The final good bye

Chapter 2; I hate him

Here is Chapter Two of The Final Goodbye, revised to be around 600 words, with Elisa and Alex still as children—full of hurt, anger, and unresolved grief.

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Elisa didn’t want to see Alex again.

Not at school. Not in the hallways. Not in the classroom where his presence sat like a shadow behind her back. He was the boy who’d thrown a dagger into her grief, the boy who’d blamed her mother at the funeral.

She hated him.

So when her teacher stood in front of the class and announced, “You’ll be working in pairs for the Heritage Project,” Elisa barely paid attention—until she heard her name.

“Elisa Monroe… you’ll be partnered with Alex Rivers.”

Her heart dropped into her stomach.

“No,” she blurted out. Heads turned.

The teacher raised an eyebrow. “Is there a problem?”

Elisa sat back, biting her lip hard. Of course there was a problem. But no one else knew. No one had heard what he’d said that day at the grave.

Across the room, Alex was staring at her with the same flat expression she remembered—arms folded, face unreadable. He looked just as miserable.

When class ended, they were the last two seated.

“Guess we’re partners now,” Alex muttered.

“Don’t talk to me,” Elisa snapped.

“I wasn’t planning to.”

She stood up, grabbed her notebook, and turned to go.

Alex called after her, “Just write whatever you want. I don’t care. Put my name on it. Don’t talk to me either.”

She spun around, eyes flashing. “You think this is easy for me? Writing about my family when my mom’s gone?”

Alex looked away.

She hated him for being silent. Hated him for looking like he understood.

“I’m not doing this with you,” she said.

“Fine.”

But that night, at home, she sat on her bed and stared at a blank page.

My Family History

She wrote her name.

Elisa Grace Monroe.

Then paused.

Daughter of Evelyn Monroe.

She couldn’t write anything else. Her chest hurt. Her hands trembled. She missed her mother’s voice. Her mother’s hands. Her mother’s laugh.

A knock on her door startled her. No one was there when she opened it......