Tragedy Strikes

 

Chapter Seven

Tragedy Strikes

 

            The room burst into excitement as I took a few shaky steps until I reached the arms of my boyfriend.  He took me up in his arms and held me close, tears of joy and relief streaming down his face; bringing a smile and a few tears to my own.

 

            I had to wear these special braces on my both legs. They weren’t too bad. They are the kind of brace you would get if you broke your knee and had the cast off. The doctor said I have to wear them until I could easily run as fast as I would in a football game.  That might take a while.

 

            We all went out to eat that night at a very nice restaurant.  And I called everyone at school to let them know the good news.  Then I started preparing for graduation.

 

            My cell phone rang at about ten o’clock the night before graduation. Since the ringtone was “Every time we touch,” I knew it was Trey. He had been helping me personalize my ringtones and that is what he had set as his.

 

            I answered the phone. “Hello?”

 

            “Hey, Beautiful.” Trey said from the other end of the phone.

 

            “Hey, Hott Shot, how’s it going?” I was constantly using the name he had entered into my cell phone.

 

            “I’m doin’ fine, you?”

 

            “I’m good.”

           

            “Good. I can’t believe we graduate tomorrow.”

 

            “I know, isn’t that crazy?”

 

            “Yeah. This year really flew on by.”

 

            “It really did. So, Trey, we’re going to hang out all summer, right?”

 

            “Course we are.”

 

            “Good.”

 

            “I don’t think I’d survive if I didn’t see you everyday.”

 

            I laughed. “Oh, Trey.”

 

            “Hey turn your radio on to 94.8.”

 

            “Okay.” I turned my radio on.

 

            “Alright and now we have Beautiful Soul by Jesse McCartney, requested by Trey in Los Angelus. Dedicated to his girlfriend, Jaquelyne, with the message, ‘Jacks, I love you more than air.’” The announcer on the radio declared, and then played the song.

 

            “Oh, Trey,” I said again.

 

            “Hey I gotta go, but I’ll see you tomorrow, alright?”

 

            “Alright, Trey, see you.”

 

            So the next day, I graduated. It was a quick, boring graduation. I walked on stage, got my diploma, and that was it. Afterwards there was a huge graduation party at Trey’s Dad’s beach house. It was at Trey’s beach house because his beach house is huge! At the party, our band, Fire, played.  Besides his dad’s beach house, Trey also has his own private beach house, but it’s something that he wanted for himself, to be just his.

 

            I stayed after the party ended, and spent a day on the beach with Trey. My day was so much fun. 

           

            We watched the sunset on the beach together. Then we danced by starlight. It was a clear night and we could see every star and constellation.

 

            “The way your eyes shine could put those stars to shame.” Trey spoke up.

 

            “Oh, Trey,” I said back.

 

            In total coincidence, the song Tim McGraw by Taylor Swift came on the radio. It very much attained to the situation. It was so romantic.

 

            “Trey,” I said, “I never want this moment to end.”

 

            Trey just smiled. Right there, with me in his arms, he felt like he had the world.

 

            But it started getting too late, so I forced myself to leave. I left at about 9:30 that night, and got home at a 9:45.

 

            When I pulled up to our house, I noticed that Chad’s and Jake’s cars were in the drive way along with Zackarie’s.

 

            I walked in the house, only to see that all of my brothers were gathered in the living room with tear stained faces. Mom was not there.

 

            “Guy’s, what’s going on?” I ask.

 

            Chad stood up, startled.

 

            “Jaquie, come sit down. We need to have a talk.” The serious voice came from Jake.

 

            I set my stuff on the kitchen counter and walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch between Chad and Zackarie. Jake was sitting on the foot rest across from me.

 

            “Look, I’m really sorry I stayed out so late, it won’t happen again, I promise.”

 

“Jaquie,” he began in a serious voice, “that’s not the problem.”

 

            “Oh, that’s a relief. I – “

 

            “Jaquie.” Jake interrupted.

 

            “What?”

 

            “Listen to me.”

 

            “Okay.”

 

            Jake took a deep breath. “It’s Mom.” He started.

 

            “Mom? What, what about Mom?”

 

            He began to get choked up. “Jaquie! Don’t you get it? She’s gone, Jaquie! Gone! Your mother is dead.” He cried out.

 

            The tears began to flow. “No!” I shouted. “No, I, I don’t believe you!” I stuttered.

 

Crying, I ran up to my room as fast as any one that has recently had surgery could possibly run. I plowed face first into my bed. The highly trained and genius puppy Duke jumped up onto my bed, wining. Finally, that streak of my mother in me won out.  I was going to run. 

 

I grabbed a duffle bag and stuffed it full with everything and anything I might need.  My Coach purse was the kind that goes over your shoulder, so I still had it with me. My car keys were inside.

 

I put the long strap of the duffle bag over my shoulder and grabbed Duke, and carefully crawled out the window and climbed down to the yard.  I got into my car and sped down the street.  I knew exactly where I was going.

 

I went to Trey’s private beach house.  Few even knew that it existed. I knew where it was though because Trey had taken me there once. It was a beautiful house on the beach, very grand and yet peaceful. He also had a stable full of his own horses.

