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The Edge
I saw her standing on the edge. It was a clear spring day in early April. The temperature wasn't too warm and the breeze blowing made everyone sneeze. Everyone except her. I ran up to the roof as quick as I could to see her standing just a few centimeters from the edge. There were tears in her eyes causing the mascara and makeup to run horribly. She was looking down at all the people now gathered at the base of the tall building on campus. I don't think she even noticed me until about five minutes of me standing a few feet away from her.
"What are you doing here Eli?" she whimpered as she turned around to look at me.
"I'm here to help you Chelsea. Why don't you come down so we can talk." I could see the tears running down her pale cheeks from a mile away.
"What's the matter?" I asked
"I can't take it anymore, it's just too much," she said hiccuping a little.
"Look, just come down from there and we can talk it out, there is no need for you to do this."
"Yes there is Eli . What am I supposed to do? I've made a complete fool of myself. No one likes me. No one cares about me. My family has disowned me. People are always whispering about me since that jerk posted that video."
"That's not true Cheals and you know it."
"Oh don't play coy with me. I know you don't actually care about me.You've shown that by completely ignoring me for your jerk boyfriend," she said looking at me.
"That's not it, Chelsea. Not. At. All. You don't understand."
"I do understand. Right now it's either I jump and all the pain will be over or I step down and continue to be made fun of and not cared about for the rest of my life."
"That's not the only options though. There are so many others and again, you don't understand."
"What other options are there Eli? And what do I still not understand?" she sneered at me.
"You could step down and face all the ridicule like I know you can. What you don't understand is that I AM here for you. Chelsea, we have been best friends since the day I moved here. I care about you. So much more than you could ever imagine. Be the girl I used to know. The girl who would face the world with nothing more than a wooden stick to defend herself. Be the girl... I... " I cut myself off as I nervously inched towards her.
She started to step forward with a small, nervous, and delicate smile on her face when the next thing I knew, she slipped and I was reaching towards her, trying to scream without a single breath of air in my lungs. I remember the screams I heard down below and I didn't dare to look down. I was just... frozen... and had no idea what to think.
I was the last person to see her. What was I to tell people? It would seem like I didn't try hard enough. Like I could've helped her more. I could have saved her. I didn't even get to tell her. I should have told her when I had the chance.
"Is that all you remember, Mr. King?" the doctor asks me as I fade out of the flashback and back to lonely reality.
It's been two whole years since the "incident" yet I still remember the scene so vividly. Chelsea was my best friend all through high school, even before freshman year. At least, until that warm spring day of sophomore year. I'm now a senior at LHS, day in and day out, doing what I can to avoid that tall grey building. It was closed off for about 2 weeks while the police investigated and I honestly never would have thought she would ever do something like she did.
"Mr. King?" the doctor says, snapping me out of my trance.
"Yes?"
"I think time is up for today. Do me a favor, though."
"What's that Dr. John?"
"Stop thinking about it so much, Eli. I know you miss her but the more you think about it, the worse off you'll be."
"I'll try what I can," I say, opening the door to see my mom waiting for me. She doesn't say anything as we get into her dark blue Chevy and drive to our little brick house on Elm Street. We are both still silent as she unlocks the front door and I go to my room. Sitting on my bed, I think about everything that's happened over the last two years.
These years have basically been a total blur. Day after day, it's the same things. Wake up, go to school, go to therapy, come home, eat dinner, go back to sleep, and start again. On weekends, it's the same thing except no school or therapy. Most days, I don't go outside at all unless I have to. Chelsea was my only friend, if I could even call her that. There was so much more than just us being friends. She was the one who stayed by me when I first came out. She was the one who defended me when I was picked on in middle school. She was the one who helped me catch up with school work freshman year after I got sick. She was the one... who was always there for me. Chelsea Junes was the only girl I've ever loved. But now she's gone and she's never coming back. I fell asleep with those thoughts drifting through my busy mind and the same torturing nightmare that came like clockwork entered my sullen dreams.
