Stranded

Chapter Eighteen

*It's not over yet...*

Chapter Eighteen: 

“Okay Adri, we’re ready,” Stephan said in his sophisticated English accent. He sat down on Jade’s pink bed.

Right now, me, Trevor, Jade, Matt, and Stephan are sitting in Jade’s room with the door closed because the smell of death is overwhelming us down there. We took the time to start telling each other our dark stories of the past. Jade was still sniffling, trying very hard not to cry, considering the love of her life just got killed a few hours ago, and these stories are upsetting her.

So far, only Matt has told us his story. He already told me his story, so I already knew.

“I think Jade should go. Her story is probably the shortest,” I breathed, my heart beating in my chest like a drumbeat. I wasn’t prepared to retell my story. It’s one of the only things that truly frightened me. Not even those aliens out there scare me.

“O-okay,” She sniffed, grabbing a tissue. She wiped away her boogers and her tears. She took a deep, shaky breath before speaking.

“I’ve always felt...alone. My family was never really home. But when they were home, they kind of ignored me. Or they just talked about how perfect I have to be. Or they gave me whatever I wanted, even if I didn’t want it. I only want them to say no. But they always say yes. I knew I had the looks and stuff, so I pretended to be a dumb blonde. I was all flirty, all sl*tty, all these things to try to fit the role of a perfect child, or just the popular girl. I wanted to be a perfect cheerleader with no problems to the public eye. I actually became a…sl*t…just to feel…not alone, you know? Like someone actually wanted to be with me. I knew they only wanted me for my body, but it was way better than being constantly ignored,” She spoke, her voice wavering. Tears welled up in her eyes that she quickly wiped away. Stephan patted her head soothingly. Don’t ask me why he just pet her like a dog. I don’t even know why.

I nodded, trying to seem as if I understood and that I’ll always be there for her.

“I spent all of my school years like that. Then, I took cooking classes. That was the only place where I felt like I could be myself. There was only about ten kids in the class, and we all got along. They all accepted me. Of course, we never talked outside of class. Too many questions would be asked. Ms. James was nice. Me and her always joked around, and she said that I was the best out of all her classes. She was my only true friend. She knew my problems. I told my parents and sister about my cooking—I even brought home stuff I cooked for them to try. But they refused to even look at it and told me I should be working to be a model.” She spat the word ‘model’ bitterly. Clearly, she didn’t want to be one.

“Of course, I just nodded my head and walked away because I wanted to please them. I built up a wall. I was rude to everyone I talked to. Even Ms. James and my classmates. They figured out it was just protection, so they didn’t really care. I was glad that everyone cowered away when I walked by. I wanted to be known as the rude b*tch. I didn’t want to get close to anyone just to have them abandon me in the end. So, I’m sorry. I’m sorry I was rude to you Adri. I’m sorry I was rude to you Matt. I’m sorry that I was rude to Stephan, Trevor, and—” She paused, tears welling up in her eyes. It looked like it pained her to say the next name. “—I’m really sorry for being rude to Joe. That was over the top.”

“It’s okay, Jade. It was only protection. But now you know, I’ll never leave you. I promise. We all promise, right guys?” I said. They all agreed almost immediately. But she didn’t look happy. In fact, she looked sadder and a little bit angry.

“That’s what Justin said. And you know what he did? He took a bullet for me! He left me when he knew I couldn’t possibly take care of a ch—just to save my worthless life! He shouldn’t have done that! What if you get killed?! What if Stephan gets killed? What if Matt gets killed?! What if Trevor gets killed?! What if you all get killed, huh?! I’ll be left alone! You would have broken your promise!” She screamed loudly and broke down wailing. I was instantly by her side, rubbing her back. I wonder what she was going to say before she rephrased her sentence?

“We won’t get killed. I promise, Jade,” I squeezed her tight.

“Please don’t leave me,” She whispered weakly.

“I promise I won’t,” I squeezed my eyes shut. I promise. I won’t let anymore of us die. Not until we’re old enough. We will live until we can’t live anymore. These aliens won’t get in the way of it. Nothing will.

“I want to tell my story next,” Stephan announced suddenly. I nodded while still looking at Jade, trying to calm her down.

“Okay,” Trevor nodded, only because Jade was crying too hard to say anything, I was too busy soothing her, and Matt looked like he was deep in thought.

“I used to have a wife...and a son,” Stephan declared. All of our heads slowly looked up at him.

“What...what happened to them?” Trevor dared to ask.

“Her father didn’t want her to be with me. We got married secretly. Everything was tough for her. Her father didn’t approve of me. Her name was Bradi. She was beautiful. She had long, silky, brown hair. She had the sweetest brown eyes you could ever think of. Her father would abuse her. He hated me so much, that whenever I just walked past his house, he shot at me with a gun. He never got me. Her mother would also hit her. They all bullied her. And when they found out she was having a baby, they were really angry. But they didn’t hurt her. They wanted to. But they didn’t.” He closed his eyes remembering the times. My eyes widened slightly. He had to go through that just to be with the one he loved?