 

I parked my car and went up to the house. Just as I started to reach for the hidden spare key, I heard a noise behind me.

 

“Hey!” a demanding voice yelled out, making Duke bark.  A firm, strong hand on my shoulder kept me from turning around.  But I finally did turn around to face my opponent. Surprisingly, it was Trey; with a stuffed-full duffle bag around his shoulder.

 

“Oh my gosh, Trey, don’t you know better than to do that to someone who’s been kidnapped before? You scared me half to death!”

 

“Sorry,” he apologized. “But what are you doing here?”

 

“Running,” I said matter-of-factly. “You?”

 

“Hiding, running, it’s all the same.”

 

I could not imagine what my spoiled, rich, popular boyfriend could possibly be running from. But he did not question me, so in turn I did not question him. 

 

I was feeling incredibly sad and he seemed nervous about something. So, he did the best he could to lighten the mood.

 

After sticking Duke inside, we went horseback riding; Trey on a black stallion and I on a golden mustang.  We rode around the perimeter of Trey’s land twice before we decided to stop. We let Duke out and then Trey made a fire on the beach. After eating some smores, we sat down next to each other. I laid my head on his shoulder as we looked up at the stars, which were clearly visible that night.

 

“So what are you running from?” Trey asked.

 

“Tragedy, sorrow, grief. The cancer finally took my mother.”

 

“Oh, Jacks, I’m so sorry,” he said. Then he kissed me.

 

“So what about you, Trey? What are you running from?”

 

“My dad. You know how on the way to the prom I said I had been under a lot of stress? And I said it had something to do with my family?” I nodded. “Well,” he continued, “My mom left us. And what’s bothering me now? My dad has uh, drinking problems. He’s really a good man – except when he’s been drinking. It got really bad this time and I just had to get out of there.”

 

“Wow. That must really be hard on you.”

 

“Yeah, well. Not nearly as hard as your mom dying. I mean for you, not for me.”

 

“Yeah. What a way to start summer.”

 

“Yeah, really.”

 

“You know, Trey, my brothers are probably worried about me,” I said, starting to feel guilty for running off. It was almost midnight.

 

“Yeah, well, at least you have someone that worries about you. I’ve got no siblings to worry about me, my mom cares so little about me that she up and left us, and my dad doesn’t care about nothin’. You know, Jaquelyne, everyone thinks that I have it all together. That I have the easiest, greatest life possible. That couldn’t be farther from the truth. Money isn’t everything.”

 

At first, I wasn’t sure what to say to that.

 

“I care about you, Trey.”

 

“Yeah, and you and only you. I don’t know what I’d do without you, Jaquelyne.”

 

I sighed and laid my head back on his shoulder.

 

After about five minutes of silence, Trey got up. “I’ll be right back,” he said.

 

“Alright.” I was so tired, I was about to fall asleep then and there. While he was inside, I got up and moved into one of three lawn chairs, with Duke in my lap.

 

When Trey came back, he had some blankets and his acoustic guitar with him. He sat down in a lawn chair next to mine and handed me a blanket to ward off the cool sea breeze. 

 

“Tonight’s special would be Elvis Presly,” he said in an announcer’s voice. Being from Tennessee, he is a major Elvis fan, and his real voice actually sounds a bit like the King’s.  I smiled as he began singing playing many Elvis Presly songs. Of course he would pick the slow ones and the romantic ones, like Love Me Tender, I Can’t Help Falling in Love with You, and Are You Lonesome Tonight, to name a few.  Trey just about sung me to sleep.

 

I woke up, back in my room and in my bed.  It was 8:00 in the morning on Friday, the first official day of summer.  I walked sleepily down the stairs to see if I could salvage any coffee out of the coffee pot. Chad was in the living room.

 

“Hey,” he said, surprised.

 

“Hey,” I said back, nonchalantly.

 

“Trey called us as soon as you fell asleep last night.”

 

“Yeah,” I said, still out of it.

 

“Good thing he did, Chad was having a cow,” Zackarie said, walking into the kitchen.

 

“Oh, I was not,” Chad said defensively.

 

“Yeah you were,” Jake said as he joined us in the kitchen.

 

“Yeah? And what about you, Jake? You were like freaking out.” Chad said.

 

“Where were you? Jake was totally cool with it,” Joshua said to Chad. By now my whole family (or what was left of my family) was hanging out in the kitchen.

 

“Yeah, I’m sorry about that, guys, it’s just that –“

 

“You’re exactly like Mom.” Brock said in a quiet voice. Zackarie added a soft “Yeah” and Chad slowly nodded.

 

“So have you talked about the funeral yet?” I asked.

 

“We haven’t even found the will yet, if there is one,” Chad said.

 

“Well, let’s go find it. Mom wouldn’t have wanted us to stay sad, right? I mean, she’s going to a better place. With Dad, Anna, Chelsea.”

 

“Sierra,” Zackarie said. He was still upset about the death of his girlfriend.

 

“Right. And with Mom knowing her time was short, she definitely would have written a will. Where would she keep it?” Chad asked.

 

I smiled. “I think I know where.”

 

 

Reviews

[Elizabeth Cole]

hey that was great! very intense! add more writing ike 2day

[Kris B]

OMG!!! WRITE MORE!!! im loving this!