Misfortune and Sorrow Go Hand in Hand

Walking through the corridor, a very worried looking Miss Pavitt called me over to her office. Miss Pavitt was the school’s councillor, but my life being mostly bearable as it was, I had never really felt a need to talk to her before.

“Chelsea – Can we talk?” she asked me, just a hint of hesitation in her voice.

I could tell something was wrong, so I nodded my head immediately and allowed her to lead me into the slightly claustrophobic room. She asked me to sit down, and settled herself in a chair on the other side of the desk.

“I have some bad news, Chelsea.” She said softly “It’s about Bryony…”

Alarm bells were going off in my head. I knew what she was going to say. I couldn’t bear it if I lost someone again. My Dad was already gone…and now Bry too?

“She’s dead…” I whispered. It was really more of a statement that a question.

Miss Pavitt nodded silently.
It’s amazing how your life can change drastically in a matter of seconds. You could win the lottery, get engaged, or maybe meet your soul mate. Life can do amazing things with two brief seconds, but for me, it had managed to rip away my only real friend in the whole world. Fifteen minutes ago I’d been worrying over my stupid English lesson, and now this.

I must have sat there for at least a minute in complete silence before Miss Pavitt called my name gently. When I didn’t reply, she crossed the room and pulled me into a hug. I sat still, hoping that if I didn’t respond, she might finally get the message and leave me alone. She didn’t.
It felt like the room was closing in on me, another minute in there and I was sure I’d suffocate, so I pulled myself up from the chair, away from her pitying eyes. I had to get away from this place.

When I walked out of the school building, and out of the front gate no-one tried to stop me. Obviouslty no-one had noticed, or maybe they just didn’t care. I needed some time to calm down, and finally decided on my destination. There was a place not far from here I remembered from when I spent the day with Bry a couple of years back.

After about an hour, I was sat on the grass looking out over the horizon, past the fields and the buildings, straight onto the sea. I felt calmer already. Bry and I had sat here for hours that evening. I glanced across the ruins of the castle that used to stand here, and focussed on a small piece of stone to the right of my current position. To me, even though it was just a piece of an old building, it bought back a memory that I’d almost forgotten.

-Flashback-

“Why are we here Bry?” I asked feigning boredom.

She turned and gave me a stern look.

“Can’t you just shut up for a while and enjoy the scenery?” she replied, laughing.

Spending time with Bryony was probably my favourite thing to do in a day, and the thing is, she knew that. That’s how we’ve got away with playing around all the time. We had been walking for practically the whole day, and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t getting tired. Seeing her so amused at the current situation, though, I tried to keep myself awake.

“Fine.” I joked, poking out my tongue, “I’ll shut up then.”

I managed to stay silent for about two minutes before her supposedly ‘annoyed’ face made me burst into a giggling fit. It was obvious she had been doing it on purpose, because she ended up joining me. This was typical of us, really. One would start laughing and then the other couldn’t help but do the same. We could go on forever it seemed.
I took a deep breath in an attempt to calm down, and got up from the log which I had been sitting on.
“Can we go home Bry?” I sighed, “I’m really tired.”

She turned to face me and nodded, smiling softly. She really was an absolute angel.

-End of flashback-

That had been one of the best days of my life, until Bry had tripped over that stone. She twisted her ankle and I had to help her walk the rest of the way back. She laughed at that. She said it was my fault for not appreciating the scenery like she’d told me to.

Thinking back to the conversation this morning, I realised I didn’t even know what had happened to Bryony. I felt a pang of guilt right then. I hadn’t even realised that she wasn’t in English first period either. I was a lousy friend to her, and this I decided, was my punishment. If I didn’t look out for my friends, I didn’t deserve them. I had no tears to cry for Bry. When I lost my dad last year I made too much of a fuss. I cried my eyes out for days, yet it didn’t bring him back. It would just be pointless now, I resigned.

By the time I got home, it was past five, and I knew my mum would be furious. I was supposed to come straight home from school, or phone her to tell her if I was going to be late. Essex wasn’t the safest place, for a young girl like me, apparently. On a school day I would have been home around four, and I hadn’t phoned either.

Stepping in to the hallway, I half expected my mum to start interrogating me on my whereabouts. Doubtless the school had told her I’d bunked, but then they probably also told her about Bry too. Maybe I would be excused today.

I found mum in the kitchen, making dinner. I hoped that I could just sneak upstairs to my room without her noticing me.

“Hey Honey.” She spoke calmly, alerting me to the fact that she must have either seen or heard me walk in. Either way, she knew I was here now.

“You know…” she continued, “the school phoned me this morning.” She paused, waiting most likely for a reply that I wasn’t going to give.

“Do you want to talk about it?” she pressed.

“No, I’m fine.” I replied, knowing my words sounded too stiff for even my mum to believe.

Thankfully she didn’t press the issue, and went back to stirring the risotto. I took this as my cue to head upstairs. Once inside my room, I pulled off my school blazer and shoes and collapsed onto my bed. Today had been too much, and although I wanted to sleep, I just couldn’t seem to let go.