I reached my hand for Trevor’s. It seemed like he was thinking the same thing, because our hands met halfway there. We looked at each other, me having a little bit of tears in my eyes at the thought of him getting killed by my father just to be with me. He squeezed my hand gently. I could tell by the look he was giving me, he was saying that he would do just the same for me. I shook my head. He wouldn’t do that. That wouldn’t be worth it.

I’m not worth it.

He moved closer to me, and wrapped his arm around my waist. Jade’s head was in my lap as I played with her hair. It soothes her. “It would be worth it,” Trevor whispered in my ear, then kissed my cheek.

“I would do the same for you,” I whispered back quickly, seeing as Stephan was about to talk again.

“She gave birth to him. His name was Mason. He was a beautiful baby. She had to sneak out of her house in order for me to see him. But one day, she made the mistake of leaving the baby alone for her mother to babysit him while she was gone. Her mother threw Mason down the stairs. She banged him against the wall. She even cut him with a knife. But Bradi came home right when he mother was about to…k-kill him,” He gulped, embracing himself for the next part. Tears welled up in his eyes as he looked off into the distance, pursing his lips to keep from crying. I heard Jade gasp, and then she started crying a little.

I’ve never seen a grown man cry. I wish I could’ve met Bradi and Mason. They sound like amazing people. And I bet Mason would’ve been the cutest thing ever.

“Her father came in. I was there at the time, by the way.  He came in. He said that  I wasn’t allowed to see the baby again. He said that Bradi needed to leave his house, and never come back. He told us that he was going to keep Mason. He said that Brandi was too young to raise a child at 20 years old. Brandi was sad. We were both sad. We knew that they would hurt or kill Mason. And we had no way out of it because her father held a gun to all of our heads, except for her mother’s head.” He looked down at the ground, clenching his fists.

“I wish I could’ve done something. I wish she didn’t do what she did.” He whispered.  He wiped a stray tear that fell down his face away.”She grabbed the gun out of his hand and she shot Mason. She killed him.” He put his head in my hands as everyone gasped.

Brandi killed her own son? Why? Why would she do tha—

“Then she killed herself after telling me she loves me.” He interrupted my thought as my eyes bulged out of their sockets. She killed herself?!

“I think she did it because she was stuck. She couldn’t escape this situation. It was either her or the baby. And she chose both. I ran out of the house as quick as I could. I couldn’t stand seeing her dead. It would’ve made me want to be with her. And I knew I shouldn’t do that. So I drank. I went to every bar I could and got wasted just to forget. It worked. But only for a little while. Everyday, I think of what I could’ve done to make her decide to do something else. I can’t believe I just let her shoot herself. She grabbed the gun so quick , it all happened so fast. Sometimes at night, I can still hear the gunshots.” Stephan looked off into the distance.

I am speechless. I don’t know how to react to this.

“Oh my God,” Jade blurted, and started to sob violently. “Why?! Why does this happen?! I hate this!” She gasped for air, seeming angry while crying. She quickly got up, and started violently pulling her hair.

“Oh my gosh! Jade! Stop!” I shrieked as I got up to make her stop. She quickly took a step away from me, and rammed her head into the wall. Everyone’s eyes widened.

“Jade! Stop! What are you doing to yourself?!” Stephan ran over to her.

“I want to die! This world is so cruel! I want to meet Bradi and Mason. I want to be with Justin again! I can’t do this on my own! I can’t do it without him being there holding my hand right there next to me! Let me kill myself!” She screamed, and grabbed her lamp. What is she talking about? What can’t she do without him right next to her?

“Jade quit it,” Trevor said, and grabbed her arms. He took the lamp from her hands, and threw it behind him. Thankfully, Matt caught it.

“Let me go! I want to kill myself!” She tried to pry herself out of his grip.

“Jade, relax. You don’t want to do that. You’re just unhappy. Sit down, relax, and just calm down. Everything will be okay.” Trevor told her calmly. She reluctantly followed his instructions as we sat back down. She laid back down on my lap, and I continued to braid her hair. Matt rested his head on Jade’s leg, I was leaning against Trevor, Trevor was holding me, and Stephan was sprawled out on the floor.

“I’ll go,” I whispered after a long silence.

I explained to them everything that I told Jade, and Trevor’s grip tightened around me. Jade was covering her ears because she heard it before, and was scared that she’d start crying again.

I talked about me and Jake, and finished talking about when Tyson, Jake’s brother, burned me with a cigarette. “Jake was angry with his brother. He couldn’t believe Tyson did that. So…” I trailed off, biting my lip. At the time, I didn’t care what Jake did. I was actually happy. I even kicked his head. I hate myself for it. I don’t care what Tyson did. I hate myself for doing that to him. He was under the use of drugs. He didn’t know what he was doing.

