Ella's Life

HE CARES

It's been a week and everyone kept talking about how humiliated I was and I couldn't even attend P.E. on Thursday last week, but I don't plan on letting that weigh me down anymore.

I was going to dodgeball practice when someone pulled me from behind, and when I turned it was Jake standing in front of me and he said

"Skip P.E. with me,.just for today"

Then I asked him,

Why should I skip P.E. with someone like you, we're not friends last I remember and also, you and I don't really have a good history, so it'd be best if we kept things the way they are now.

"The OMG girls are planning to do something worse than what they did last week and I don't know what it is, but I know that you can avoid it if you come with me, just this once and that's it" He replied.

He didn't look like he was lying, neither did he sound like it, but I still didn't want to trust him, even though he seemed very convincing.

Well, long story short, I ended up going with him and well it wasn't quite bad. We left through the back gate so no one would see us sneak out, he had already kept his bike there, so we got on and he took me to a garden, it was filled with roses and every other kind of flower that made you feel at peace with your soul.

He walked me through the garden and then we got to a spot where we sat, then he asked me

"What is your name, for the hundredth time"

It's Ella, I replied. You have a really nice name, he replied. Thank you, I said blushing.

The garden was peaceful and quiet, the silence was deafening, then he broke the silence saying

This was my mum's favorite place when she was still alive, she would take me here whenever I felt down, and whenever she felt down too, she'd find her way here. We always came here to celebrate little things and she loved sitting in the garden with just my little sister and I. But then everything comes to an end I guess, even the most beautiful ones.

Confused about what he meant, I asked,

What do you mean by everything comes to an end?

He replied with sadness in his voice,

Two years ago, my little sister had an accident while coming home from school, not that she was all that little, she was 12 and she was able to take care of herself, I should have walked her back home, it was my job as her older brother to be there for her, but I was too busy with my friends and told her to go home on her own, when the accident happened, the driver left her bleeding on the road, she had sustained an injury on the head, but he didn't care.

Someone saw what had happened and managed to take my little sister to the hospital, he took her phone and called my mum, seeing that her contact was on most recent calls, by the time my mum got to the hospital, my sister was already dead, when my mum heard this, she fainted on the spot and that was also the last time she breathed ever again, my mum died on hearing the news of my sister's death. Ever since then I couldn't forgive myself, I felt that they'ed still be alive, still here with me if only I walked my sister home like every normal brother, but I was just too busy with my stupid friends that I let two deaths happen at once.

I felt pity for him and a sense of guilt too, I judged him too soon and it didn't feel nice.

I tried comforting him.

My hands rested on his shoulder and I told him, what happened that day wasn't your fault, you just weren't there at the right time which, and that is a normal circumstance that every human had to face once or twice in a lifetime, stop beating yourself up for a mistake that's irresponsible and focus solely on doing what would make your mom and sister happy. I felt his tensed shoulders loosening up now and he felt more at ease. He could be more nicer than the first impression I had of him, maybe he was just that way because of the incident two years ago which he felt he could've prevented or he was just being a dickhead and a mean asshole out of habit, but either way I want to know him more.

So tell me, what exactly do you love about this place, I asked.

Well, I like the fact that you can just watch nature take it's course, this place is peaceful and calm at any time of the day, there'd hardly be any reason not to like it, he said.

I was still admiring the beauty of the place when I heard a lighter click behind me, when I turned, I found Jake with a cigarette in his mouth, apparently he maybe just wasn't the kind of person the new image in her mind had formed.

Seriously? I said with utter disgust in my tone, just five minutes ago you were moping and now you want to smoke? You're still the same person I thought you were at first, just worst, and I hate myself for actually allowing you to drag me here, I snapped.

Still looking confused, he put the un-lit cigarette back into the cigarette pack and shoved it in his pants back pocket.

Look, I'm sorry if the cigar made you uncomfortable, I had no idea that you were against smoking, every other girl I brought here was fine with it and that's why I thought you'd be fine with it too.

"Every other girl" I said with a scoff, you seem to have a reputation among the ladies right, that's really nice, well whenever you're ready you can meet me back at school.