Number 33

Chapter 6 - The Morning After.

Chapter 6 - The Morning After.

I got to school, and Aiden was all anyone was talking about. Some people were just finding out, and some were informing others. My longtime friend Michelle came into my mom's classroom with a sullen look on her face. Michelle is always super happy and energetic, so I was immediately concerned.

"Have you heard about Aiden?" She asked in a hushed tone. I shook my head yes. "He's gone."

"I know," I started, wondering why she was behind on gossip. "He's in the hospital right now."

"No, Britton. He died." She said seriously. My draw dropped and I sat there, stunned.

All I could manage was a weak "How do you know?" as if an invalid source could fix this.

"Aimee. They were dating. She was there this morning when they pulled the plug."

I let the new information sink in. That makes sense. Michelle and Aimee are both cheerleaders and are close. But, there's still no way it's real. Michelle had to leave to get to class, and I went to my first period. By the looks on their faces, I could tell that at least half of the class already knew.

Tears stream down the faces of those suffering silently and the teacher stood at the front of the class. She knew.

By the time I made it to second period, news had circulated that there was a big room open for people to excuse themselves to. I asked my teacher, and they let me go, so I went.

I walked through the hallways, and it was like a scene from an incredibly sad movie. There were clumps of people, sobbing, holding each other. I made my way around them and opened the door to the room. It was full of students. There were boyfriends consoling their girlfriends, friends questioning the situation, and local pastors and counselors trying to help.

I saw Michelle standing by herself, so I headed over to her.

"This is crazy, huh."

"You could say that." She said morosely.

"I can't believe it," I stated numbly, voicing my thoughts.

"Me neither." She countered as we watched our peers.

I stayed there for twenty or so minutes. Want to know what productive activity I filled this time with?

Having a pity party.

I was mad and confused. Questioning God. Why give me this to add to my pile of a crap life? I mean, my dad is sick, I had academics to worry about, and my anxiety levels are at an all-time high. Why do I have to go through this too?

I cry when I'm angry, which is one of my downfalls, but that's the reason I cried that morning. I was frustrated with God for putting me in so many sucky situations.

Thankfully, I realized that what I was doing was ridiculous. I'm being so selfish. Yeah, there's been hard times in my life, but for a lot of my friends, this is their first 'big, bad thing' to happen to them. By now, I'm basically a seasoned vet. I channeled my frustration into helping others.

I carried a box of tissues around the room, offering them to those crying. The box soon ran out, and there weren't any more. I then decided to pray over people, only those that wanted me to. I essentially tried to comfort everyone else.

*****

The day passed by in a slow crawl, and by the end of it, I had a headache from crying so much. I got home and threw myself onto my big, fuzzy couch. I fell asleep soon enough.