A Step to Love
Sasha
First stare at the clock; 9:58am. Second stare at the clock; 10:34am… Third stare at the clock; 11:13am. Fourth stare at the clock; 11:45am.
The TV didn’t seem to care enough to show me anything interesting as I flicked through the channels over and over again. I sighed in frustration as I heard the talking sponge squeal excitedly after catching, yet another, stinking pink jellyfish.
“Don’t change that!” Jake yelled next to me, almost breaking my eardrum.
We were the only ones left in the house. The others had already left to the Fair since seven in the morning and we even told Nana to take the day off, again—just because she actually deserved it.
A quick thought crossed my mind as to what were Pat and George doing right now in Denmark, but then I decided not to think about it further. Strange images could start getting inside my head, and let’s face it; my bowl of Cookie Crisp was way too good to puke it out.
“B-but—” Jake made an imaginary zipper to hush me.
Desperately, I threw the remote control onto his lap. Then, I stood up and walked toward the small closet next to the stairs. In there, I kept all of my belongings, starting with my most prized possession; my silver chest.
I took it and my diary out of one of the shelves and walked toward the dining room, pressing them hardly against my breasts. I sat one of the chairs and lifted my hands toward the silver necklace my father had given me, then, when I was sure Jake’s eyes were completely taken by the images of the TV, I opened it, revealing a small silver key. I took the key, carefully not to drop it and used it to open my chest.
I always loved remembering the old times and good memories I kept in here.
My eyes smothered the plastic face of the old photographs of my family and the ones I secretly kept of my friends. I giggled to myself as I held a very weird picture of Alex eating some weirdly made tofu. I didn’t know how he could shove that down. That thing looked absolutely disgusting covered in weird vegetables and oil.
“What do you have there?”
I jumped as the sound of Alex’s dried voice from up front. Abruptly, I took the things and placed them on the silver chest, closing it seconds later. I inhaled deeply.
“Lilly,” Brit gasped, rushing into my arms. I jumped again as I saw the rest of my friends walk a few feet behind her, covered in wetness and worry. I ignored them for a second and turned to Brit whom I hadn’t seen sob so much since the day Jenny wore her first pink skirt at school, offending her immediately, as she had said.
Yeah, she was weird.
“What’s wrong, baby?” I whispered, caressing her golden hair slowly. I heard her sniff, before pulling away. She looked torned with those huge bags under her eyes and when I turned to the rest of the gang, all of them looked pretty much the same.
“Lilly,” she whispered again, but didn’t finish her sentence. She looked like she couldn’t exactly say more than that.
But, I knew what was going on, so, I laughed. “Guys, stop it. I told you last night I am not gullible.” But they didn’t reply which caused me to groan slightly. “Guys!” I pushed Brit’s arm playfully. “You look as if somebody died.” I laughed again, but they still stood there motionless making the smile disappear rather slowly from my face. “Guys?”
Joe sighed, a tear making its way down. “Sa—” He paused to breath heavily for a minute.
I immediately noticed that someone from the gang was missing and that that could’ve been the cause of what the hell was going through their minds.
“Where’s Sasha?”
I saw Brit hold her breath as Gaby’s croaky voice spoke. “Sh—she…she’s dead, Lilly,” he whispered and I saw a million things go through his eyes. Mostly, trapped tears ready to launch.
I sighed and looked at my shaky palms before speaking. “T—that’s not funny.”
“Of course is not,” I heard Gaby speak. He lifted my gaze by taking a hold of my jaw. “Lilly, I knew you were going to be in denial, but...”
I stood up from the chair slapping his hand off in the process. “How dare you?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
I scoffed. “How can you be such a bad friend, Gabriel?” I pointed toward all of them. “All of you, actually… Just because we don’t know where she is, you don’t have to claim her dead!”
Gaby’s face turned red as I said that. He abruptly took my wrist and locked his fingers around it. “I am not claiming her dead, Lillian! Brit found her on the way home!” he yelled between sobs.
I pulled away from his hold a little bit, taking some of it in, but not exactly processing it correctly. “What?”
“She was shot!” he kept on yelling, “and hurt ....and bleeding! We had to call the police!”
And then, the truth hit me. Like a comet that was discovered by the most prestigious scientists of the world. I started moving my head from side to side in a weak attempt to shake his words off, but it seemed simply worthless as I heard Brit sob his last words over and over again like trying to wrap her mind around it.
I didn’t say anything as Alex’s hand held mine. I watched his tears run down like never before and as much as I wanted to believe it, I couldn’t.
