Come Save (A Cut for Me, A Cut for You)

This is for my NEHS application! Reviews needed! *Inspired by the song Come Save by Sarah Reeves*

Adriel lay in her bed, the satin sheets tangled between her legs. Salty tears slid down the sides of her face as she cried. Depression hurt. The feeling of agony was like a knife twisting in her gut as she tried to push the thoughts away; thoughts that could ruin her. She'd promised herself that she wouldn't slip up and that she wouldn't let anybody find out that anything was wrong. But, the new boy in her AP Calculus class had noticed. Adriel had left class early to escape his calculating eyes and probing questions.

 

And that was the end of her secret.

 

 

"Listen... I was wondering. Are you busy Thursday night?" he asked, catching her at the end of class. Adriel hesitated, looking around him at the other students leaving the classroom.

 

"I have work from three to eight." she answered.

 

"I was thinking that maybe we could go get some dinner? At the diner?" he said it as if he wasn't sure if that was where he wanted to go. She tried a small smile, and pushed a stray auburn curl away from her eyes.

 

"I'd like that." she said feebly. He smiled, and walked to his next class. Adriel sighed and grabbed her books for her British Literature class, wondering if he had some motive behind asking her.

   

Later in the afternoon, she looked him up on Facebook, typing in the name Hadley Jergons. He was a popular kid, having almost two hundred friends. She requested him as a friend, and quickly logged off. Adriel glanced over her room, the black bedding and blankets tangled on the floor. A box of tissues sat beside her low bed, about three fourths gone. The trash bin on the other side was full of used Kleenexes; wet from wiping away late night tears. She bent over, picking up the sheets and carrying them to the laundry room. The trash can was emptied, and the tissues placed back in the kitchen. Adriel had to try her best to go back to how she was before the death of her brother, before the problems with her parents started and the rejection letters from the Ivy League colleges she had applied for. Well, she didn't know for sure about the one from Harvard, for after the first few, she left the rest unopened in fear of more rejection and disappointment.

 

The unopened letters sat on the desk by her laptop, and they were threatening. She moved them, hiding them inside of a book called Come Save: A Cut for Me, a Cut for You, one that she had never even opened and that she would soon have to return to the school library. The fact that her mother hadn't noticed them sitting there while cleaning Adriel's room was shocking. Normally, she was involved in everything that Adriel did for school and college. But, they had gone unnoticed, and that was fine by Adriel.

 

On Thursday, Adriel left school at two thirty, right when the bell rang, and drove to where she worked at the public library. The head librarian said hello, and continued helping a young teenage girl fill out an application for a library card. Adriel immediately went into the back room and hung her jacket on the coat rack. It was a simple Nike pullover that zipped halfway down.  She pushed her hair over her shoulder, and began working, placing books back on the shelves and checking them in at the front desk. The hours passed by as Adriel sorted books, stacked them, and carted them around the two story library.

 

At eight thirty, Adriel met Hadley at the local diner, settling into a booth across from him.

 

"Thanks for inviting me." she said, placing her purse next to her.

 

"Thank you for coming." Hadley replied with a smile. They ordered their food, and waited for it to arrive.

 

"There's a reason I asked you out to dinner." Adriel stared at him, shocked. So, there was an ulterior motive behind the date. "I saw a bottle of meds in your bag. I thought that there was like a reason that you were taking them; like for something other than depression..."

 

"I'm not a drug addict. My older brother died awhile ago, before you moved here, and soon after my parents filed for divorce. And then I got some rejection letters from the colleges I applied to, and it just all built up, and I went crazy. I tried to jump off the train tracks at the bridge, and somebody stopped me before I could do it. That's why I take the medicine. I'm not going to OD on them. I just can't do it." she blurted. Hadley held her hand, and squeezed it gently. "I still have some letters from some colleges that I haven't opened yet. I'm scared that it'll be more rejection, and I don't think I can deal with that. At least not now."

