And We Fall

1 • We Fall

"Stars can't shine without darkness."
***

We walked down the street, still just kids without a care. We didn't understand, we had no clue what living meant. Those three friends, I thought they were all I needed.

My cousin, Catherine, was the only person in my family my age. She had meant the world, she was a joker that was protective of us and her family. When we were that age, she had this beautiful honey hair that reached the middle of her back. I still don't know how she managed all that. A big girly girl then, shocking for how she was later.

I had known Thalia since I was five. She was sweet and very shy. She was always doodling when we were little and was the best drawer in first grade. One day, when we were 10, they found out she had Leukemia. When you're little, albeit ten isn't that young. She went to school if she could, and we visited her as much as we could, but that could only go so far.

Zander had the biggest connection to her. Thalia was his adopted sister, taken in after they had decided to start fostering kids. And he was my best friend. For as long as I could remember, we had always, always been best friends. We practically lived at each other's houses. Looking back on it, I think our parents thought we'd end up dating each other, but that's awkward when you're like siblings. Zander was this confident kid who was protective of me and Thalia, he knew Cath could handle herself. He's sarcastic and a very aesthetically pleasing person, even when we were teens.

When Thalia got sick, it was like a knife to the heart. I didn't understand. I never thought I'd ever need to. And then it crumbled.

Thalia passed when we were thirteen. Cath had drifted from us, off with the popular girls, so Zander and I had found our own friends to replace her. We were at lunch, joking with our friends, wondering how Thalia was doing when a voice went over the intercom.

"Zander Drew and Natalea Andersen, please report to the office." My name had never been called over the intercom before. We shot a glance to each other, both of our faces confused. Our friends joked, the typical "ooh, you're in trouble!"

"We'll be right back, don't worry," I reassured. We walked from the cafeteria to the office. Zander's mom stood there, tears welling in her eyes.

"We won't... we won't be able to go to the fair this year," Mrs. Drew fought back tears as she said that. Our faces fell, we had saved up money for the fair and we were really excited to go. We wanted to win Thalia a prize so she'd have something new in her room at the hospital.

"Why can't we?" Zander asked, confused.

"Thalia..." Mrs. Drew couldn't finish her words.

"No, Lia can't be, can she...?" I knew Zander was going to cry. I heard it in his voice, saw it in the strained look on his face.

Mrs. Drew only nodded, and it was only then that I understood how death felt. It was cold, lifeless, a gray wash of emotion coming over me. It was nothing but pain. She was gone. She was gone. She was gone. Thalia was lost to something that should have never happened to her.

We weren't right back. Only I could get to the table. I felt dead, but no tears would come now. I had to stay strong for my friends, had to stay strong for everyone. I was the cheerful person, and I didn't want them to know any different.

"What did you get in trouble for?" Tristan, one of my few friends, grinned.

"We're not in trouble," I answered, my voice monotone.

"Then what happened?" another friend, Charlotte asked.

"Lia died." Lia died, she was gone. She was one of my best friends. She's Zander's sister.

"Who's that?" Tristan asked.

"No one you would know. We've got to go." I grabbed our lunch boxes and walked as calmly as I could back to the office. The secretary handed me and Zander sign out sheets for the rest of the day. I grabbed mine, but he didn't reach for his. I took it and went from class to class, getting the assignments before grabbing our bags from the lockers and heading back to the office once again. My face hurt, keeping it straight, but I wouldn't cry in this school.

We left, and I was numb, just a bunch of incoherent mumblings.