The Life Of Isaac...

Chapter 26: Aftershock

              "Eli," Jenkins says.

   "He... He committed suicide".

This is when it feels like it's just deja vu. That I'm breaking down all over again. I'm crying all over again. Why couldn't this have just stayed a nightmare? Why did it have to come true? I look at River and Esther. They're exactly like me right now. In shock. Tears falling down our faces like we're sweaty, nervous freshmen all over again. Minus the sweat.

   "When did he?" I'm somehow able to ask through my tears.

"When did he do it?".

"Yesterday night," Jenkins answers.

"He shot himself".

More tears start to flow.

"No," River says.

"Please say this is some sick joke".

   "I wish I can say that," Jenkins says.

"But it isn't".

"We are in just as much shock as you guys" Mrs. Ross says.

I don't beg to differ.

"No," Esther cries.

   "He can't be gone. He has to be okay".

Jenkins puts his head down in defeat. Mrs. Ross is struggling to hold in her tears. River has his head in his hands. Esther is a mess. And so am I. This all can't be happening right now. This can't be fucking happening. I can't... lose him. I can't lose him too.

"Why," River asks.

"Why did he do it?".

"We don't know," Jenkins says.

   "That's what we're trying to figure out".

"The video," I mumble.

   "The text".

   "What?" Mrs. Ross says.

   "Eli. The last time I saw him he... he kissed me," I say.

"But then he ran away. Tracy recorded it all. She made it go viral on social media. She put it on the TV screens in the hallways. Everyone saw it. Including him".

   "Tracy got in trouble for what she did" Mrs. Ross says.

   "It won't stop her," Esther says.

   "She never stops".

   "Eli sent me a text yesterday" I say, taking out my phone.

I show Mrs. Ross and Jenkins the text and they seem more defeated than before.

   "I never texted back. I didn't understand what he meant," I say.

"I should've responded".

"Don't blame this on yourself, Isaac," Mrs. Ross says.

   "It wasn't your fault".

"It doesn't feel that way" I say.

"It wasn't" Jenkins says.

"Where is he now?" I ask.

   "He's not confirmed dead, but he is in a coma. He suffered critical damage to the brain," Jenkins says.