Black Magic (Kellic)

18

The following day was one day before the prom. Vic had said that he'd think about it, but I secretly think that he still really didn't want to go. I respect his decision, and I understand where he's coming from. However, I think that Jaime would have wanted him to have a little bit of fun instead of staying sad forever.

I plan to tell him that, too. Maybe it's insensitive, but I think that I've shown enough sympathy over the last twenty-four hours. Besides, I really, really want to take him to prom with me. I think that he'd like it. 

He'd been released from the hospital today, but was still not going to school because of how dramatically the even affected him both physically and mentally. So I had to go and visit him. (At the hospital I'd asked for his number, so I could ask for his address now, since I'd forgotten it.) 

When I arrived at Vic's house, he opened the door and looked at me for a solid minute before saying anything. "Can I help you?" He finally asked.

"Jaime would have wanted you to go. He would have wanted you to be happy. You're not forgetting him, and he knows that too, wherever he may be," I told him.

"Are you asking for yourself, or for my own best interest?"

"Your own best interest. And this time, I really mean that. He's gone, but that doesn't mean that you have to die with him." I could see the look of disappointment in Vic's eyes. I know that he expected me to be more understanding, but I really wanted to try at this.

"Come in," He sighed, stepping aside for me to enter. "I already told you that I didn't want a romantic relationship, and that I wasn't going to that prom. Why do you keep trying to change my mind?"

"I changed mine about religion. That was a huge part of me for years."

"That's different."

"How?"

"Because you're strong! I'm too weak to let things go." He looked down at his feet.

"You confuse heartache and pain with weakness. Missing your best friend, not wanting to let yourself be in a one-sided relationship again, those aren't signs of weakness."

"Tell that to the rest of the world."

"Listen to me, right now there's an almost-fifteen-year-old teenager sitting at her desk, writing on a laptop because that's what she wants to do with her life. I'll bet you that she's writing a story right now about a character that thinks that they're weak. But you know what? She's gonna make another character tell them that they're so strong. It's the truth. No one in this world is weak, we just have different definitions of strength."

He reached out with his hand, unsure of himself. Slowly, his hand found mine. At first it was a light touch, but then it was a desperate cling. "If I go, you don't leave me alone for a goddamn second, do you understand?" The aggression in his tone seemed so out of place. 

"Y-yes. Yes, I understand."

"Great, now I have to find something to wear."