Neither did Jake, a small voice in the back of my head reminded. He was drunk and angry.

“Jake killed him,” I rushed out with my eyes closed. I heard Jade gasp. “He killed his own brother for doing that to me. And he told me to kick his head when he was on the ground. So I did. I can’t believe myself,” I shook my head, putting my head in my hands.

“Don’t ever f*cking touch her again!” Jake screamed in Tyson’s face, almost falling even though he was standing. I cowered behind him.

“Says who, little bro?” Tyson snarled.

“Me!”

“Oh? And what are you going to do about it, little bro? Hm?” Tyson smirked, putting his elbow on one of his buddies shoulders. His two friends cracked their knuckles, thinking there was going to be a fight going on. Annie got up from the table. She ran to me, and we both hugged each other, crying in each other’s arms.

“Are you okay?” I whispered to her.

“Are you okay?” She whispered back. We both nodded at the same time.

“Are you sure? It looked like it really—AH!” She grabbed my arm as we both ducked down screaming. We heard a gunshot.

“We need to get out of here!” She told me. I nodded quickly.

“Jake, we need to—” I paused, my eyes widening at the gun in his hands, Tyson on the floor in a bloody mess…not breathing.

“Adri,” He whispered, and went to hug me. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him.

“If anyone else touches you, I’ll kill them. I don’t care if it’s the president. I’ll kill them. And spank their kneecaps. Kick his head for good measure,” Jake kissed my temple, and pushed me towards Tyson. I was angry. He gave me permanent scars. He gave me pain. He almost...raped me. This was self defence.

I kicked his head repeatedly. “Take that, you jerk! That’s what happens when you mess with Adri, Jake, and Annie!” I screeched. “Never ever touch my best friend again,” I kicked his head once more, then walked away.

“I love you, Jake,” I smiled at him, then leaned in to kiss him, but I heard sirens. All of our eyes widened, and I remembered something. More like someone.

“Nick! Jake, do you know where he is?!” I asked frantically.

“Who…? Your cousin?” He slurred.

“No, her dildo. Of course her cousin!” Annie smacked Jake upside the head. He winced while almost falling over.

“I last saw him with…uh…Spiderman?” He scratched the back of his head. I widened my eyes in disbelief, and grabbed his arm. Annie literally kicked his butt in anger, and we dragged him to the living room to get out of here. I’m not about to get arrested.

I’m not about to let my cousin get arrested, either.

“Excuse me, have you seen—ow! Rude!” I tried asking some person that was frantically looking around before he pushed past me.

“Maybe we’ll find him when we get out of here! The cops are here, and he’s likely to have gotten out of here. You know how he is with the law,” Annie suggested. I nodded. She meant that he gets arrested way too much. He can’t afford to get arrested again.

We ran out the front door, and it was hectic. It was like war. A whole bunch of people were shooting at the cops, and the cops were shooting back.

I pulled Jake to side of the house, following Annie. “Okay, we need to find Nick, and get out of here. You’re no help, so only me and Adri will go. You sit here, and do not move a muscle ‘till we come back. Unless someone comes up to you and tries to kill you. Get out of here, if so. Just go to the cafe. Take care, idiot,” Annie smirked at Jake, then we ran off, holding each other’s hand to not lose each other.

“Get on the ground!” Annie shouted over the loud gunshots. We dropped to the ground to avoid the bullets. I looked around, searching through all the dead bodies and trying to see past all the bullets and people flying everywhere to find Nick.

“There he is!” Annie cried out suddenly, and pointed ahead of her.  I spotted Nick leaning against the side of the house, smoking a cig and watching the scene in front of him. He looked like he was looking for something.

“Let’s go!” I shouted. We started crawling towards him, crawling around the either dead or passed out bodies while ducking every now and then to avoid a bullet.

We finally reached him.

“Nick! We have to go!” I tugged on his arm. His eyes widened, ignoring me.

“No!” He shouted, and pushed me aside. He took out a gun I never knew he had from his pocket, and started shooting, rage fueling his blue eyes that were just like mine.

“What are you doing, Nick?!” I shrieked angrily as he started to shoot.

“Nick! You’re going to get hurt!” Annie kicked his ankle.

He suddenly turned to us. His eyes were glassy, and he tucked in his lips, biting down on them to keep from…crying? “They f*cking shot Macy,” He stated, and turned back to shoot at some police officer. The one that killed Macy, I’m guessing.

Me and Annie glanced at each other with shock and sadness. They shot Macy. Macy got shot. Macy got killed. Macy is dead.

Macy is Nick’s girlfriend. The love of his life. He was going to ask her to marry him.

“Then kill that officer and let’s go! I don’t want you to be next,” I whispered the last part to myself.

“Don’t you see that’s what I’m f*cking trying to do, Adri? I don’t want to go.” He said before turning back around, and shooting at the cop.