Sasha…dead…Sasha…dead.
The TV didn’t seem to care enough to show me anything interesting as I flicked through the channels over and over again. I sighed in frustration as I heard the talking sponge squeal excitedly after catching, yet another, stinking pink jellyfish.
“Don’t change that!” Jake yelled next to me, almost breaking my eardrum.
We were the only ones left in the house. The others had already left to the Fair since seven in the morning and we even told Nana to take the day off, again—just because she actually deserved it.
A quick thought crossed my mind as to what were Pat and George doing right now in Denmark, but then I decided not to think about it further. Strange images could start getting inside my head, and let’s face it; my bowl of Cookie Crisp was way too good to puke it out.
“B-but—” Jake made an imaginary zipper to hush me.
Desperately, I threw the remote control onto his lap. Then, I stood up and walked toward the small closet next to the stairs. In there, I kept all of my belongings, starting with my most prized possession; my silver chest.
I took it and my diary out of one of the shelves and walked toward the dining room, pressing them hardly against my breasts. I sat one of the chairs and lifted my hands toward the silver necklace my father had given me, then, when I was sure Jake’s eyes were completely taken by the images of the TV, I opened it, revealing a small silver key. I took the key, carefully not to drop it and used it to open my chest.
I always loved remembering the old times and good memories I kept in here.
My eyes smothered the plastic face of the old photographs of my family and the ones I secretly kept of my friends. I giggled to myself as I held a very weird picture of Alex eating some weirdly made tofu. I didn’t know how he could shove that down. That thing looked absolutely disgusting covered in weird vegetables and oil.
“What do you have there?”
I jumped as the sound of Alex’s dried voice from up front. Abruptly, I took the things and placed them on the silver chest, closing it seconds later. I inhaled deeply.
“Lilly,” Brit gasped, rushing into my arms. I jumped again as I saw the rest of my friends walk a few feet behind her, covered in wetness and worry. I ignored them for a second and turned to Brit whom I hadn’t seen sob so much since the day Jenny wore her first pink skirt at school, offending her immediately, as she had said.
Yeah, she was weird.
“What’s wrong, baby?” I whispered, caressing her golden hair slowly. I heard her sniff, before pulling away. She looked torned with those huge bags under her eyes and when I turned to the rest of the gang, all of them looked pretty much the same.
“Lilly,” she whispered again, but didn’t finish her sentence. She looked like she couldn’t exactly say more than that.
But, I knew what was going on, so, I laughed. “Guys, stop it. I told you last night I am not gullible.” But they didn’t reply which caused me to groan slightly. “Guys!” I pushed Brit’s arm playfully. “You look as if somebody died.” I laughed again, but they still stood there motionless making the smile disappear rather slowly from my face. “Guys?”
Joe sighed, a tear making its way down. “Sa—” He paused to breath heavily for a minute.
I immediately noticed that someone from the gang was missing and that that could’ve been the cause of what the hell was going through their minds.
“Where’s Sasha?”
I saw Brit hold her breath as Gaby’s croaky voice spoke. “Sh—she…she’s dead, Lilly,” he whispered and I saw a million things go through his eyes. Mostly, trapped tears ready to launch.
I sighed and looked at my shaky palms before speaking. “T—that’s not funny.”
“Of course is not,” I heard Gaby speak. He lifted my gaze by taking a hold of my jaw. “Lilly, I knew you were going to be in denial, but...”
I stood up from the chair slapping his hand off in the process. “How dare you?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
I scoffed. “How can you be such a bad friend, Gabriel?” I pointed toward all of them. “All of you, actually… Just because we don’t know where she is, you don’t have to claim her dead!”
Gaby’s face turned red as I said that. He abruptly took my wrist and locked his fingers around it. “I am not claiming her dead, Lillian! Brit found her on the way home!” he yelled between sobs.
I pulled away from his hold a little bit, taking some of it in, but not exactly processing it correctly. “What?”
“She was shot!” he kept on yelling, “and hurt ....and bleeding! We had to call the police!”
And then, the truth hit me. Like a comet that was discovered by the most prestigious scientists of the world. I started moving my head from side to side in a weak attempt to shake his words off, but it seemed simply worthless as I heard Brit sob his last words over and over again like trying to wrap her mind around it.
I didn’t say anything as Alex’s hand held mine. I watched his tears run down like never before and as much as I wanted to believe it, I couldn’t.
Sasha…dead…Sasha…dead.