Chapter Twenty-Four: The Last Day

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  • Dedicated to My big sister Alexandrea
                                    

It was finally the last day. A couple more minutes and summer break was headed our way. I got home late last night and Auntie was real worried. But once I told her that we had to go to the hospital to see Randy, she understood. I didn't say anything about Scott screaming at me and telling me he never wants to see me again. I just told her that I thought it wasn't going to work out. When I told her that Randy died, she broke down into tears. She told me since Ricky and Danny don't have anyone to set up a funeral, that she was going to do it.  Auntie treated everyone in the gang like they were one of her own. She told me she would go down to the hospital to sort things out while I went to school.

When I walked to school with Lucy and Danny today, nobody mentioned the night before. We all just talked about what we should do over summer. We were trying to get back to normal. It would take a while, but we were off to a good start. I couldn't sleep last night. I couldn't stop worrying about Jack. I hope he was okay...

The bell finally rang and everyone let out screams of joy. I gathered my stuff and walked out of the classroom to head over to the gate where the gang was going to meet. People were rushing past me towards the school's exits. Everyone was glad to be free.

"Hey Blondie," I heard a voice call out. I looked around but there were so many people I couldn't tell who said it. I just shrugged and continued walking. I got to the school's courtyard and felt a hand tap my shoulder. I turned around to see Scott. I froze. I was absolutely terrified that he was going to start screaming at me again. He shifted on his feet and said,

"Before I go... I just wanted to say, that I'm real sorry about Randy. I heard that he died last night..." Suddenly my fear turned to anger and  I snapped,

"No you're not... You're not sorry and we don't need your pity! I thought you said you never wanted to speak to me or see me again. You made that quite clear!" He just shook his head and said,

"This is the last time you'll see me. Me and my family are moving away in the summer... But I really am sorry about Randy." Before I could say anything else, he turned and walked away. 

"Everything okay?" I heard a familiar voice ask. I turned around to see Danny.

"Ya... Everything is fine." We then headed over to the gate where we would meet the others. Jimmy and Mike were standing there waiting.

"Hey guys," I said.

"Hey Blondie, hey Danny," Mike said as we approached.

"Have any of you guys heard from Jack by any chance?" I asked. They all shook their heads. I was starting to get real worried.

"Maybe we should go look for him. He was not looking good at all last night. I hope he's okay," Jimmy mumbled. I nodded in agreement.

"I think we should go look for him too."

"Where should we start?" Danny asked. Ricky and Lucy joined us and asked if we've seen Jack. But we all shook our heads.

"Let's start looking for Jack at the Red Rock. Anytime he has a rough day he just gets hammered over there," I suggested.

"Okay, we'll go in my car." Mike said as he headed out the gate. We all followed. Once we were all in the car we headed over to the Red Rock.

"So it's finally summer guys!" Jimmy announced. "You know what that means!" We all smiled.

"Staying out all night, going to movies, relaxing at the lake..." Mike started. I loved summer. I would hang out with the gang everyday and something new would always happen.

"I hope Jack's okay..." Ricky murmured. We all got quiet. Where was he? 

We pulled into the driveway to the Red Rock and piled out of the car. We looked around and didn't see his 57' Chevy. We decided to go in and ask if anyone's seen him. Jimmy walked up to the bar and called out,

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