“Please! Nick! You’re going to get hur—AH! NO!” I screamed as he fell down on the ground.

Lifeless.

I fell to the the ground, and hugged him. I didn’t care that I was getting blood all over my clothes. It was his blood, so it’s okay.

“Adri, we need to go now! That cop’s going to shoot us next!” Annie tugged my arm, and dragged me back over to Jake.

“No! Please! No, no, no, no!” I thrashed around, tears running down my face. “I love you Nick! You were the best cousin ever!” I shouted, even though he wouldn’t know. He’s gone.

“Come on,” Annie huffed as she continued to drag me.

We finally made it back with Jake. “Adri! Annie! You guys are okay! Oh my gosh, guys, I saw a whole bunch of little flies knocking people down!”

“They’re bullets, idiot,” Annie rolled her eyes. I giggled. He’s so cute.

And drunk.

I wish my conscious would just shut up for one moment.

We went behind the house and into the woods where we parked. Jake was smart. He always parked in places where no one could find you when we went to parties, just in case something like this happened.

We jumped in the car and sped off. Me and Jake cried on each other’s shoulders while Annie drove. Jake was crying because we wouldn’t let him catch the ladybug on the floor and he was remembering that he killed his brother, and I was crying because my cousin just got killed.

“You went to that party?!” Trevor asked as soon as I finished telling them what happened. I nodded shamefully.

“Why? Adri, you could’ve gotten killed.” He said, trying to hold in his anger.

“How was I supposed to know?!”

“Oh my, you went to that party?! That party was on the news and everything!” Stephan exclaimed.

“I know,” I whispered.

“I stopped by that party. It was a huge party. Me and my ‘friends’ were going to crash it. I didn’t know it was a huge drug lord’s party. Whoa. But then we left early because it got too chaotic. I never saw you there,” Matt announced.

“I went to that party. I saw you there, Matt. Remember?” Jade said. My eyes widened. It turns out a lot more people than I thought went to that party.

“Oh yeah, huh?”

“I went too,” Trevor spoke lowly, his eyes hardening.

“Then you can’t yell at me for going there!” I punched his shoulder. I knew something happened to him over there, but I’m not going to ask because I don’t want him to get all angry and stuff.

“Are you okay, Trevor?” Stephan asked, noticing the way his eyes hardened.

“I’ll tell you all later. Now continue with your story, Adri,”

“Life went on after that party. It was on the news, cops told everyone to stay in their houses because of all the drug dealers and gangsters or whatever were going around killing people, and that’s not true. But whatever. Jake felt so guilty. He would always get drunk to forget that he killed his brother. He…he was the drug lord now. Then about three months after the whole party thing…” I trailed off biting my lip in remembrance.

“No, Annie! You owe me lots of money! I am not getting you out of jail!” I laughed, trying to seem angry with her.

“Well, I’m broke! I don’t wanna be stuck here while you go around partying in your hotels!” Annie punched the ground in fake anger.

“Well, it’s your fault. Now pay up, or else!” I held my hand out waiting for my colorful money dollars that aren’t worth anything in real life. We were playing Monopoly.

“No!” Annie flipped the board over in frustration. I started laughing so hard.

“It’s not funny.” She crossed her arms and pouted. She looked like an angry two year old. “Let’s do something else,”

“Okay, but you’re cleaning this up.” I grinned.

“Ugh! Why?! I always clean!” She punched the ground again. She’s so violent.

“Because you always knock over the board! Let’s play Life while Jake’s not here. He always wins,” I said. Me and Annie were at Jake’s house. He left a few hours ago and told us he would be back later.

“Ooh! Could we make the little blue and pink people go around the city and just play with them like they’re living a life, and not the actual game?” Annie asked.

“Yeah!” I chirped happily.

We set up the board, and laid flat on our stomachs. We giggled as we picked up the tiny blue and pink people and put them in a green car.

“Mother, what is this place? I can’t believe we’re here! How did plastic humans become alive?” Annie spoke in a little boy’s voice.

“Oh! It’s our new home. Well, plastic humans became alive because me and your father are God. We hugged, and Daddy got preggers. So now we’re in the world! Now children, don’t hug each other or else you’ll become preggers. Do you understand?” I spoke in my best over enthusiastic mom voice.

“Yes Mother!” Me and Annie said at the same time. We started giggling.

We kept playing with the little blue and pink people when suddenly we heard a door slam open. Me and Annie jumped up and dove behind the couch on instinct. We grabbed a gun from under the couch. “Adri,” We heard someone slur.

Jake.

“Goodness, Jake you had us f*cking scared to death,” I huffed, hopping over the couch, Annie following my actions after putting away the guns.

“F*ck,” He slurred, a cheeky grin that was kind of malicious forming on his face. He instantly had me wrapped in his arms. I was surprised. Why the heck is he hugging me? Not that I mind...it was just so...random.

