Taken - Jeff Atkins

Revealed

"Sing to me the song of the stars
Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again
When it feels like my dreams are so far
Sing to me of the plans
That you have for me over again."

I convinced my mom I was fine to go to school, as much as she didn't want me to after the episode I had the night before. My eyes had dark rings under them from the lack of sleep I keep getting on a daily basis. People walked the hall as they usually did, but something seemed off. Clay had been acting up lately - a lot. He even got caught with drugs in his backpack. I've seen Tony around but we don't talk like we used to. Zach has been distant also, he only smiles at me in the halls these days. But it wasn't unusual, I was still alone.
I squint my eyes, leaning my head forward at the male in the hoodie who was motioning for me to follow him. Clay. He was suspended from school after they'd caught him with the drugs. I believe he only got three days suspension and this was his third day.
I quickly made my way to Clay, trying not to draw attention to myself as I walk out of the school grounds.
"Clay, what the hell are you doing here?" I ask, looking around for teachers. "You'd be fucked if a teacher saw you; you're already suspended."
"Andy, we need to talk." Clay says seriously.
By the look of his eyes, he wasn't sleeping well either and being away from school probably wasn't helping him.
"Okay?" I ask, motioning for him to go on.
"Not here." He adds, looking around, paranoid. "After school."
I nod softly with a shrug. "Sure, why not. I'll meet you at-"
"Meet me at Jeff's place." He quickly interrupts as I look at him questionably.
I shake my head back and forth. "Clay, no. I can't. I haven't seen his parents since the night of the accident at the hospital. I can't face them."
I turn on my heel, heading for the school entrance.
"It's about Jeff." Clay suddenly brings up, causing me to stop in my tracks. "It's about the night of the accident."
I turn around as tears prick my eyes. "What is it?"
"Meet me at Jeff's. I need to tell the three of you what really happened that night." Clay finished as he jogged away from the school.
"Clay. Clay!" I call, watching him run away.
I couldn't think straight. About the accident? Jeff? What really happened? What does Clay know? After school, I headed straight for the Atkins residence. Clay wasn't there yet but I didn't want to wait for him inside, instead I waited out the front because he shouldn't be too much longer.
"Andrea?" I hear come behind me.
I turn, seeing Maria and Harris standing in the doorway. I have nothing to say but I walk up to the doorway slowly before Maria pulls me into a tight hug. I wrap my arms around her as I squeeze my eyes shut, tears slowly escaping my eyes. She sobs on my shoulder while Harris rubs both our back soothingly.
"I'm so sorry I haven't seen you guys." I apologize, sniffling. "It's just so hard."
My eyes avert to the direction of a door. Your door.
"Go." Harris motions with a soft smile on his face.
As much as I dreaded to be in that room, I felt like I needed to be. When I got to the shut door, my hand reached for the handle but didn't turn. I shut my eyes and take in a deep breath, a tear falling as I open the door revealing your room behind it. Nothing had changed. My hand covers my mouth, muffling the sobs as I see your baseball collection on the dresser, your bed still not made, clothes laying in front of the wardrobe - everything where you'd left it. I walk over to the bed and sit on the edge of it, sniffling as the tears fall. Memories of us cuddling, sleeping together, having tickle fights, kissing - everything flooded my mind as I held my head in my hands resting on my knees.
"I love you."
Those words echoed around the four walls of the room. I laid back on the bed, my back facing the door as I breathe in the smell from the sheets and pillows.
"I miss you, baby." I sob quietly. "Everyday."
I hear a soft knock on the door causing me to turn and see Clay in the doorway. I wiped my eyes and took in the image of the room, the scent and the feel of you with me. I gently shut the door as I followed Clay back to the kitchen.
"Why haven't we met you before?" Harris asked Clay as we sat beside each other.
"Harris." Maria glares at him as Clay fakes a smile.
"No, it's alright." Clay comments. "I guess we were just friends at school. Like Jeff was a somebody. I was a nobody-"
"You weren't a nobody to him." Maria interrupts with a small smile, taking a seat opposite Clay.
Clay sighs as I look over at him, eager to hear what hes about to say.
"There's something you should know, about the night of the accident." Clay confesses as all our bodies tense hearing those words.
"What about it?" Harris asks as he takes his wife's hand.
Clay's facial expression changed as if he were remembering that awful night.
"I was the first person to get there." He continues. "I uh, was walking home and I heard the crash."
My hand ran through my hair as I sniffled, remembering when Clay found us.
"I found Jeff and Andrea. I found him." Clay struggles to talk as tears fall from my eyes. "I thought...maybe I'd try CPR or something, I don't know. It was me. I'm the one that called 911."
I glance over at Maria who wipes her eyes with a tissue as Clay tells the story of that night.
"So uh..."Harris starts as he sniffles. "You were at the party with him?"
"I was there, I saw him just before he left." Clay answered honestly. "And I...I don't think he was drunk."
Our heads pipe up, all our eyes looking at the dark haired boy.
"You don't?" Harris questioned, surprised.
Clay shook his head. "No, he told me he wasn't and I believed him. At least until..."
Clay trailed off as I put my head in my hands, hearing Clay speak.
"Look, it wasn't Jeff's fault." Clay suddenly starts again. "The stop sign on the corner had already been knocked down earlier in the night. I don't know, the cops thought it was Jeff's fault I guess. "
I stared at Clay, shocked at what he said. Finally, he's telling me something I didn't know.
"But it was already down." He concludes.
Maria sobs into her tissue, hearing those words as Harris wipes his eyes. I stand from my chair and pace the length off the table, how he came across this information - he never mentioned in this conversation.
"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Clay apologizes, looking at his hands.
"How do you...how do you know this about the stop sign?"I ask, meeting his gaze and wanting more answers. "Did you knock it down?"
"No, no-" Clay starts as Harris interrupts him.
"Then why are you apologizing?" He asks. We all look at Clay for his next answer.
"I've been angry at Jeff since he died because he told me at the party he was sober and I thought he lied." Clay sighs, rubbing the back of his neck. "I thought he did something stupid and I hated him for leaving that way. And I was wrong. I was wrong. "
I stared at Clay, knowing there was more but he stopped. It was overwhelming for all of us so Clay and I left. When we were outside, I demanded answers.
"Who was it?" I question, standing on the side walk in front of Jeff's house.
"What?" He asks confused.
"Who knocked over the stop sign, Clay?" I repeated, my eyes red from crying.
Clay looks down as I continue talking.
"I swear to god, Clay." I roll my eyes, walking over to him. "If you don't tell me-"
"Sherri." He stated, looking me dead in the eyes. "Sherri knocked down the stop sign."