Outcast (a lashton fanfiction)

this is a goodbye

Luke's p.o.v.

I remember coming to school confused. Everyone kept giving me sympathetic looks instead of the normal judgment filled ones. Some girls had red rimmed eyes. The halls were quiet. I gave Michael this, what-is-happening-here, look and he just shrugged, as confused as I was.

We walked to first period together, I could feel many pairs of eyes falling on us as we went. A girl I only knew from being in my 4th period came and hugged me. I patted her back timidly. She wiped tears off her cheeks, shook her head and walked off.

I scrunched my face up in confusion and looked around the hall. Michael silently grabbed my arm, turned and walked me out of the hall into the first period classroom. We had 10 minutes before we needed to be here, the room was empty aside from us and the teacher. Michael had tears in his eyes.

"Michael what is it?" I asked quietly.

"Nothing!" He said too quickly. "Uh, I just didn't want everyone to keep looking at us."

Michael had seen Bella's locker. The one decorated with a few pictures of her and fake candles with fake flame, small bears and flowers piled on the ground under it. The locker I had missed on my way in. He knew what it meant. A boy had died in a car accident at our middle school and they had done the same thing for him, they held an assembly and had the counselor talk to his close friends, just like they would be doing to me later on.

When first period started the teachers voice was soft. He told us we were just watching videos today, he was trying to be gentle on the group of kids who had lost a classmate.

But then the morning announcements started.

Everyone held their breathe.

Most looked at me. Her only best friend.

They didn't know that I had no clue.

"I know the school is shaken this morning." The booming voice came through the speaker. "We ask everyone to close their eyes and join us in a moment of silence, to honor and remember the life of Bella Oakley." The well known sound of the speaker cutting out rang loudly. I say frozen.

I remember not breathing. I was holding my breath. Michael turned and looked at me, crying.

"Luke?" He asked quietly. When I didn't answer he tried to hug me. I stood up and almost flipped the desk over in the process.

"No." I croaked out, quietly. I backed away from him. Everyone's eyes on me, wondering what I was going to do next. Michael stood and tried to comfort me again.

"No!" I said a little louder. "No! No! No!" I said, my voice raising with each word. "No!" I yelled as loud as I could. "She isn't gone! This is a joke! A mean joke! It has to be. She isn't gone. I know she isn't." I screamed at no one specifically.

"Mr. Hemmings." The teacher tried to come near me. "You need to calm down."

I backed up and tripped over my feet. Everyone was watching me. Some girls had started crying. Some guys kept their eyes adverted.

"SHE ISN'T GONE." I shouted and backed up some more.

The announcements had started again, telling us there would be a candle light ceremony for her tonight in front of the school, and the counselors door was open for anyone who needed help. They kept on about if you knew someone who could be potentially hurting themselves or planning to, to please tell the front office as to avoid another tragedy on our campus.

But I wasn't listening at the time. All I could hear was my blood rushing in my ears. My mind was moving a hundred miles a minute. Michael was sobbing in front of me. I did the only thing I could think to do. I pulled him to my chest and we sat in the corner of the class room. Both sobbing, our bodies shaking. The class looked afraid.