He pressed his lips to mine and started kissing me. I tasted the alcohol in his mouth. This kiss doesn’t feel right. “Ew, ew, ew, ew!” Annie screeched playfully. “No PDA while I’m around please,”

“Shut the h*ll up b*tch and leave if you don’t wanna see anything.” Jake slurred angrily, breaking the kiss. Me and Annie’s eyes widened. He never ever spoke like that to either of us. I squirmed in his arms, but he wouldn’t let go.

“Someone’s snappy,” Annie muttered before spinning on her heel to leave, but what Jake said next had us both freeze.

“You better watch your attitude you stupid b*tch or I’ll kill you,”

I tried even harder to get out of his arms. This wasn’t Jake. This wasn’t the sweet boy who I knew and loved. This was someone else. Someone else…

He was drunk. Every time he’s super drunk, he’s not himself. He killed his own brother when he was drunk, he threatened Annie when he was drunk. He needs to sleep it off before something really bad happens.

The only reason we took it seriously because he’s now a drug lord. Drug lords don’t ever play when they’re drunk. Even before that, he’s was second in line to become a gang leader, of course he wouldn’t make a threat that meant nothing. He never threatens anyone unless he means it.

“Babe, I think you should go rest. Come on,” I spoke softly. I grabbed his hand and went upstairs to his bedroom. “Just lay down and go to sleep. See you in the morning. Love you,” I kissed his cheek before turning around, but he grabbed my hand and made me turn around and head into his chest. He stumbled, but gained his composure.

“No. Let’s do… something. It’s about time you lose your virg-jay-jay. I love you, you love me, I’ll never let you go so let’s do it. Please? I love you so much,” He pleaded, but his words were slurred. His eyes were red. My eyes widened. He never asked about it or pressured me. He said I can do it when I want.

“N-no, Jake, I’m not ready,” I shook my hand, pulling my hand out of his grip, but he held on.

Tight.

I winced, “You’re hurting me.”

“B*tch, we’re going to have sexy time whether you like it or not,” He slurred. He grabbed my hips, and threw me onto his bed, falling on me in the process he was so drunk.

“Please, I’m not ready!”

“Well I’m f*cking tired of waiting and I’m f*cking horny so now we’re going to!” He shouted. He had a hard time getting off of me, but when he did, he took off his shirt getting lost and not able to take it off. But then he finally figured out how to take it off.

“Well I’m not ready! Please! If you really loved me, you wouldn’t force me to do this!” I shouted back, wiping away my tears. I got up, but he threw me back down.

“You f*cking stay. I will f*ck you, and you will enjoy it. Do you understand me?” He spoke lowly, his eyes dark with lust and anger. He had his hand on my chest, pinning me down. I nodded weakly, tears streaming down my face.

He took a blade from his back pocket, and cut open my shirt. I felt so exposed. I was scared. I was insecure. I wanted nothing more than to be out of his presence. He was dangerous when drunk. I wanted help. I desperately hoped Annie was going to come back up and help me.

He licked his lips before cutting off my bra. He put the knife in his back pocket. He started to squeeze my breast, and I really wanted to go. I was scared. I don’t want to lose it like this.

“Please. Please. When I’m ready and you’re not drunk.” I whispered, hoping he would listen. His head snapped up to meet my eyes.

He was angry.

“I’m going to f*ck you. You better f*cking shut up or else I will make it hurt so bad that you’ll wish you would’ve died! Would you rather I f*ck Annie? I bet you don’t! You know what? How about we get Annie in here. Torture you even more for even thinking that I wouldn’t get my way.” He snarled, then roughly pulled down my pants. He fell down from the force he was using, but he got back up with great difficulty. I was full on sobbing now.

“Annie! Get in here!” He slurred. Shortly enough, Annie appeared in the doorway. When she saw me, her eyes widened and she glared at Jake.

“What the h*ll are you doing to her, Jake?! Leave her the f*ck alone! You’re drunk!” She screamed. She raised her hand to slap him, but he caught her hand and twisted it. Her face scrunched up in pain.

“You’re going to have s*x with us. And you’re going to like it, b*tch.” He growled in her ear angrily before throwing her onto me, falling on the floor in the process.

“Adri,” She choked out before rolling off of me. “Jake this is considered rape, you f*cking c*nt!”

“Shut the f*ck up! It’s not because you both are going to like it! Now suck my d*ck Annie, or suck Adri’s pus—”

“No! You’re disgusting. I’m not doing either. Neither is Adri. We’re leavin—” He cut her off by slapping her like a girl slapping a girl that just stole her boyfriend.

“Annie!”

“Don’t talk to me that way, b*tch!” He got out his knife again and violently cut off her pants and her shirt. He cut off her bra and her underwear, almost stabbing her in the leg in the process due to her thrashing around and him being unbalanced.

