You wanna know, I'll tell you, he replied..
Keanu and I were very close, he began, it was always only the two of us, he was my best friend, a joy to our parents and a mentor to me, he taught me everything I know... Going to Cedar Creek was all he ever wanted, I still remember how excited he was putting on that uniform for the first time, he said shutting his eyes as he imagined, I was still in middle school then, he added...But his excitement was cut short when he met James and his friends, he became a target of their constant bullying, and Keanu being the reserved person that he was did nothing but avoid them, he was obviously scared of them, so they made it a daily routine to pick on him along with his best friend Michael.
Keanu got tired of it so he made a complaint to the school authorities and guess what they did?
What?, I asked
Nothing!, he replied angrily, they basically did nothing because James' parents are wealthy people who give huge donations to the school. All school did was give a speech on 'Non-violence', Kai said adding air quotes, like that was gonna change anything...and of course it didn't.
One day, James picked a fight with Keanu as usual, but this time, Keanu fought back, getting them both injured and suspended from school. After the suspension passed and Keanu returned to school, he wasn't getting troubled by James or his friends anymore, and neither was Michael, which was good until Mike got sick, he had cancer, I remember going with Keanu to visit him at the hospital, Keanu would visit everyday after school.
Back in school, things were going really great, Keanu started getting attention from Sierra, a sophomore he had a huge crush on, they started dating which automatically made him friends with her best friend Taylor and they frequently hung out... Keanu loved Sierra, all he did was talk about her, he always said he was gonna marry her someday, I found him funny but he always said he meant it..Kai smiled a little as he recalled,..One day, when it was Sierra's birthday, she invited him to her place for a party, but when Keanu got there, he met James and his crew waiting for him, unknown to him, James wanted payback after their big fight at school, so he came up with a plan by paying Sierra to pretend to be in love with him, using his crush on her against him,..Kai subconsciously balled his fists..
They beat up Keanu and he couldn't fight back because they were too much for him, he was hurt badly while Sierra and Taylor sat there watching and even made videos.After that, James and Sierra started dating and kept rubbing it in Keanu's face, telling him how much of a fool he was while still picking on him...and do you know what made it worse, Kai asked rhetorically, Michael died few days later,... Keanu was having the worst moment of his life and to top it off, his only true friend died leaving him with no one to talk to
Damn!!
Keanu didn't tell our parents about the bullying because he didn't want to bother them, instead he kept it to himself....He started skipping school, he became depressed and heartbroken, it hurt so much to see someone so cheerful become so gloomy, I tried everything I could to boost him but nothing worked, he was hurt both physically and emotionally.
One day, I got back from school only to meet the video he made along with...his lifeless body, Kai staggered a little shutting his eyes.. I don't remember what exactly happened to me after that, but I'm pretty sure I died that day.
After showing my parents my discovery, my mom had a heart attack and is currently battling stroke in the hospital while my dad became a grump, angry at Keanu for what he did to himself..Kai paused for a while..I never showed them the video, I couldn't.
You asked what Squad Six did to me, they didn't just hurt me, he replied, they broke my family apart, they took away our bond, our joy, something noone could ever replace, I was never really like this, this is what they did!
I sat still looking at him, lost for words but then I realized, for the first time ever, I could actually read him!....I took out my phone from my pants pocket and turned off my sound recorder which I turned on before I walked into this room...You knew I was recording didn't you? I asked him
I'm not an idiot, he replied
Yet you told me everything, you sent me that note so I could come here, you were going to tell me whether I asked or not, why though, why give yourself up when you could have easily finished what you started, I asked.
Because I already have, he replied and I don't care what happens now
did I hear him correctly?...we're too late aren't we...my thoughts were interrupted by a call, it's Piper
Hey, I picked up
Amari!!, She sounded horrified, we found Adrien
Where? I asked
On the balcony on the roof, I heard Sebastian say equally terrified
Is he okay?, I asked somewhat tensed
he's,..well, he's..
he's dead!, Liana cut piper off
I glanced at Kai unsure of what to think, my phone still by the side of my face
Did you at least find Kai?, Liana asked on the other end with heated up emotions
With my eyes still on him while he stared right back at me, I replied, Yes but..but he got away.
What do we do with him?, Piper asked referring to Adrien, do we call the cops or take him to hospital or..,she began to tear up.
You guys please wait, i'll be right there, I replied ending the call...
Just so you know, Kai spoke up, I didn't open up to you to receive your sympathy, I did it because I owed you that much, after turning the blame on Mike, an innocent soul and giving you such a hard time, I decided I was gonna tell the truth when it's all over, so you guys can do whatever you want with that recording, and with that he began to walk past me to the door.
Are you sure this is what he would've wanted? I asked facing Kai, for it all to end like this?, you do know the police are onto you
Kai paused at the entrance and turned his face towards my direction, I promised him, I swore on his grave that'll avenge him, he replied, and I'll never regret my actions no matter what happens,.. he walked away...
I ran to meet the others at the roof top, as I arrived, I noticed there were no signs of Adrien or any crowd as I expected, just Sebastian and the girls
Hey, I said approaching them, I thought you said he was here
Zack insisted on taking him to the hospital, Sebastian replied, he was so shook by Adrien's state, we would've followed him but we wanted to wait for you
Maybe they can revive him, I said with a little hope, maybe it's not too late
They can't, Liana said sternly, sitting with her arms crossed, by the time we got here, he wasn't breathing, and he had no pulse.. I checked, she added
How did he look? I asked
normal, she replied, you could easily think he fell asleep,... 'poison', she added.
You said you saw Kai, Piper suddenly said with wet eyes, she's cried a little...
I was able to talk to him before he got away, I replied, he explained the whole thing, even owned up to it.
He did?, Sebastian asked suprised
And I recorded the whole thing, I said waving my phone.
Nice!, Sebastian commented
I wanna hear it, Liana said, can we leave now
Thankfully, Zack left us his keys so we were able to spend the night at his place, we lay around in his sitting room as I played them the recording after which we all went silent for a while..
Zack texted me, Liana suddenly broke the silence, Adrien's been confirmed dead.
Another round of silence followed...
Kai knew I was recording him, I spoke up, yet he told me everything, he said he owed us an explanation after lying about Michael and he meant it, I could actually read him for the first time.
We were too late, maybe if we went straight to the party, we could've saved Adrien, Liana added again
Can we not talk about this again please, Piper said exhausted, I think I've had enough for one day
Me too, Sebastian agreed and I never got drinks, he yawned
hun!..I sighed, as I stared at the ceiling thinking about the events of today before falling asleep...