Rough Road Ahead (In Progress)

Chapter 7

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            There was something about seeing death, something about seeing the world continue to move on as if it had never happened that causes you to think of your own mortality. I was always a happy-go-lucky girl, never really thinking about the end and how un-poetic it was. Books and movies would lead you to believe that death was beautiful, that it was somehow the ultimate sacrifice and that after you were gone the world seemed a little duller. The sun would shine a little less bright. As if somehow your death would cause the world to end. This wasn't true, however. Death would only cause your own world to come crashing down and I realized at that moment that after I was gone, no one would think of me again. I would be dust in the wind and nothing more. Dirt on a small back road to be driven across and stepped on until the end of time.

            "Come on, Iris, talk to me." Sam said. He was sitting on the one side of the bunk bed and I was sitting on the other, a good three feet between us. He had been talking to me for the last thirty minutes, but I wasn't hearing him.

             I was just listening to my own heart beat in my chest, wondering when the last thump would sound. "Iris." He said again. I could tell his temper was getting the better of him. "Iris, come on, I know you can hear me!" He raised his voice, then I felt his hand wrap around my arm roughly causing me to snap back into consciousness.

            "Get off of me!" I screamed, flailing my arm. Where he had grabbed me was a red mark that had left more of a bruise than falling onto the hard washroom floor or flying face first into the TV had.

            "What's wrong with you?" Sam yelled and I could see the anger behind his eyes. The fire bellowing out of him, the steam filling the air around us, making it harder to breath. Taking a deep breath I calmed myself. I was mad. I was mad about everything and I was taking it out on Sam, but I couldn't stop myself. I wanted him to go away.

            "Just leave, Sam. Leave." I said with my arms wrapped around my legs.

            He bit his lip, rolling his eyes and standing up, smashing his hand down on the bed, causing me to jump, "whatever." He said grinding his teeth, "you're so fucking unpredictable!" He slammed the door behind him as he walked out, causing it to rebound off the frame and creak back open a second later.

            I had maybe three minutes of quiet before Max walked in, a strange look on his face. "Are you ok?" He asked, forcing a smile.

            "Yeah, I'm fine." I lied, looking up from my spot. He walked over, sitting down beside me and causing the bed to slant inward with his weight.

            He looked down at his hands, "it's so creepy." He said, and I saw from his face that he was feeling the same way I was.

            "Yeah." I said, "It sure was." I kept my eyes locked on his.

            "Can I sleep with you tonight?" He asked his eyes wide. At that moment he looked so young, like a baby crying out for attention.

            Smiling I felt like I had to be strong for him, "of course." I said, peeling back the sheets and pulling them over the both of us.

            "Thank you, Iris." He yawned, curling into me with his hands wrapped around his DS.

            "No problem, Max." I said, wrapping my hand around the pillow and closing my eyes.

            Laying there with my eyes closed drifting in and out of sleep I felt someone's eyes on me, staring me down. Cracking one open I saw through my thick lashes a figure standing in the door, at first it looked like Sam, but on a second glance I realized he was much too tall. Brad. He was standing there, his arms over his chest, watching me. After a few minutes he entered the room, climbing the ladder and laying on the top bunk, feeling the bed move with each breath he took, and soon it rocked me to sleep.