Lea slowly comes into consciousness, rubbing her eyes groggily. Then, as if struck by lightning, she bolts upright and looks around, gasping for air. She is surprised to find herself in the health center, lying on one of the beds. She looks around frantically, searching for a teacher -or anyone, really- who can tell her what's going on. Her eyes focus on a figure next to the bed she is lying on.
"Josh!" she yells, shaking his arm as hard as she can. He stirs, lifting his head and rubbing his eyes to meet Lea's frantic gaze.
"Lea!" He jumps up from his chair beside her bed and gives her a big hug. "You're awake! Finally!"
Lea clasps Josh's hands desperately, as if holding on to her lifeline. Her breathing is heavy, bracing for the bad news. She knew the chances were minuscule, but she can't help hope, for the tiniest chance that Dove could be alive. Her hazel doe-eyes stare up at Josh, hope obviously in her eyes.
"Is Dove alright?"
Josh's forced smile dims and fades completely. He looks away from Lea, not wanting to see the look in her eyes as he delivers the bad news.
"Dove...died." Josh grimaces, pain obvious in his eyes.
Lea pauses her movements competely. She blinks. Once. Twice. Then tears start welling up in her hazel eyes, and spill over in the corners.
Lea thinks about all that she and Dove had, all the good times and bad times they have been through. The time they skipped class together in freshman year, when Lea still had her braces. The time they went camping together in middle school and Dove got lost in the forest. The time they did all the insane stuff and find themselves laughing and lying on the ground.
It suddenly occurred to Lea that Josh might be in even more pain than her. Even though they have only been dating for a few months, they were still a sweet couple.
Josh is willing to comfort me, even while he is in pain. Lea thinks, her heart warming at the sentiment. Compared to the part of her that has turned ice cold from the news of Dove's death, she feels awfully weird. Her emotions are all scrambled, and Lea doesn't know what to do with them.
"I am so sorry, Josh." Lea places her hand on Josh's, trying to comfort him with the warmth of her touch. Josh's steady breathing grows slightly unsteady.
Lea notices, and grimaces at the sight of Josh in so much pain.
"Just...let it out, Josh." She rubs his hand softly, soothing him as he finally lets go of the tight grip he had on himself.
The empty corridor echoed with slightly muffled cries- a deep and sorrowful, and one soft and breathy. They seem to echo through the entire school, through the classrooms where they studied together, through the hallways where they laughed and joked in all the breaktimes throughout the years, and through the great lawn where they had their lunch together for so long. Seaside High won't be the same without Dove.
The next day, Lea came to school with red, puffy eyes. She barely slept the night before, tossing and turning in her covers, and ending up falling asleep from pure exhaustion. When it was time to dress up for school, she didn't even bother easing the puffiness in her eyes by using spoons. Then, instead of choosing an outfit, she put only simple black leggings and a black T-shirt. Her mom looked at her, worried that Lea had only eaten a few biscuits for breakfast before she went to school.
The news about Dove had spread like wildfire all over the school by the day. Lea coould hear whispers all around her as she shuffled towards her locker.
"...wearing all black...she knew..."
"...was Dove's bff...saw them hanging out..."
"...the poor girl...puffy eyes..."
Lea lowered her head and shuffled slightly faster, taking a bend in the corridor, and freezing in her steps.
Beside her locker, there was a group of people. They weren't there for her locker, no. They were surrounding Dove's locker. Decorating it with pictures of her cheerleading competition, the fall dance's prom queen photo, and some photos of ordinary days where Dove and her friends went out to have fun.
Lea stares at the locker.
The chatter and whisper around her seem to die down and fade into the background, her focus entirely on the locker, which seems to hold so, so many memories.
Lea closes her eyes as a wave of sadness washes over her, squating down and hugging her knees. She knew it was a bad idea to come back to school. She should have stayed home until she could get a hold of her emotions.
But she couldn't.
She can't.
She owes it to Dove. She could have stopped her. She could have helped Dove when she needed it the most. She could have told Josh and they could-
Lea gasps, not minding the people who jumped at the sudden sound. She needs to tell Josh! He...he deserves to know. Dove was his girlfriend, after all. The word no longer twiggers nausea in the pit of Lea's stomach. Now she just feels numb, like going out in winter without wearing a parka or gloves.
How would he react to this? Would he blame her for Dove's death? Would he...hate her for this?
Lea hesitates, but only for a moment. She stands up and sprints for the trach field.
"Josh!" Lea yells, no, screams, into the air. "Josh, where are-"
"Lea?" Josh sprints towards her, grabbing her shoulders and pulling her into a warm hug.
"Did you see Dove's locker? God, I should've warned you about that...Don't cry, please don't cry...It's going to be alright, okay? We'll be alright."
Lea swipes a hand over her cheek, only noticing then that her cheeks are wet with tears. She doesn't care then, doesn't care about the fact that she has a crush on her best friend's boyfriend, doesn't care that she is hugging him, doens't care the people gathered behind her, whispering and chattering.
Lea tightens her arms around him then, pressing their bodies together, and burying her head into Josh's shirt, ignoring the murmurs that erupted behind her in the crowd.
ns 15.158.61.54da2