“Help! Help us!” I screamed as I got up, but he threw me down.

“Shut the f*ck up, no one’s gonna hear you.” He laughed maliciously. He took of his pants and...well everything. My eyes widened. No. This can’t be happening.

He violently grabbed Annie’s legs and spread them wide. He jammed his thing into her, making her scream out in pain.

“That’s hurts! Please stop!” Annie screamed.

“Stop!” I screamed and started punching him as hard as I could. He slapped me across the face, and I was stunned. He slapped me. I thought he loved me.

We need to get out of here.

He took himself out of Annie, and grabbed her by the hair. He used his knife to cut off my pants and underwear. I felt a painful burning sensation on my side. I grabbed the left side of my waist and my leg in pain. I took my hand away and saw blood.

“I’m bleeding! You cut me, you f*cking d*ck!” I screeched, tears streaming down my face. He shrugged like it didn’t matter.

“I hate you!” I screamed. He turned to me with anger in his eyes.

“F*ck you, b*tch!” He shouted and raised his hand to hit me, but someone walked in, saving us.

“And that’s how I got this scar,” I finished quietly, lifting up my shirt a little to show them the scar.

“When did that happen?” Jade asked softly.

“A…a year ago.” I answered.

“Should’ve killed him,” I heard Trevor mutter to himself. I’m so confused as to how he knew him. But I guess we’ll find out later.

“I’m going to finish—”

“No, Adri. You don’t have to.” Stephan interrupted me. I shook my head. I want to. I need to be relieved.

“He was really sorry for what he did to us when he was sober. And being the lovesick idiot I am, I forgave him. I don’t know how or why Annie did, but she did. Plus, he was drunk. He had no idea what he was doing. After that night, we all decided to stop. We decided to stop everything and just clean up. Forget everything. Stop the drugs, stop the drinking, stop the violence, just start fresh. It wasn’t easy, but we got through it. Well, except for Jake. It was really hard for him to get through it, and he’s still not through it. A gang leader can’t just randomly quit without a fight. Then he cheated on me with Annie of all people. She acted like it was supposed to happen and didn’t care that I wasn’t her friend anymore, and Jake kept saying she tricked him and stuff. My parents never knew anything. Just my brother. But he didn’t know much. So that’s all.”

Everyone sat in silence, digesting the information. Trevor stiffened beside me. “You don’t need them. You have someone better.” Jade finally spoke, breaking the uncomfortable silence.

“Yes, you do,” Trevor mumbled and kissed my temple. I nodded.

“You wanna go now?” I asked softly. He nodded before taking a deep breath and sighing deeply.

“I don’t know how to start this. How did you all start this? Uh…well…I had a sister and I have a brother. My sister’s dead because of Adri’s ex boyfri—” A loud crashing noise from downstairs interrupted Trevor’s story. Everyone stood up alarmingly.

We heard another crash. “Get the guns, get the guns!” Stephan hissed sounding panicked.

Me and Trevor  looked under Jade’s bed and gave two guns to each person, including ourselves. We heard a laser shoot, and we instantly knew what was going on.

The aliens finally found us.

“We need to get out of here without going downstairs. Jade, do you have another way to get out of here without going downstairs?” I asked quickly.

“No.” She replied, her voice wavering. She was crying again. Okay, I know she’s emotional, but why is she being more emotional than usual? “But I have a few mattresses in one of my closets and rope.” She added.

“It’ll do,” Trevor said. Trevor, Stephan, and Matt picked up Jade’s mattresses that was on her bed already, and threw them out of her patio. They weren’t exactly perfectly aligned, but it was good enough.

They went to her closet and brought out five more mattresses. They threw each one down at a time, and soon it was pretty tall and we could get out without almost killing ourselves.

“Ladies first,” Matt said, and I rolled my eyes. We all grabbed a hammer and shot at the metal gate that keeps people from falling off the patio and took it off so it was easier.

I grabbed Jade’s hand preparing to jump off with her. She was eyeing the mattresses carefully, and her hand flew to her stomach. She looked like she was going to puke. “You okay, Jade?” I asked her. She shook her head as tears welled up in her eyes.

“I...I need to be really careful,” She whispered, never taking her eyes off the mattresses.

“Yes, Jade, I know. Come on,” I tugged on her hand a little bit.

“You don’t understand.” She shook her head, backing up a little bit.

“Yes I do, now come on!”

She shook her head.

“If I fall off, I’ll make sure you land. Now come on!” I jumped, taking her down with me. My stomach did flips as we landed on the mattresses safely, my heart racing.

Jade was breathing heavily still clutching her stomach. She looked like she was about to start crying again. “It’s okay, we made it,”

“Halfway!”

We felt another force crash onto the mattress making us bounce up. It was Matt with the rope. “Matt we could’ve fell off because of your fat butt!” I playfully slapped his arm. He rolled his eyes with a grin.

