To Be Different; Part One

To Be Different; Chapter 9

Chapter 9

I felt like I had just come out of a trance. Not sure what was going on, not entirely sure where I was; until I saw Kory standing there, watching me. His eyes, like Ari's were filled with interest and wondering. He catches my blue eyes, smiles a small smile and then frowns. He walks towards me and when he's close he stops, as if he's expecting me to run away and maybe I will, but I don't.

He reaches out for me, his hand open waiting for me to place mine in his, like Ari had wanted me to do but I couldn't. I hesitate, thinking about whether or not I should take his hand but instead of listening to my brain which was telling me no, I listened to my heart and was allowing myself to trust him.

I placed my hand in his and something inside me came together, something so strong I felt weak and once more I was reliving my memories again.

~

I walked to the front of the school, wondering where Ari was. He hadn't met me in front of my house like he usually did, but it made sense though. I had gotten into a fight with him and we hadn't made up. The past couple of nights I had looked from my window into his but he was never there. Sometimes though, when the window shades were closed and there was a light in his room, I'd see his silhouette at his desk, writing.

The air was cold, sending a cool breeze back and forth which passed my hair and allowed it to flow around me. Today I was going to say sorry to him, today I was going to make it all up to him. Today was the day that everything was going to change.

Almost to the school, I looked at my watch. It read seven 'o' clock. School doesn't start til seven forty-five but Ari and I always came before everyone else, to give us time to catch up and talk without being bothered.

The school insight I walked towards the back, where Ari and I had a secret meeting spot we found when we were freshmen. It was hidden behind the trees, but in view of the school and still on the grounds so we couldn't be in trouble for being off of them. Hearing a rustle of the leaves, I knew Ari was there.

I put a smile on my face and ran to our spot, hoping he'd be there, hoping he'd accept my apology. I called out, "Ari!" there was no answer. "Ari you there?" another rustle of the leaves. "Ari! Come out! I'm sorry!"

Still no answer, I kept running and finally there, I saw nothing. I sighed in frustration and yelled in anger. "Damn it, Ari." I sat below the tree, hearing the rustle of the leaves again, I reached for my bag and searched through it, trying to find my phone to text him, retrieving it, I sent Ari a text.

Where are you? Was what I sent him, seeing the little box say "message sent" made me feel a little bit better until I heard my ring tone. Back when we first got our phones, Ari and I had gotten them at the same time, we chose our ring tone. They'd been the same since middle school, never changing because it was our song.

Belle of the Boulevard started to play but I couldn't find the source. The sound was neither far or near, close to me or away so I started to listen for it, as I walked aimlessly around the area, finally coming to a stop.

The song ended and I looked up, there he was. Hanging there, clothes pressed and cleaned almost as if he wanted to look nice for the day of his death. I clenched my fist and felt the tears come to my eyes as I realized the mistake Ari had made. My legs buckled and I fell to my knees crying.

I wanted to scream and ask Ari why he did it, but it's not like he'd answer. The tree he was hung by was the weeping willow; the tree Ari loved the most. The noose that had him by the neck was made up of a blanket, one that was familiar to me and I realized that it was the one I had given him for his tenth Christmas.