*That May*
“Sweetie, are you ready to go? My mom was at the door.
“I think so.” I looked at myself in the mirror. I didn’t feel like the same person anymore. After all that had happened, everything seemed so pointless. School, shopping, vacations…All of my little problems were stupid and embarrassing to even think about. I looked away from my reflection, leaving my room. My mom was standing by the front door. I smiled dryly at her as we left.
Once the funeral service was over, I stood around the back, away from everyone. My mom was talking to Coach Howard.
“Excuse me.”
I turned to see the girl from school, the one Ant was talking to that day. “Umm, hi.”
“I’m Tyra. You’re Elissa, right?”
“Yeah.” What did she want?”
“Oh okay.”
I avoided an awkward silence by asking, “How did you know him?”
“His mom’s a marriage counsellor. She worked with my parents a few years ago and they became friends.”
“Oh.”
“Look, Elissa, Ant and I were close. We go way back but there was never anything like that between us. He loved you. He talked about you all the time and spent weeks strugglin’ over what to sat to you. I just wanna make sure you know that.”
I nodded. My throat clenched and tightened, my nose tingled and my eyes began to water. “I gotta go.” I walked away quickly to go find the bathroom.
There was a single-use bathroom inside the building. Closing the door behind me, I walked up to the sink, leaned against it with my hands, and let the tears come.
“Good afternoon everyone. For those of you who don’t know me, I’m Coach Howard and I’m your P.E. teacher for the year. How have y’all’s first day been?”
There was a low murmuring of “boring” and “okay” between the students. The gym door banged open then, and a boy with exotic hair and an extremely colorful jacket walked in.
“Sorry I’m late I had to get fed.” A few of the boys in class, who were probably friends of his, snickered at his entrance.
“Antanie, I was wondering where you were. Next time try to finish eating during the lunch period so you can get to my class on time please.”
“Iight Steve.”
Coach Howard gave him a sideways look. Antanie, who was completely oblivious, walked to the back of the class, picking at the back of his hair with one of those picks. As he passed me, we made eye contact and he nodded at me. I looked away, thinking nothing of it.
YOU ARE READING
Confessions
Teen Fiction“Damn Prom Queen. You stay followin’ the rules.” He laughed. I didn't see what was so funny. “Yeah, well rules are meant to be followed.” Antanie shook his head. “Rules are meant to be broken.”