 

"Who are they from?" he asked. "The unopened ones?"

 

 

"Harvard, Brown, North Carolina, Dartmouth and Columbia. I got rejection from Duke, Cornell, Yale, and Princeton." 

 

 

"Wow. You applied for almost every Ivy League college? That's amazing. I wouldn't have the nerve to apply to more than one! Why did you apply for the Ivy League?"

 

"My parents have always had high expectations for me when it comes to my grades. If it weren't for them, I would be going to a community college or a state college. I don't think I can stand staying here in New Hampshire." They continued talking, and eventually their food arrived. The couple conversed lightly over the supper, talking about school, and the paper they both had due on Monday in their AP Literature and Language class.

 

After the meal was over, they stood in the parking lot, an awkward silence thick between them. 

 

"Do you mind if I come over?" Hadley asked, his dark brown hair falling into his eyes. "I want to see this stack of letters."

 

"My room isn't exactly clean..." Adriel knew that it was a complete lie, but she wasn't sure if she wanted him in her room. She hadn't had a date at her house since her sophomore year, two years ago. "But I guess it's alright. You can ride with me, and I'll bring you back." Hadley accepted, and they drove her Jeep Liberty to her house. Adriel's mom was home, sitting in the living room. Through the windows, Adriel could tell that she was watching TV. They went inside, and she quickly introduced Hadley to her mom. She led him to her bedroom, glad that she'd decided to clean it up on Tuesday.

 

Adriel pushed open the door, and stepped inside, Hadley following her. She grabbed the book that had the letters in them, pulled them out and handed them to Hadley. He leafed through them, and then opened one. Adriel knew it was the one from Dartmouth, because she'd looked at the envelope so many times that she could describe it with her eyes closed, just like the rest. She watched him as he read it. His facial expression didn't change at all; remaining characterless and unexcited. Once he finished them, Hadley smiled.

 

"Do you want to know what they say?" he asked, holding them out for Adriel. She hesitated, and then nodded.

 

"I want to hear it from you first." Adriel stated, holding the opened letters in her hands, but not looking at them.

 

"Dartmouth, North Carolina, Harvard, and Columbia have accepted you." At first, what he's said didn't register with Adriel. But then it hit her. She didn't have to worry about it anymore! Adriel wouldn't have to dread going to a community college. Hadley grinned as she read over the letters, and she smiled too. The Brown rejection letter was tossed over her shoulder as she hugged Hadley.

 

"That is such a relief. I wouldn't have known what to do if I didn't get in."

 

"Well, you applied to so many, somebody had to accept you. Congratulations." He pulled Adriel into a tight embrace, and laughed with her at the joyous moment. Adriel pulled away from him, wiping a few rogue tears away.

 

"Thank you Hadley. If you hadn't have opened them first, I would've left them in that book for a long time. My parents will be so proud of me. Tristan would be too if he were here." she said, mentioning her older brother. "He was at Dartmouth a year before he passed away. I want to be the person who people remember him by, and I want my parents to realize that they still have a child left, even though they don't talk to each other anymore." She looked at the book that had held the letters, and held it to her chest. She was going to read it now, since it had her so much fortune in her eyes. Adriel smiled, a real and brilliant smile. It wasn't her last.

Author's Note

Don't ignore anything! If you see a grammer issue, or spelling, or anything else, please comment! Thanks! :)

Reviews

[Last Lying Look]

This is an amazing story!
At first I thought it was going to be quite a sad, upsetting story
yet it was actually quite uplifting.
Excellent write!
-Elissa :)

[Zissors]

Good story, a short story with an uplifting moral. I liked it.

Thanks for posting.

[Jake Mancini]

I really enjoyed this story.
It is very uplifting and written well.

[XxToxicAngelxX]

That was a really good story. I could really relate to it. Great job!

[LivingHope.]

I finally finished it! The time and date is:: 17.31pm on 4/23/09! YAY! Now for the editing portion!