The next morning, all of us ate breakfast in the dining room. The environment around us felt awkward. No one made eye contact with one another, or hardly touched their food. That was until my father placed his fork down on the table and crossed his hands then looked up at Amber and me.
"Girls," He started. "I'm aware that both of you heard Shayla, and I have an argument last night. I would like to apologize to you both for that. All in all, I just want people to know everything is okay. Shayla And I are fine."
I looked at Amber, seeing her attempt to hide her smile. She drank some orange juice so that her father wouldn't see her lips. The situation was funny, and I found my father to be more stupid than he seemed. Shayla just sat there, smiling that she got away with it. I didn't know how she got away with it or why my dad would let this slide, but he apparently didn't care.
After breakfast, I got ready for school. I wasn't looking forward to the day at all but when I got there things were pretty quiet. As long as I didn't make eye contact with anyone, no one seemed to notice me. As I was putting things away in my locker, Rose slid next to me and smiled.
"So are we still on for this contest?" Rose asked. "Because I hope you practiced."
I stood there and looked at her for a second. It's funny how people ignored you until they needed something from you. Rose hadn't talked to me much. After I grabbed my math book, I closed my locker door. "Oh, you still want to do it?" I asked.
"I do," she said.
There was a long silence between us before she placed a hand on my shoulder. "Let's talk at lunch, okay?"
"Alright," I replied back. I wasn't looking forward to it, but I knew we had to get this straightened out.
...
Rose and I sat at the table next to some kid that buried his face in a Stephen King's novel. We sat as far away from him as we could since the other seats around were taken. It was pretty cold outside, so no one was in a playful mood. The students sat next to with each other, clutching towards another from the severe cold winds.
"Things have been crazy," Rose buttoned up her leather jacket. Shockingly, she was wearing all black today. Black jeans, black sweater, and a black bow tie. Her colors usually expressed her, but today she was just dark and gloomy. "My grandma is sick. Like really sick. I just want to see her before...you know. I hate to think about it."
"I understand," I replied back.
"I know you do," she bobbed her head up and down. "I never lost someone important to me. Well, friends yes but family." She lifted her head and looked me in the eyes. "I don't know what I'd do."
I took a deep breath. "It's...hard," I hesitated. "For me, death never feels real until you bury them in the dirt. That's the final goodbye to me. When my mom died, my mind couldn't process it all the way. I did know one thing though, my life was going to change forever."
"Did it?" She asked me.
I looked at the table and placed my hands flat down. "It did."
All of a sudden she placed her thumb over my hand. "I'm so sorry, Oliva. I didn't mean for you to think that I was avoiding you. When you said those things, it just seemed weird," Rose looked away. "Who knows? Maybe it's just that effect when you lose someone. You see things that are not there."
To me, it was seeing things that I shouldn't have seen, but I kept that thought to myself. "It's okay. I'm just glad we could have worked it out."
Rose smiled at me, but her smile soon disappeared when a harsh cold wind hit the both of us. I wasn't wearing a Winter jacket, so my body shivered for the longest. When Rose took notice, she moved closer to me and placed her arms around me. "If everyone else can do it, so can we," she laughed.
I laughed too. She then sat up and rubbed her hands together. "Can I sneak over today?"
"In the cold?" I asked.
"Maybe if I come late at night, we can practice in your room," she said. "We really need to practice."
I had this weird feeling about her coming over. I didn't know what it was, but I my gut was saying no. "Sure you can," I said.
Idiot.
"Great!" The bell rung, indicating that it was time for the next class. I got up, but Rose grabbed my hands. "I'll bring over the uniforms. We need them. You look out for me and text me if anything changes, okay?"
"Okay," I said.
...
After school ended, I waited in the grass for someone to pick me up. As I was listening to music, someone sat next to me. I smiled when I saw Robert sitting there grinning back at me. "Hey!" I said.
"Hey! How are you doing?" He asked me.
"Better today," I said. "No one called me crazy or insane."
He nodded his head. "So, I've heard. No drama for you, great. Megan is getting all of the hate," he sighed.
I raised an eyebrow. "Why are did you do that?"
"Do what?" He asked.
"Sigh. You sound disappointed."
He lowered his head and picked at the grass. "She reminds me of myself," he said. "I wasn't a jerk or anything, but I know what it feels like to be hated."
"Yeah," I agreed. "I do too."
"You should be friends with her."
"What!" I turned my head so fast that it cracked.
"I'm serious," he stopped smiling. "No more suicides in this school. She's already into drugs. There's only a matter of time. Her friends don't even hang out with her anymore and-"
Someone's car horn distracted us. It was Shayla. I got up and waved goodbye to Robert. "No more suicides," he said before disappearing.
As I walked towards the car, I laughed at the thought of ever becoming friends with Megan. That was impossible, and something that was never going to happen. Ever.