“Whatever. My a*s is sexy,” He started twerking in my face, and I slapped his butt as hard I could to make him stop while laughing.

“Ouchies.” He rubbed his butt. Soon, Trevor jumped off the patio making us all bounce up again.

“We gotta hurry, guys,” Trevor said, and he threw the rope down. What? We can’t just jump off eight mattresses. If you haven’t noticed, her mattresses are really thick for some reason.

“Go first, Jade,” I told her. She grabbed the rope and made her way down. Then I went. Then Stephan jumped down and went.

Matt went down halfway climbing down and halfway using the rope. It was just Trevor holding the rope now.

Trevor let go of the rope and stood up. He did a front flip off of the mattresses and did a forward roll when he landed on the floor.

Well then.

“Show off,” I muttered, crossing my arms.

“Only for you, babe, only for you.” He grinned, wrapping his arm around my shoulders. I shrugged off his arm.

“Where are we gonna go?” I asked.

“Let’s go to Matt’s house?” Stephan asked.

“Why not yours?”

“Because it’s all the way in Los Angeles,” Stephan deadpanned.

“Oh yeah…” Matt gave him a cheeky grin.

“Let’s just go to my house!” I threw my hands up in the air.

“No! If it gets messed up it’s yo—”

“Adri watch out!”

Next thing I know, I see a figure jump in front of me and then it instantly fell down. I looked up and saw an alien with his laser gun thing pointed at me. It looked like it was rebooting.

I looked down and saw a bloody Matt.

Matt.

Matt?

Matt?!

MATT!

“Matt!” I shrieked. Stephan and Trevor rushed over to him and started dragging him to the front of the house where our stolen cars were.

“Oh my gosh, Adri, he took the bullet for you!” Jade cried while we ran after them ducking every so often from the shots of the aliens.

“I know!” I was on the verge of crying. Why would he do that?! Is he stupid?!

“Open the door!” Stephan screamed. I opened the back door and they threw Matt in there. I got in the backseat with him and so did Jade while Trevor and Stephan sat in the front. We started to drive away.

“Matt, you idiot! Why would you do that?!” I hissed, taking off my jacket and putting it on his arm where he got shot.

“I already told you before. Because I love you. Plus, I have nothing to live for anymore,” He smiled weakly, his voice strained.

“Yes you do, Matt! Idiot!” I furiously wiped away my tears. I can’t believe this is happening.

“No I don’t. But I’m okay with this. This is what I’ve wanted for so long.”

“No, Matt. This was such an idiot move. This is a permanent solution to a temporary problem! I don’t even know what your problem is! Your family’s gone and the whole world is probably never going to come back! You broke the promise!” I punched the car seat because I was so upset by him doing this.

“I know it’s permanent. And I’m okay with that. My problem is that you can’t love me back and the whole world is coming back. I don’t want to deal with them. But what’s done is done, Adri.” His voice was getting more and more strained. He was getting weaker by the minute.

“What are you talking about?” Jade asked quietly. She was crying.

“Look out the window,” He lifted his hand to point out the window, but he was too weak and it fell.

We looked out the window and saw the huge aircraft I saw when everyone left. I gasped. They’re back. Mark’s back. Dad’s back. Mom’s back.

Jake’s back, my mind told me. Why? Why did I have to think of him when I have someone better? Why can’t I just forget about his stupid face for once?!

Jade’s eyes dilated greatly. Oh my gosh, how is it even possible to let your eyes widen that much? “They’re back,” She whispered.

“And we’re going to see them,” Trevor said and next thing you know we made a sharp turn almost making us fall of the seat in the process. We weren’t wearing seatbelt.

Trevor sped through the streets at 152 miles per hour. Is he trying to kill us?!

“Woo!” Stephan cheered, grinning more than a cheshire cat.

I looked at Matt to see how he was doing. His eyes were closed. “Matt. Matt. Matt!” I shrieked letting my tears run freely down my cheeks.

“I’m…” He trailed off, his eyes still not opening. “Still here. It just…hurts…”

“Stay with us, okay? Just a little longer. Please,” I whispered.

He just nodded.

After what seemed like hours but it was probably just twenty minutes, we made it there. “Okay. You three stay here while me and Stephan go get help, alright?” Trevor said.

“No, I wanna go! Me and Jade will. Right? Or do you not wanna go?” I asked.

“I’ll go,”

“Stay put, and Matt, keep living,” I said and got out of the car even though he might not be able to keep that promise.

Jade grabbed my hand and we ran to the spaceship entryway as fast as we could. It was tiring considering it was so far away and Jade was having a hard time. “Come on, Jade. You can do it,” I urged.

“Wait,” She stopped, closing her eyes and clutching her stomach. She suddenly gagged and bent down, throwing up. I grabbed her hair while she threw up.

“It’s okay,” I soothed, rubbing her back.

