The Day I Died

Chapter 1

It was a very nice day out. Sunny, happy . . . I didn’t match the weather that day. My parents had yelled at me again, not really a surprise. I left my house early and headed to Albi’s house so we could walk to school together. I knocked on his front door, and his mom, Keira, answered. “Oh, Julian… I’m afraid the kids won’t be coming to school today.” She said, keeping the door open enough so I could only see her. “What? Did something happen?” I asked, worried. “No, no, I . . . Just go to school, honey, Albi will call you soon.” She said, shutting the door in my face. I was surprised but I just moved on, hoping everything was alright. I sat at lunch alone that day. I hated it. I mean, Albi, Nora, and I always sat together . . . But . . . It was weird not being with them. Anyways, apparently school was being let out early so I immediately went back to their house. I knocked on the door, but there wasn’t an answer. That confused me. But every time I knocked, there wasn’t an answer. I tried looking through the window, everything was packed . . . The furniture was covered by some plastic tarp. I started to worry and banged on the door. Finally, Albi came to the door. His eyes grew wide at the sight of me, which made me confused. “J-Julian! I uh . . .” He seemed nervous. “What’s going on? Why didn’t you come to school today?!” I asked. Albi bit his lip nervously. “Why don’t you… Come in?” He asked, stepping aside so I could come in. I was still confused so I walked in. Albi closed the door and walked away, calling for his mom. I stayed where I was, honestly worried of what I was about to find out. After a few minutes, Keira came up to me. I couldn’t read her face well. This got me worried. “Hello Julian . . .” She muttered, smiling slightly. “Uhm . . . Could you join me on the couch, please?” She asked me, walking to the couch. I nervously followed. “Keira . . . What is going on?” I asked, sitting down as she sat next to me. Keira took a deep breath. “Well… This may be hard to understand-” “Keria, just tell me. I can take it.” I cut her off, putting a hand on her shoulder. Keira sighed, “Alright . . .” She turned to face me. “. . . Nora’s cancer has gotten worse. She’s struggling to even get out of bed . . . We’re having to move to a different state that has a hospital with the right doctor we need.” I sat there, trying to accept the information I just received. “She got worse . . . ? What do you mean? Did she relapse and I wasn’t told?!” I yelled, standing up. Keira flinched slightly from me raising my voice. I felt guilty and took a deep breath. “I’m sorry . . .” “No,” Keira spoke up, “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you, seeing as you’re her friend.” I looked at the ground. “ . . . Is she here?” “Yes, she’s in her and Albi’s room.” I didn’t bother staying for an answer. I went straight to their room. Walking in, I saw Nora on her bed, in a tank and shorts. She looked like she was hot. Albi was next to her in a chair. They were talking when Nora saw me. “J-Julian . . . !” She said. I smiled slightly and walked up, sitting on the bed. I looked down to see her nub. She recently had her leg amputated, so I was still getting used to seeing it. It looked swollen and red, which worried me greatly. But she was smiling like nothing was wrong. Albi smiled sadly. “I’m s-so sorry for not coming to school today . . . I caused so much trouble.” I put a hand on hers. “Nora… Please shut up.” I said with a small laugh. Albi snickered slightly as well. Nora was a little surprised, but she started to laugh as well. “I’ll tell you that you just missed a recap day.” I said, making them both sigh in relief. After a few hours of us chatting about random things, Keira called us for dinner. Since Nora couldn’t come to the dinner table, we brought it to her. We grabbed a little table, put it in between the two beds, and put the food up there. I helped Nora sit up so she could eat, staying where I was on her bed. Albi and Keira, however, sat on Albi’s bed. It was actually a very fun night. We talked about old memories and things. But… I had to leave so they could finish packing and leave before the morning I looked at the time and sighed. “I guess I should go now . . . ” This made Albi and Nora sad. I felt horrible. I hugged Nora as best as I could, which made Nora cry some. I smiled a little. “It’s okay, we’ll see each other again. One day…” I pulled away and turned to hug Albi, but he already had his arms around me. I felt him put his whole weight onto me as he sobbed. I hugged him tightly. “It’s okay . . . Shush . . . ” I felt guilt wash over me for having to leave. Why couldn’t I just go with them? But then I remembered my parents. I couldn’t sneak out without one of them knowing. I sighed as Albi backed away. “I . . . I’ll miss you . . . ” He said, wiping away his tears. “I’ll miss you too . . . ” I said, feeling horrible. I sighed and hugged Keria tightly. I tried not to cry, but I couldn’t help it. I broke down in her arms. Keira felt horrible. She picked me up and carried me to the front door as I sobbed in her arms. Albi tried his best not to start crying again as well. Nora tried her best to comfort him. As Keira sat me down at the front door, I hugged her one last time. “Everything will be okay, Julian, we’ll be back soon…” She spoke softly, petting my head. I pulled away, sighing. “ . . . Goodbye Keira, thank you for being here for me.” She nodded in response, giving me my backpack. I took it and tossed it over one shoulder. Keira opened the front door. I looked at her, smiled sadly, then dragged my feet out the door. I flinched at the door closing. It felt as if my heart shattered. I walked down the sidewalk, staring at the ground. I couldn’t help