Life is Liz (LiL, #1)

Chapter 32: Unfairness

I'm dedicating this chapter to Breanna. Thanks for all the votes and your support on Life is Liz. And I hope you enjoy reading.

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I wish I could wake up to the fact that it was only a nightmare

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"Hey, er, I need to ask you something," I said as I entered the living room in which my parents were currently lounging on the couch. I had decided to wait until dinner to ask them about Alex. I'd had a hard time actually getting down some food that evening, because I was so anxious and nervous to finally get all the information on my childhood that I needed.

"Sure, sweetie," mom said, sitting up. Dad turned the volume down "What is it?"

I perched myself on the armrest of the couch before laying my hands in my lap. "In kindergarten, there was a boy," I started, fumbling with the ring on my index finger. "There was a boy called Alex and.." I trailed off when I saw my parents exchanging worried glances. "What?"

My dad turned to me, a soft look to his eyes. "You remember him, pumpkin?"

I nodded timidly. "Yeah, though not much. Jo said we were best friends back then, is that true?" Now, I knew that Jo wouldn't lie to me, but I wanted to be completely open minded and hear their side of the story.

"Yes, that's true, honey."

"Then why have I never seen any pictures of us, of him? And what happened to him?" I asked, bracing myself for their answers.

Suddenly, mom jumped up and crossed the room to a drawer in which most of our family pictures were kept. "We couldn't tell you then, you were only a child," dad replied and mom came back with a photography.

Mom handed me the photo and set back down. "You were always together, the two of you," mom said with a sad smile. "He was such a nice kid. I'll never forget him." It was just sad that we had been best friends and I did forget him.

I looked down at the picture and studied it closely. In the photo Alex and I were somewhere outside, in a yard. We were standing next to each other, facing the camera, smiling big toothy smiles. In kindergarten I had been quite tall for my age, but Alex was still a few inches taller than me and with his arm around my shoulders I looked so small compared to him. He looked just as he had looked in my dreams with shaggy brown hair and striking green eyes though in the picture he had chubbier cheeks just like me.

Suddenly, I was hit with a strong feeling of deja vu, but I couldn't quite grasped onto the memory.

"So what happened?" I asked, my attention still on the photography.

"We didn't know what to do. You were only a child and we couldn't tell you the truth," dad replied. "So, we told you he moved away." Tell me the truth?

"It was so sad. I was so sorry for his family. I don't know what we would do if the roles were reversed and something happened to you or your sister." Mom looked so sad.

I cleared my throat, not sure if I still wanted to know the answer to the question I was about to ask. "What happened to him?"

"Liz, Alex died."

All the air rushed out of my lungs and I felt like someone just punched me. Alex was dead. My childhood best friend had died. "Why?" I was so shocked that it left me breathless. "How?"

"It was some kind of accident he was in with his parents, I think. It had been all over the news in 2002."

"He fell in a coma after the accident and never woke up," dad said, squeezing my hand.