCH LONGER AND I’M TOO HEAVY FOR YOU TO SUPPORT ME!”
“LILY NO! LET’S TRY AGAIN, I CAN DO THIS! I CAN SAVE YOU! DON’T DO THIS!”
She closed her eyes. The next second she was falling. I watched as my sibling fell towards the stream at the bottom. It felt like slow motion. I shouted. There was nothing I could do. THUD! I looked down in horror as the stream turned red with my sister’s blood.
