The New Kid

Chapter 18

Annie's POV:
Asher nodded his head and I cleared my throat as I began to speak.
Annie: so you know that room you were looking at earlier? The one with a "C" above it?
Asher: yeah
Annie: that's not my friends room...it's my brothers
Asher: you have a brother? You didn't tell me about this! When do I get to meet him!?
Asher spoke with a wide smile on his face and jumping up and down in his chair.
Annie: see Asher, that's the thing, you can't
Asher's smile fell flat as he cocked his head slightly to the right.
Asher: did I do something wrong? Do you think he'd get mad at me for hanging out with you? Is he overprotective or is he like REALLY overprotective?
Asher speaks emphasizing the "really" in his sentence.
Annie: no its not that, it's just complicated.
Asher: what do you mean complicated?
Annie: I-I haven't seen him in years
I said while my voice cracked. Tears started forming in my eyes, but I tried holding them back.
Asher: you haven't seen him in years?
Annie: y-yeah
Asher: why?
Annie: wow your so oblivious
Asher: is it supposed to be obvious?
Annie: I mean-you know what never mind, this was clearly a mistake.
I sat up from my chair and I was about to walk away until Asher grabbed my hand and drew me towards him.
Asher: Annie you can talk to me
Annie: I'm trying, but you just don't get it!
I say allowing a few tears to escape my eyes.
Asher: no Annie don't cry, it's ok
Asher pulled me closer to him, allowing himself to wrap his arms around me tightly as I did the same. I buried my head into his chest and a few more tears had fallen
Asher: it's ok Annie, whatever it is I'll help you, I promise
Annie: n-no it's not ok
Asher: it will be
Annie: no Asher, it never will be
Asher pulled out of the hug slightly and looked down at me. I lifted my head  up from his chest and looked up at him.
Asher: of course it will, everything gets better over time
Annie: yeah, everything except my brother's death!
I dropped my arms and ran into Caleb's room. I closed the door behind me and sat on one of his bean bags. I brought my hands up to my face and started sobbing, I'm pretty sure Asher was able to hear me but he didn't come in, he gave me my space, which I appreciated. I lifted my head up from my hands and looked around Caleb's room. I walked up to a small table he had and that's where he kept all of his trophies, medals, and home runs he caught in baseball. I picked up one of the baseballs from the table and held it in my hands. I looked down at the ball and all the memories of going to his baseball games cam back to me. Eventually a tear rolled down my cheek and onto the stitches of the ball. I rubbed it off with my thumb and gently placed it back on the table. I then walked over to the two person couch in his room and sat down on it. That probably gives you an idea of how big these rooms are, but to be fair, we did use an enormous tree for this house which meant we had more support. As I sat there I remembered all the times we would come here after school and hang out. Whenever Hayley went to a friends house for the day Caleb and I would spend the day in his room in the treehouse. We'd talk for hours. Whenever Hayley was with us it didn't change other than her joining our conversations, which made it more exciting. We never really had a specific topic of what we talked about. Sometimes we talked about school, friends, our parents, our day, what we wanted for diner, and sometimes our crushes, but that only happened once in a blue moon. The reason we were always talking in Caleb's room was because he had a couch and two bean bags while Hayley and I had only one chair in our rooms. That chair hung from the ceiling and it acted like a swing, but we were told not to swing on it. One day we decided to swing on it and our parents caught us so they got us a tire swing and put it at the bottom of the tree. Anyways, we all got along really well. We fought on rare occasions, but when we did we all made up within about five to ten minutes. We were really close until one day when, well ya know, that happened. That's when Hayley stopped coming here, because it reminds her to much of him and she hasn't been here since. Me on the other hand, goes out there way to come here as many times a week as I can. I feel like it's one of the only way I'm still connected with Caleb, sometimes I get this vibe when I'm in here, like he's sitting right next to me. Sometimes I come into the treehouse and I don't feel alone, I feel like I'm accompanied by another, it makes me feel happy that I can still feel connected with Caleb no matter how long it's been. As the days go by the more time I try to spend in here to try and get closer with Caleb. I don't want us to become distant. Just because he's in heaven and I'm on earth, it doesn't mean that we can't still communicate. It doesn't have to be with words or signs, just him being by my side is enough, that's really all I ever and will ever need.

Author:
I miss Caleb so much🥺💜! It's still so unbelievable that he's actually gone. As I was writing this I got choked up and I almost cried but I tried my best to hold my tears back because I don't feel like sobbing right now