"Dammit!" Starla yells, pacing back and forth through my living room. She and Sara are trying to reach people, but can't. "Why the hell is she not picking up her phone!" Sara yells, typing furiously at her phone. "Well, maybe it's because her son just died," Thomas replies harshly.
He's not dead.
"We don't know that for sure. Johnathan might just want us to freak-out." I say, leaning my elbows onto my knees, cradling my head. I can feel someone lightly place a hand on my back, but I don't check who it is.
We heard someone walk downstairs, and I finally glance up, to see a brown-haired girl, with two books in her hand, with a pink dress and a jean jacket over it. She looks at me, then Thomas, then back to me. I stand up, as all my friends watch me slowly. They all know who she is.
June.
"Hey, uh, can we play I hate you later?" I say as I watch her scan the room again. She looks back at me, lips thin and tight. Please don't do this in front of my friends. Her shoulders back, she looks me up and down, glaring at my shoes.
"You should clean those." She says, a disappointed look on her face. I nodded, as she swiftly walked towards the front door. "I'm going to my friend's house. I expect you, and…" She stops, looking at Sara and Starla, before back at me.
"Your friends do not ruin the house. Or, you can do that, you would get in trouble and that would be hilarious." She says, smirking before walking out the door, closing it behind her. I sigh, turning around to see everyone staring back at me. "Your sisters a bitch." Starla says, before going back to her phone.
"That's June?" Thomas asks as I nod my head. Sara scoffs, looking up at her phone to glare at Thomas. "Trust me, that's just in her nice form. I have always believed she had some dirt on Park, and that's why she's so…. Her." Sara says, shivering before sitting on one of the armchairs.
"Do you think she knows?" Thomas asks, and I shake my head. "Probably not, I think she just didn't feel like it," I say, sitting back down next to him. He hums, before watching Starla put the phone to her ear, once again. All of a sudden she perks up, both hands moving to cradle the phone.
"Um, hello?" She asks, as for me, Thomas, and Sara both look at her. She looks at us, panicked, before going back to the phone. "Yeah, we heard about the news." Starla stated sincerely." Her hand goes to her mouth, her body slumping down in one of the chairs.
"I- I am so, so sorry for your loss." She says, moving so she's holding the phone with her shoulders, using her hands to rub them together. She nods her head, before rubbing her face. "Yes ma'am, thank you." She says politely, before hanging up.
We all looked at her, expectantly, though we all knew what happened. "I—he's gone." She states simply, hesitantly sitting her phone down. The rest of us, stood there silently, not saying a word. I looked at the floor, eyes closing in thought.
How can he be dead? This must be a joke. "His mom just told Starla-"~ "I, have to go," I say, quickly standing up, and walking up the stairs. I turn to my room, before crawling over to the corner of my room.
I scoot my legs up, crawling into a ball, and laying my legs onto my knee. I lean my head on the back wall, as tears start flooding my eyes. He can't be dead. He can't be dead. I killed him. He tried to call me and I wouldn't answer.
"It isn't your fault, you weren't the one that told him to take the drugs."~ I should have told someone. I could have told someone! But I didn't, I thought I was being a good friend, but I was killing him. "You didn't kill him! You told him to stop, but he didn't listen to you. This is his fault."~
But I'm the one that made it out alive. I don't deserve to be alive. I did this to him. I could have saved him, but I didn't. "You wouldn't have done a thing. He would still do it."~ But I could have done something. "No, you couldn't. He would still have taken the stuff. He would still have vaped. He would still do these things. He knew they were wrong, but he still did them. That has nothing to do with you."~
Her words lingered in my head. Maybe your right. I just, I could have saved him. I could have helped him. I heard a knocking on my door, and I looked up, not saying a word. I heard the door nob slowly open, then footsteps. The bed shadowed over me, so I stayed quiet. The person walked over to me, and I quickly looked away.
"Hey, Popcorn. Um, are you ok?" Thomas asks, sitting down next to me. I instinctively lay my head on his shoulder, and shake my head. "I- I could have saved him, Thomas. I could have told someone that he was vaping, but I didn't. When I should have." I say, as Thomas sighs, placing a soothing hand on my thigh.
"Baby, listen to me when I say this. You did nothing wrong. Grey-Man was the one that decided to vape. He's the one that got himself addicted. Starla just told us that he kept vaping, even after his parents told him to stop. That's not your fault in the slightest. Even if his parents found out, he would still do it. IT was inevitable. It sucks, I know. He was a good friend, to me and you. To all of us. But what happened, still happened."
He says as a small tear runs down his face. "I don't like it when you cry," Thomas says, scooting over to look at me directly. "He's gone, and his parents want us to come to the funeral next week," Thomas explains, and I nod my head, before leaning my forehead onto his. "Thank you, for being here," I whisper, placing my hand on his.
"That's what I'm here for," Thomas says as another tear falls from his eyes.