Jack's POV
I was sitting in my math class when my name was calling to the office in the school speakers. I glanced around the classroom, all eyes were on me. I could hear a few people whispering to each other, trying to figure out what I did to get in trouble. The thing is, I haven't done anything and that scared me. I picked my bag up off the floor and left the room. I slowly made my way to the office, trying to buy myself enough time to make an excuse for whatever they think I did. I opened the office door and on the other side was the principle, vice principle, student counselor, and at least three policemen. One of the police men motioned for me to take a seat. I bit my lip and sat in the uncomfortable plastic chair. I looked at all their faces, they all had the same looks of sadness and worry. I was scared to ask why I was called in. Before I could muster up the words to ask one of the policemen spoke.
"Your mother was in an accident."
"Okay, so she's in the hospital?" I asked, looking at the officer.
"I'm sorry son, but your mother died on the scene," another officer spoke, sadness clear in his voice.
"How?" I asked, trying to keep my voice from cracking.
"She overdosed and crashed her car," the officer said with a frown.
I stared at them in disbelief. Tears threatened to fall, but I refused to cry. I slowly stood up and took a deep breath.
"Now she can snort and inject all the drugs in the world and not worry about a damn thing anymore," I said while walkign to the door. "I'm glad."
I pulled open the door and took off running down the hall. The bell rang and students filed out of their classes. I rubbed my eyes and pushed through the groups of people until I was outside the main entrance. I choked back a sob and took off running again. My brain was fuzzy and I wasn't sure where I was running. I need to get out, I needed to escape. Tears trailed down my face and onto my shirt. The cold air stung against my skin, but it felt good. I don't know how long I was running and I didn't really care. When I finally did stop running I found myself downtown. I was at least forty minutes from the school. I looked around, hoping for something to happen. Hoping that I would wake up on Alice's floor covered in candy wrappers. Tears started to fall more freely as I stood there. I didn't know what to do. I didn't want to be alone, but I didn't want anyone to come find me. I rubbed my nose on my sleeve and started walking down the sidewalk. I'm not exactly sure what part of downtown I was in. I didn't recognize any buildings or street names.
"You really fucked yourself now haven't you Jack," I mumbled to myself.
I continued walking until my legs couldn't carry my anymore. I managed to walk into a little bookstore and find a place to sit. I opened my backpack and saw the glow of my cell phone shining as multiple notifications popped up on the screen. I pulled it out and watched at the numbers went up one by one. There was no sign of them stopping anytime soon. I tried to power off, but the notifications prevented me from doing so. I took off the back of my phone and pulled out the battery and let it fall back into my bag. I didn't want to talk or hear from anybody, I wanted to stay lost for as long as possible. I pulled my knees up to my chest and wrapped my arms around them. My cheeks stung from all the tears I had shed while I was running. I probably looked like such a mess. I could feel people starings at me from all over the store. The clerk had watched me stumble into the store and the man in the sify section stopped browsing through books to watch me as I crumbled in a corner. I felt like a freak. I must have looked like one too. It's probably not every day a teenager stumbles into a bookstore, covered in tears and snot, out of breath and on the verge of a mental breakdown. I don't even want to imagine what these people were thinking of me. I closed my eyes and buried my face in my knees, wishing I could just disappear. I stayed in that position for several minutes, my thoughts consuming me. I thought about the last time I had ever spoken to my mom. I thought about how the last time I saw her she was passed out in the livingroom. I thought about how she used to be such a great mother before she got consumed by her addiction. I thought about how my father tried so hard to make her happy and keep her off the drugs, but then eventually gave up. I thought about the first day I came home from school to find her passed out with a syringe in her hand. I thought about how my grandparents would react to their only daughter losing her life because of her addiction. More tears fell, soaking into the knees of my torn up jeans. I thought about what I said to the police when I ran out of the school. I basically said I was glad she was gone. What kind of son would say that? I choked back a sob as I tried to hold myself together. I don't understand how she had gotten her addiction. She used to be the person that could light up a room with her smile and then she became the person that turned the happy glow into a bitter haze.
"Are you okay?" A female voice asked, breaking me out of thoughts.
"Not really," I mumbled, looking up at the tall blonde girl.
"You wanna talk about it?" She asked, sitting on the floor beside me.
"No, I just want my mom," I whispered, rubbing my eyes on my sleeve.
"Why don't you tell me where she is and we can go fing her together."
"We can't," I mumbled, holding back a sob.
"Why not?" She asked, confused.
"She's dead," I whispered with a sob.
The girl frowned and wrapped her arm around my shoulder. I buried my face back into my knees and choked back another sob. She rubbed my back, trying to soothe me in hopes I would calm down. I felt bad that this girl got herself tangled in my problems. I wouldn't be shocked if she found an excuse to leave. I don't understand why she cares I'm a total stranger. My sadness has no effect on her life so why should she care? I rubbed my eyes for probably the hunderedth time and looked at her. I noticed how her blonde hair hung just above her shoulders, green eyes filled with sadness, her breath was slow and steady. I noticed multiple things about this girl. I felt creepy for sitting and studying her, but it took my mind off of thinking about my mom and what will happen when I get home. She didn't seem to mind that I was staring at her. Maybe she knew it was distracting me. Or she was just waiting for me to speak.