I'm standing in a field I've only seen when I sleep. It seems like almost all my dreams happen here. I look down and, as expected, I see Chelsea. Something is different this time, though. She looks... alive? She opens her eyes to reveal the beautiful brown I was so used to seeing everyday and she smiles sadly once she sees me. This is different from before. In all the others, she just lied there dead and pale as we watched the scene of her death over and over again, more and more blood gathering around us. Her smile fades as I look back down at her.
"What's wrong, Eli? You look so sad," she asks me and I realize I'd started crying.
"Nothing... I... just... really miss you..." I said in between sobs, hiccuping a little. She sits up and cups my face in her hands.
"I know you do but you have to stay strong." She grunts and moves one of her hands to her stomach and coughs. More blood spatters the ground as she continues to cough.
"I'll see you soon, Eli. Don't... Forget... Me..." She says between bloody coughs. I grab her hand screaming as she goes limb and I'm back on that building two years ago. The only difference is I can see her body two stories below and everything is tinted red. Someone grabs me from behind and i toss and turn, screaming and trying to get loose from their grip.
I jump out of bed yelling like a maniac, still feeling hands grabbing my arms and pulling me away from Chelsea's body and the edge of the building into the empty black darkness. I look at my clock to see its hand strike midnight with a hushed ding. I turn on my lamp beside my bed and aimlessly wander around my room, checking to make sure everything is still in its place. Sighing, I go back over to the bed, lay down, and attempt to go back to sleep. What did she mean by 'I'll see you soon,' I asked myself. Giving up on my haunting thoughts, turn off the lamp, and fall asleep staring at the picture that's been by my side since that day.
I wake up at around 5:30 to the annoying beeping of my alarm. After doing the usual morning things, I walk down the sidewalk to the road where the bus is waiting to take me to school. My classes pass by quickly and I'm off to the lunch room. Putting my hood up, I get food quickly when I accidentally run into someone. I look up and swear under my breath.
"Hey you!" the girl yells at me, flipping her bleach blonde hair.
"I... I don't want any trouble. Sorry, I bumped into you," I say sheepishly, not wanting to get on her bad side.
"Sorry ain't gonna cut it, loser. What was your name again?" she says, grabbing me by my hoodie and sneering at me.
"Eli..."
"Aren't you the kid who tried to save that girl freshman year? You know, she got what she deserved. She was stupid, moronic, and naïve," she said
"No. Stop." I tried to cut her off but she kept going.
"She didn't even deserve to be alive."
"No. Your wrong."
"What was she to you anyway? Was she your bodyguard? Did you pay her to be your friend?"
"No..."
"Well then what was she? Huh?"
"She... She..."
"Or was she your toy? Like she was for every other guy at this school."
"NO!" I yelled and everything turned red, "Stop it! You don't know, you don't know anything! She was the only one who cared about me! She was the only girl I've ever loved!" I paused for a moment and saw the frightened looks on everyone's faces. I realized they could see all this as much as I could. I didn't want to say it aloud but they had to know. Then it happened. Chelsea showed up. Only it wasn't her. It looked like her, but it didn't at the same time. She was floating in a blood-stained white dress. Blood was dripping from her wrists, her eyes, her ankles, and her neck. And there were cuts all over her. The cafeteria was still tinted red
"Ch-Chelsea? Is... that you?" I said stuttering. She laughed and floated towards me. I say everyone around me back away, realizing I wasn't the only one able to see her.
"Yes... This... is... me... now..." she said pausing a second after every word.
"But why? You looked just fine last night."
"That... was... only... in... your... dreams... The memories... of... the ones... around you... have... caused... this..." she said. She laughed and then disappeared, along with all the tinting red. Everyone in the cafeteria seemed to black out and a quote from somewhere floated into my unconscious mind.
"I've always thought all life is precious, but I guess others have their opinions. Those opinions are the cause of all things evil in this world."
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