Dear Tressi [✓]

21

"Lila died, Tress. She committed suicide."

Tressi couldn't process what Dax was telling her. Her mind went blank.

"How?" she croaked.

Dax removed the hand that'd been intertwined with hers and rubbed his forehead. "She jumped from the bridge into the lake."

"Why?" Tressi's voice was barely above a whisper.

"She... she got pregnant. She wouldn't tell Mrs. Waldam who was responsible. They had a huge fight, Mrs. Waldam said some really rash things. She wanted Lila to get an abortion, and threatened to throw her out if she didn't. So she just... jumped from the bridge," Dax said in a low voice, with his brows pulled together in a frown.

Tressi couldn't picture it. Couldn't accept it. Lila Waldam, her childhood friend had died.

Lila who'd convinced Tressi to climb up a tree, despite Tressi's fear of heights. Lila who'd always sat with her during lunch, sharing the mouth watering stuff Mrs. Waldam had given her. (Tressi's had always been cucumber and carrot sandwich with ketchup on the side, that is, on the days Dala had remembered to pack her some lunch.) Lila who'd told Gane Hilon that Tressi had a crush on him when they'd been in middle school, while Tressi stood beet faced behind her. Lila had practically scared the guy into almost reciprocating, when Tressi—who couldn't take the situation anymore—had run for it.

Lila was just so... alive. It just wasn't possible. She couldn't associate the bubbly, curly haired, doe-eyed girl with something as horrible as death. It just couldn't be.

Tressi's eyes glistened with unshed tears. "How did Mrs. Waldam take it?"

"She... didn't know about it for a long time. She thought Lila had just run away. Her body had washed up to the place where the sewer tunnel enters the lake and so nobody knew. They only found her because the tunnel caved in and a maintenance crew had to be sent in to fix it. Otherwise, she'd have just been there." He shuddered, thinking back to the awful time.

Tressi covered her hand with her mouth. "When did this happen?" she breathed.

"About eight months after you left. She'd been in there for too long. They couldn't really find out much. Being in the water, it'd decomposed too much. They had to do DNA testing to identify that it was her. It was terrible, Tress. Mrs. Waldam had never been the same since Lila went missing, but this sent her over the edge. She kept blaming herself for what happened, and just lost it after a point. She's there in Rothan's now. I try and visit her sometimes but she doesn't make much sense. I think she'll be shifted to a proper facility soon. I don't think they're able to cope anymore." Dax's mouth pulled down at the corners and he sighed heavily, as if the conversation had aged him.

Neither of them spoke for a long while. There was nothing to say. They just sat there, looking out into the night. Soon, feeble rays of sunlight broke through the clouds, signalling dawn.

"How did things get so messed up? It was fine when we were kids. We were happy, weren't we? But now everything's just..." Dax trailed off, shaking his head.

"I don't think things were ever perfectly fine, Dax. At least not for me. Not since my dad died," Tressi said slowly.

"That was really hard on you. You were seven, weren't you?"

"Yeah."

Tressi's dad had worked in construction. He'd been a civil engineer. She still remembered the accident as if it was yesterday. It was the strongest memory that she had of her dad. Which was sad, because she'd had so many happy memories with him before he died.

He'd taken her to the site; they were building the town's new library after the old one had caught fire. Tressi remembered the day so clearly. She'd been sent home from school after getting into a fight. So her dad had picked her up, because Edda and Dala were out of town visiting Dala's parents. He'd been angry and irritated. Having warned her to stay away from the edges, he'd gone up in the crane to check on the rooftop. But the crane malfunctioned and the platform had crashed. He had died instantly. Tressi had never gotten over it. More so, because the last memory she'd had with him, wasn't a happy one. She'd thought she'd never smile again.

But then, Dax became her friend.

"That's what made me so determined to talk to you, you know? You were such a happy kid, but I always found you quite annoying. Mom had to force me to hang out with you. But then your dad was gone and you became so withdrawn, it just... unsettled me. I hated seeing you like that. That's when I decided I had to be your friend," said Dax, taking her hand once more.

Tressi smiled sadly at him. "I've never told you this before, but thanks so much for being there, Dax. You were one of the few things that made this place tolerable."

Tressi looked back out into the street, sighing deeply. "I think I should go inside. Des'll be up soon. Wanna come in?"

"No. You go on ahead. Mom wanted my help with some boxes. That's why I came down here this weekend. How long are you gonna be here?"

"One week."

Dax raised his eyebrows. "Will that be enough time?"

"It has to be. I'm not gonna put my life on hold anymore. I'm gonna do whatever I can, convince myself that I've done everything possible, and hopefully that'll give me some peace."

Dax patted her hand. "I hope you get that, Tress. I'm gonna stay here. I'm gonna help you, with whatever I can. I'll try and look through my dad's old stuff and see if I can dig up anything. We are figuring this out," he said, determined.

Tress threw her arms around him. Hugging him tightly, she said, "You're the best friend I could've ever asked for, Dax."

Dax patted her back. "Don't be stupid."