"My names Jack," I said with a forced smile.
"Ellis," she responded with a soft smile.
"Why did you come over to me?"
"Because it's the right thing to do and I can't sit back and watch someone fall apart when I might be able to help."
"Thank you."
"No problem. How about we get you cleaned up? I live just around the corner," she said, giving my shoulder a light squeeze.
"Okay," I said with a small smile.
She stood up and held her hand out to me and pulled me up when I grabbed it. I followed her outside and down the street. I don't know why I agreed to go to a strangers house, but I had a feeling I could trust her. We walked in silence until we reached a townhouse. She pulled out her keys and unlocked the door. I followed her inside, shutting the door behind me and looked around. It was small, but it was comfortable. We walked down a small hallway that's wall were decorated with different kinds of art. The hallways lead to the living area where she had a small tv with a love seat in front of it and the walls were decorated with
framed notes and letters.
"I'll be right back," She said before decending down another hallway where I assume her room was.
I walked around the livingroom and read some of the notes. A few of the note were just cute little reminders with hearts and others were handwritten letters. I stopped in front of a frame that held a short letter that was partly damaged and covered in dirt. I stared at the words that were written in handwriting I could barely read.
'Ellis, I miss you more and more each day. Do not worry I am fine and I am safe. I hope that we will see each other again soon. If I do not make it home I promise I'll still be watching over you. Evan sends his love and he told me to tell you to remember to cook for once instead of eating chinese food every night. I told him that you would just roll your eyes at that and ignore it, but he insisted I told you. He misses you a lot too. When we get home we'll go to our secret place and we'll dance until our feet can no longer move. The three of us together! We'll drink until our livers shrivel up and we'll sing until our vocal cords snap. It will be just like the good old days. I hope that you're doing well. How is your job at the coffee shop? Have you stopped mixing up the sugar and salt? Ahah I can imagine the look on your face, annoyance and you probably scoffed and mumbled about how anyone can mix up salt and sugar. In all honestly I think you're the only one that's put salt in someones coffee. When I get back I would love to have a cut of that coffee. I'm sorry I have to cut this letter short, but we have a job to do. I'll write you as soon as I can.
Love Oliver'
"They're all from my older brother."
"He's a soilder?" I asked, turning to look at her.
"Yes and he was damn proud of it," she said with a sad smile.
She walked over and stood beside me. She stared at the letter I was reading and smiled. I watched as her eyes scanned each word on the paper.
"This is my favorite letter he ever sent me. It's also the last letter he sent before he died."
"I'm sorry for your loss," I said, looking from the letter to her.
"I'm sorry for your loss aswell," she said, looking at me with a sad smiled.
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Alex's POV
I glanced over at Alice after the speakers said for Jack to go to the office. Alice seemed just as confused as I was. Jack doesn't really cause much trouble apart from talking loudly in class and passing notes. There had to be another reason they were calling him into the office. A few moments passed before my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a text from Alice.
Alice 1:19pm: What do you think they're calling him in for?
Me 1:20pm: I don't know, but I'm worried. As far as I know he hasn't done anything wrong.
Alice 1:22pm: I can't think of a single thing he's done that would get him called to the office. I'm worried Alex.
Me 1:23pm: We'll go looking for him together after class and find out what's going on.
Alice 1:25pm: Okay after class we'll head towards the office.
I put my phone back in my pocket and listened to the teacher drone on and on about the civil war or some shit like that. It was my first day back and all I wanted was to get out of here and find Jack. Once the bell rang, signaling class was over Alice and I rushed out the door. We made it to the office just as Jack stepped outside the door. His eyes were red like he'd been crying. Alice tried to call out to him, but the halls were already filling up with people and Jack was running through the people. Alice told me to go to the office and find out what's happening and that she would go after him. I tried to argue, but she was already gone before I could speak. If anyone had a chance of catching him it would be her. I walked up to the office door and knocked. A few seconds later a policeman opened the door. I stared at the man in shock and in confusion. My brain scattered, trying to understand why police would be here and why they had something to do with Jack.
"What's going on? Why did Jack just run out? " I asked, looking at the adults in the room.
"Mr. Barakat's mother passed away," one of the policemen said with a frown.
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A/N
I was up untill six AM last night writing this. So please leave feedback It would mean a lot. C: It turns out I don't start school until next month so that means I'll still be able to work on new chapters. In other news I'm seeing Fall Out Boy in two days! I promised my best friend for a butt pic of Pete wentz. So excted! Who else is still flipping out about the new song? I went on and on about it on my atl fanpage.