but cry. I just decided to head home, considering it was already 8:00pm. When I finally made it home, my front door swung open. There stood my father, pissed off as always. I just walked in, not even paying any attention to him. My father grabbed me by my hood, dragging me back to him. “Where the hell have you been?” He yelled. I stayed silent, honestly not caring about what he had to say. He dragged me into the living room and tossed me onto the couch. My mother glared at me. “Why are you back so late?” She asked, crossing her arms over her chest. “It’s 8 o’clock, mom . . .” I said, sitting up. My father shoved me back down onto the couch, “Shut your mouth, boy!” He yelled. I hate his voice. I just ran to my room before one of my parents could stop me. Once I got in, I locked the door. I dropped my backpack onto the floor and crashed onto my bed. I didn’t bother changing my clothes. My parents started banging on my door, making me cover myself in my blanket. I covered my ears with my pillow. I squeezed my eyes closed, silently crying. At some point, I cried myself to sleep. I woke up pretty early that morning. It was around 5am, an hour before school started. I stared at the ceiling, feeling almost emotionless. I thought to myself, ‘I can’t keep living like this . . . I can’t live anymore . . .’ I got up, not bothering to change into new clothes. I grabbed my backpack and sneaked out, not bothering to eat anything. I dragged myself to school, keeping my head down. Once I got there, I went in the back way to make sure no teachers caught me. I went up to the roof, walking towards the edge. I sat down, my legs hanging over said edge. I took off my backpack and grabbed my notebook from in it and a pencil. I ripped a page out and closed it, putting the paper on top. I still remember what I wrote, every word . . . “Dear the world To The World, When you read this, I will be gone from this horrible place. I can’t stand to be here any longer. Everyone says mean words, and the only family kind to me moved away. I’ve lost my reason to live . . . My parents made this feeling worse. They abused me, yelled at me, called me a waste of space. I’ve reached my breaking point. Goodbye, Julian Oakley Since it was a little windy, I got some tape that I had in my backpack and taped the note to it. I decided to wait a little while when I saw school busses starting to line up in front of the school. As people came out, I stood up, barely over the edge. Someone pointed up at me and everyone started to panic and scream. But I didn’t hear them. I heard birds tweeting, I heard the gentle wind blowing. I closed my eyes and I jumped. . . Everything went silent, black. . . I don’t really remember the impact, I don’t even remember hearing a thud. . . The next moment, when I opened my eyes, I was standing at the school entrance, I saw an ambulance, red and blue flashing lights, people crying and . . . Albi and Nora. Why were they here? I ran up to them but they didn’t see me. Nora was in a wheelchair though, Albi stood next to her. Both of their faces were red from crying, their eyes as well. I felt guilty. On Nora’s lap, there was a gift. It . . . had my name on it. They. . . They stayed to say goodbye. Oh gosh, what have I done? I tried to run away from the school, but I just appeared there again, I was stuck. After maybe a week of, well, being dead, I was laying on a bench, staring at the sky. I had honestly lost all my emotions. I felt empty. I closed my eyes for a moment and I was in a graveyard. I was startled by this. I looked around, panicking. But then I looked ahead of me. I froze in place. I saw Nora and Albi. They were dressed in black. Nora was crying so much, but Albi stood there, looking emotionless. Tears still rolled down his face. Albi was looking at something, I turned and saw a coffin. It had my body in it, I bet, heh . . . I saw my parents were there. My mother was. . . crying? That doesn’t make sense. I looked at my father, he was hiding it well, but I saw the tiniest little smirk on his face as he held my mother close to his chest. I clenched my hand into a fist out of anger but then heard a man speak. “Today we are here to honor the death of Julian Oakley. A young sixteen year old boy that, sadly, took his own life. . .” My mother cried louder to sell the bit they were doing, which only angered me more. “He was a very troubled child, snapping back at his parents, not many friends in school, but he was kind to his friends, Nora and Albi.” He motioned to the two children. They didn’t give a reaction. The man felt a little awkward after this, but moved on. It was really weird, hearing what he had to say about me. Most of it made me sound like the worst child living with the best parents. Finally he finished his long speech and I saw Albi and Nora walk up to the coffin. Nora put her hand on it, Albi doing the same. I looked where my parents were standing before, but they were already gone. I glared slightly in that direction then looked back at my friends. I sighed, feeling horrible. “I . . . I’m so sorry I did this to you, Julian.” Nora muttered through her sobs. “It's all . . . It’s all my fault.” “No!” I said, “You had nothing to do with my choice!” Though she did not hear me. Albi shook his head, grabbing the handle bars to the wheelchair and rolling her away. They headed to a car with Kiera crying in the driver’s seat. I turned my back to them. I couldn't stand it. The one woman who had ever been kind to me, crying . . . It made me feel sick. Suddenly I was back at the school. I looked around, seeing no one. I hadn’t felt more lonely in my life. I sighed and sat down on the bench I was on before, staring down at the ground I’d be stuck on for the rest of my undead life . . . THE END.