Disabled.

Thirty-One

*unedited*

Thirty-One

Nadia pushed herself around the school, looking for Mason. Knowing him, he most likely would not have gone to his class after they were dismissed from the principal's office. But the problem was if he wasn't in class, where could he be? 

Nadia was so caught up in looking for him that she didn't think to call him until she heard her phone ringing. She removed her backpack from behind her chair and took out her phone, answering it when she saw Mason's name on the caller ID.

"Where are you?" she immediately asked. He didn't say anything. She opened her mouth to ask him once again where he was when she heard a car honking. That was when she realized that he was somewhere outside of the school. 

"Just stay where you are," she said to him before hanging up and pushing herself to the entrance of the school. Once she was outside, she saw his figure from where he sat on the bench at the bus stop, his shoulders hanging down in defeat. She pushed herself towards him as quickly as she could. 

As she got closer to him, she realized that he had been crying and he still was. She saw a few tears drip from his chin onto his pants as he looked at the sidewalk. A cold wind blew suddenly, blowing the line of tears which had formed on his face towards one side. 

Nadia felt her eyes water as she took in his image, wanting to do anything she could to reduce the pain that he must have been feeling. She swallowed the lump which had formed in her throat as she reached out to him, placing a hand on his shoulder to draw his attention.

He looked at her with reddened eyes as his tears continued to pour. And as she watched him cry, she couldn't deny the hurt that she felt. She wrapped her arms around his shoulders and pulled him towards her for a hug as he continued to cry. He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. 

She knew that no matter what she said, there wasn't anything she could say to make his pain disappear. For now, the best thing to do was to allow him to cry it out. They stayed in each others arms for several moments until Mason's crying slowed. 

He pulled away, wiping his tears with the back of his hand.

"Are you okay?" Nadia asked him, knowing that he wasn't. But he nodded his head.

"I guess you don't want to go to class, huh?" she asked, attempting to lighten the mood. To her relief he chuckled slightly, shaking his head. 

"Do you want to go somewhere with me instead?" he asked. 

"Where?" 

"You'll find out when we get there if you want to come." 

For as long as she could remember, she had never been the type of student to skip class. But she found her worrying about Mason after seeing him cry the way that he did. And so, as she looked at him watching her for an answer, she couldn't bring herself to say anything other than,

"Okay, let's go." 

---

After a forty-five minute bus ride, they got off the bus and started to follow a path. Even though she wanted nothing more than to ask where they were going, she knew that she would find out soon enough. She kept her mouth shut as Mason pushed her up a hill before they arrived at their destination: 

"A cemetery." 

Mason didn't say anything as he pushed her down another path until they reached a tombstone with a familiar name:

Selena Wilson

May 2, 2000 -  December 10, 2017