The Saddest Song - By Susie Kaye Lopez Page 0,16
replied with a smile, trying to keep the tone as light as possible.
“Yeah, me too,” Max said, with a half smile before gesturing down the hallway. “Well I better get to class. I’ll see you guys later.”
Before I could reply he was swallowed up by the crowd of our classmates.
“How is he really? He looks so pale,” she said.
“He just has a lot to deal with. He has to watch out for his parents too,” I explained curtly, as we both started to head down the hall. Gossiping about his state, even though it was with Caitlynn, just didn’t feel right.
“I’m glad you guys have each other,” she said. But the way she said it made me wonder if she really meant it. I knew I had neglected her. I’d been crying on Max’s shoulder instead of hers and that had to have hurt her feelings.
“Yeah, he’s as lost as I am, and that is pretty lost. It helps us to be together. It makes the pain a tiny bit more bearable,” I said softly and earnestly. I really didn’t want her to resent the time I spent with him, I wanted her to understand. To change the topic and try to stay afloat, I gestured to the coral colored sundress I was wearing.
“I owe you another thank you. If it wasn’t for you, I wouldn’t have had this dress to wear today.”
Smiling now, she took in the outfit. “I knew you would look amazing in that dress! You have to let me borrow it sometime.”
I smiled back, happy I had made her feel better. “Anytime, Cait. You have free reign of my closet as always!” We chatted for a few more moments and then parted, promising to meet up in math class. As the first warning bell sounded, I quickly headed to my first class of the day and was seated with seconds to spare when the final bell went off.
Two classes and many offers of sympathy later, the lunch bell rang and I sighed in relief. Half a day down, and my nerves were stretched to their limit. I dug the sack lunch my mom had made for me out of my locker and headed outside to find a quiet place to sit down. Before I got down the hallway I was intercepted by Max and I smiled my first genuine smile of the day.
“Hi,” I said.
“Hey! So, ready to go claim a lunch spot?”
I nodded, and we didn’t speak again until we found an empty spot on the lawn under a tree on the farthest edge of campus. Sitting down, neither of us opened our lunch but we both opened our mouths to talk at the same time. Laughing we each waited for the other to speak.
Finally Max said, “Was it as bad as you pictured it was going to be?”
“Truthfully? Worse.”
‘Yeah, for me too.”
‘Everyone is really sweet, but all the hugs and the sad stares of pity. I can just hear everyone thinking how happy they are that they aren’t me. Poor Rainey.” I shivered at the horror of it.
“Me too. How long until they forget? I’d say it wouldn’t be long but I heard the football team are all wearing Garrett’s number on their arms at the first game on Friday. And get this, Ryder Henley even got a tattoo of Garrett’s name.”
“What?” I yelled, then looked around covering my mouth. Nobody was near enough to have heard me. Lowering my voice I continued, “That’s insane. He and Garrett hated each other.”
“Yeah, well now that he is dead, suddenly they were best friends.”
“I can’t believe it, that jerk! Garrett would flip if he knew.”
“Oh, he knows,” Max said looking straight into my eyes. “He knows and he is probably laughing because that idiot will be reminded of him for the rest of his life.”
I saw the irony in his words and laughed.
“Max, I’m so happy I have you. I wouldn’t have survived this without you to talk to.” Impulsively I put my hand on his and he linked his fingers through mine and squeezed.
“Yeah, me too. I know Garrett is happy we are helping each other through this.” We sat like that for a few moments until a shrill female voice jolted us apart.
“Well, it didn’t take you long to replace your boyfriend with his twin brother!”
Looking up I cringed when I realized the voice belonged to Kelsey Carter, head cheerleader and one of the biggest gossips at our school. Kelsey and I had never