“I can’t do this!” She screamed as soon as she finished throwing up. She broke down. “I can’t,”

“What can’t you do? It’s just running, Jade,”

“I’m not talking about that! I’m talking about Justin! I can’t…”

“What?” I was getting impatient. What can’t she do? Why is it so hard to say?

“Adrienne, I’m pregnant, okay?!” She breathed, heaving up and down. My eyes were probably as wide as saucers.

“With…his baby?” I whispered. She nodded.

“Oh Jade!” I pulled her to me and hugged the life out of her. No wonder why she’s taking everything harder than someone should. No wonder why she keeps holding and rubbing her stomach. No wonder why she’s over emotional.

But then Justin killed himself for her. She has to raise the baby alone. It all makes sense! He took the bullet for Jade and the baby!

Wow. Jade got a good man.

And now he’s gone.

“We’ll talk about this later, okay? We have to save Matt before—” I was cut off by a laser noise that I knew too well.

“Go, go!” Jade shrieked, and we bolted.

We saw people walking out of the entrance. My heart leaped. People! “Help! Help! Get the cops! Get the ambulance! We need help!” I shouted, catching their attention instantly. They were a young couple that wore matching shirts. They ran over to us.

“Oh dear! You guys are some of the seven that stayed on Earth?!” She woman asked when she reached us.

I nodded quickly. “Nevermind that. We need help. Our friend, Matt, one of the seven, is on the verge of dying. There’s robot aliens after all of us, and we’re all in danger!” I explained. They looked at me funny.

“Dear, robot aliens don’t exist,” The man chuckled.

“Yes, they do!” Jade said.

“No, honey, you must be halucin—”

“Move it, you useless d*ckheads!” I pushed them out of the way and we ran towards the entrance seeing even more people.

“Help! Help!” Me and Jade screamed at all of them. We heard a loud shriek and a laser noise. I looked behind me and saw the woman was on the floor flinching like she was having a seizure.

“Let’s just go in!” Jade told me, and pulled me inside.

“Hey! You two! Get out!” The guard man said. We ignored him.

We found the nearest security guard or whatever. “Sir, please help. Our friend is on the verge of dying, there’s alien robots trying to kill everyone, and we need help. Please,” I looked at him with pleading eyes. I was about to cry. Why won’t anyone help us?

He stared at us long and hard before speaking into his walkie talkie. “We need an ambulance and—what is that car doing?!” He was staring outside of the ship. Me and Jade turned to look out the entrance and saw Trevor and the others inside the car.

Trevor got out of the car angrily. He shot at the alien thing behind him, and walked in, Stephan trailing behind him. He pushed past people until he found us.

“We need help. Our friend is f*cking dying here and no one is trying to f*cking help us make him live. Get a f*cking ambulance you f*cktard before I do it for you,” Trevor grabbed the security guard by the shirt. The security guard nodded his head, terrified. Trevor let him go, almost making the scared man fall in the process. I forgot he didn’t really like to follow rules...

Ha, I always forget.

Stephan turned to us and hugged us both. “I’m so glad you guys are okay,”

“Jade could I tell them?”

“Let’s tell Matt first,” She said, and we ran away to the car.

I jumped in examining him. He looked so bad. “Matt?” I called softly.

“Mm?” He groaned.

“Jade’s pregnant. We’re going to get help. You’re going to live,” I told him smiling while I let the tears fall. He smiled weakly, his eyes still closed. He didn’t say anything.

“Come on, Matt. You can do it. Stay with us a little longer,” Jade urged, trying her best not to cry.

“Trying…”

“Move out the way! Excuse me! Move! Thanks! You’re in the way! Grab your child! Thank you! Hey girls, we need you to step out of the car and come with us please,”

I turned around and saw some emergency worker man. Me and Jade hesitantly got out of the car. “Hold on, Matt, okay?” I asked. He nodded.

Me and Jade went with the ambulance crew. We stepped inside the truck and saw Trevor and Stephan. “Is Matt coming into this ambulance?” I asked, sitting Trevor's lap. They shook their heads.

We sat there in silence as we drove to the hospital. I hope Matt’s okay. I want him to live. If he could see the good in life then maybe he'll be un-suicidal. But I think he should go to a mental hospital. Not because I think he’s crazy, but to be with other people who are suicidal and are experiencing things similar to him. Isn't that what a mental hospital is for? To help people get through the things they're going through?

People always have the wrong idea about mental hospitals. They think people are put in there because they're psycho and are a danger to society, but they're not. Those people are in there because they want to get help, or someone put them in there because of various reasons.

I don't even know why I'm continuing to think about this. But I guess Joe helped me realize that people inside a mental hospital are normal. Well, most of them anyway. I just want Matt to be safe. To see the pleasures in life I struggled to find. But I just found the pleasures in life. Being stranded on Earth with six other broken people helped me find the pleasures and happiness in life.

And quite frankly, I'm glad I was stranded.