The Frayed Ends Of Sanity

I stared at Hartman with a disbelieving expression. “No. You can’t be serious. This has to be some kind of sick joke.”

Hartman pulled two pictures out of his pocket and laid them on the desk in front of me. I slowly leaned forward and looked at them. I felt tears stinging my eyes as I realized the pictures were indeed of my parents. They’re eyes were closed and there were holes in their foreheads with blood surrounding them.

I placed my hand over my mouth to stifle a cry of horror as I sat back in my chair. Nothing seemed to matter in the world anymore. I felt totally helpless. Some part of my brain still denied it, even with the clear evidence in front of me. It kept telling me everything was okay and those pictures were fake. I guess people who are close to you seem immortal until they do die.

“Raven, I’m very sorry,” Hartman said. This only made me cry harder.

Then, Principal Ramirez spoke up. “We’re going to give you a week off of school to pull yourself together.”

I didn’t answer. I couldn’t.

“Would you like me to take you to your car?” Hartman offered after a few moments.

I shook my head and managed to croak, “No thanks.” He nodded and I left the office, tears still streaming from my eyes.

I walked out into the hallway and found Zacky waiting for me by the door with ice pressed to his eye.

“Hey. Whoa, what’s wrong?”

I stared at him unable to tell him the horrifying news of my parents’ death. He seemed to understand I was having issues answering and pulled me into a hug.

We stood in the hallway like this for at least five minutes. I finally found the will to talk and said, “They’re gone, Zacky.”

“Who’s gone?”

I sniffed. “My parents.” A fresh wave of tears started rushing out of my eyes and Zacky squeezed me harder.

When I calmed down a little, Zacky led me back to the locker rooms so we could change. When I finished changing and left the locker room, Zacky was waiting for me outside.

“Give me your keys. I’ll take you home.”

I stared at him, but dug into my pocket and handed him my keys anyway. He obviously didn’t care about getting in trouble.

We walked out to my car and got in. The ride home was quiet except for my occasional sniffles.

When we arrived at my house, Zacky handed my keys back to me so I could unlock the door. It took a few tries because my hands were shaking so badly. Finally, I got it into the hole and turned it.

We were greeted by Cerberus at the door. I knelt down and hugged him, then went up to my room with Zacky following.

I sat on my bed, brought my knees to my chest, and placed my head on my knees. Zacky closed the door quietly and sat next to me on the bed. He wrapped his arms around me in an embrace as I cried more. Sometimes, I wondered if I deserved a friend like him.

What seemed like hours passed (it could have been a few minutes for all I knew) until Zacky let go of me. I looked up at him questioningly. I already missed his comforting touch.

“I’d better go. The school probably called mom about me leaving early, so I’ll have some explaining to do.”

“Zacky, I don’t want to be alone.” I don’t know if I was scared or just felt too alone and empty.

He seemed to think a second then said, “I have an idea so I’ll be back. I won’t be long I promise.”

I bit my lower lip then nodded. Zacky gave me one more hug before slipping out the door.