Forever and Always His

Chapter 21

Chapter 21

                Today was December 15th.

                It was the anniversary of Colette’s death, and everyone was feeling the tension. This morning when I had woken up, my mother was still lying on her bed, her face pressed against her pillow. I leaning against her bedroom door, I could faintly hear her silent sobs. I felt some grief for myself, but I hadn’t shed a tear since I had woken up. I felt numb all over, and I could hardly sleep the night before. I kept thinking back all the memories I’ve spent with her since I was four. Colette was like a second mother to be, no denying it.

                It was a miracle that I even had the strength to drag myself out of bed to go to school. I mean, everyone knew the anniversary of her death was coming in days before, but no one had really spoken about it. It was just a silent conscience that we all had in the back of our heads.

                “Hey, you’re here today.” Maria said, a slight edge of surprise in her tone.

                I turned to her, giving her a weak smile. “Of course,” I paused, letting a bittersweet silent come in between us, “why wouldn’t I be?”

                Maria’s face fell, as she gave me a look of sympathy. Before saying anything else, she placed a hand on my shoulder, before engulfing me into a bone crushing hug. “You’re so strong, Riley.” She let out a short chuckle. “Everett wouldn’t even come out of his room this morning.”

                We pulled away, as I ran a hand through my knotted hair. I had forgotten to run a comb through my hair this morning, so it was a bit of a bird’s nest as of now. “Well, I wouldn’t blame him.” I muttered. “They were really close- his mother and him.”

                Maria nodded, giving me a small smile. “I’ve heard.” She paused, before turning to me. “Maybe you should come over tonight, just to see if he’s alright. I’m sure he’d love your company.”

                I raised an eyebrow, looking at her slightly confused. “What?”

                Maria rolled her eyes, before her eyes spotted Jared down the corridor. “Don’t act like you didn’t sleep in the same bed as him on Saturday.” She teased, before giving me a small wave. “I’ll see you later.”

                I wounded up taking Maria’s advice about visiting Everett. I cut my last period class to walk over to his house. The front door was left unlock, and I knew that his father wasn’t home because his car was nowhere to be seen in the driveway. I silently wondered how Mr. Rosenfeld was coping with today.

                Once I had reached the outside of Everett’s bedroom door, I knocked slightly. I heard nothing more than a groan before I opened the door. Everett’s head was buried into his bed, his headphones plugged tight in his ears. He looked up slightly when he noticed my presence, his eyes dreary and dark. “What are you doing here?” he grunted, his voice low and hoarse.

                I sat on the edge of his bed as Everett scooted over to give me some room. I laid down beside him, staring up at his ceiling that had a poster with some inspirational quote written on it. “I don’t know.” I muttered. “Is it so bad that I actually wanted to come see you?”

                I could feel the presence of Everett’s gaze on my face, as I pursed my lips. “No.” he finally said, after a long and quite moment. “I guess not.”

                I stayed silent for a moment, before leaning over to Everett’s ear, and plucking a headphone off. I placed it in my heart, listening to the soft tunes of Ed Sheeran. As the song progress towards the chorus, I turned towards Everett, my face completely impassive. “You missed a lot during biology today.” I said to him, as he raised an eyebrow.