Austin stood in front of the gates of her school. She didn't want to go in.
It had been a month since Anthony's death, and the pain was raw and fresh. The picture of her brother lying dead, blood gushing out of his forehead in the dining room made a few tears drip down her cheeks, but she straightened and stepped inside.
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Everyone was staring.
"...did you hear?"
"...yeah, I can't believe it..."
"...her mother killed her brother?"
"...I'm really going to miss Anthony, he was always so cheerful..."
A few even came up to her, pity in their eyes. When the tenth person, a boy with sparkling blue eyes, walked towards her to express his condolences, she snapped.
"Just leave me alone! Don't you get it? I don't need your fucking pity!" she screamed, and slapped the shocked boy on his face.
Then she ran outside. Curling up under a tree, she switched on her phone and plugged in her earphones to listen to the one person - other than Tony - whose voice always calmed her down.
She pressed the play button and listened to Xavier Redd singing the intro of her favorite song.
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