Chapter 51

Churches have always creeped me out, yet, at the same time, I had found them to also have a relaxing quality.

But not at this moment. All I could feel was dread.

I’m standing outside of the church, dressed in a black suit and tie, and the rain is pissing down from dark and gloomy clouds that gathered overhead.

Reluctantly, I make my way inside.

There’s an opened casket on the altar, though from my point of view, It looked as if it was empty. I wished that it was empty, but the large photo standing beside the casket told me that it wasn’t.

That this was his funeral.

In the picture, he’s smiling. Not the kind of forced smile where you can see teeth, but the kind of smile that made it seem like everything would be alright, like he was here with me.

But he wasn’t.

He was gone.

And it was all my fault.

As I make my way down the aisle, I look at the guests who are already seated. I don’t recognise any of these people. Perhaps they were his distant family members?

And why is Melissa McCarthy here?

I walk up to the opened casket and cautiously look inside.

There’s a body inside, but it didn’t belong to Grayson.

It belonged to me…

I wake up gasping for air, my forehead slick with night sweat as I sit upright.

It was just a bad dream. Thank god.

At least it wasn’t another dream about the accident. No, they weren’t dreams. They were a memory.

One that has since haunted me.

It has been almost four months now.

My mom was in remission, and Grayson was alive and in a coma.

Today’s the day that he’ll wake up. I tell myself. I’ve been telling myself that every morning since he was taken to hospital.

The driver of the vehicle that had almost hit me, and ended up hitting Grayson, had survived. If you can even call being sentenced to prison for drunk driving ‘surviving’. He ended up with a broken clavicle and a set of fractured ribs. Grayson, on the other hand, suffered a major blow to the head and ended up with a fractured spine.

A lot has changed the past few months.

I got a job at a bookstore/cafe across town, after telling my parents that I wanted to leave school, to which they were initially against, but decided that I could do whatever I wanted to. I didn’t entirely leave school, though. My teachers agreed, after a lot of convincing, that I could do my schoolwork from the comfort of my own home. That way, I could still one day maybe go to a college of my choice.

Hannah and Jake were an official couple! Which, if I say so myself, is truly amazing. I’m happy for them.

And It had turned out that the photo of Grayson and I that was posted on the anonymous forum was taken down, but not before the culprit was discovered to be someone that I never expected.

None other than Aisha Johnson, who, confessed to Principal Baker after Grayson’s run in with a drunk driver’s car.

She even apologised to me about it, claiming that she did it because she was jealous, and that she couldn’t live with the guilt.

Mitchell, to my surprise, had gotten accepted into four out of six colleges that he applied to. UCLA, Stanford, Duke and a University in Washington which I do not remember the name of.

UCLA was his and Grayson’s dream college. Well, I guess I shouldn’t say ‘dream’ college. I doubt their dreams ever involved going through extra years of school.

My bedroom door swings open, revealing Mitchell with a toothbrush in his mouth. “Get up!” He says. “Or you can walk to the hospital.”

Every day is the same.

I wake up, I have a shower, I get dressed, I brush my teeth and then we head to the hospital.

I haven’t been able to eat breakfast as of late.

The thought of eating made me nauseous, so much that whenever I did eat, it didn’t stay down for long.

After showering and getting ready, Mitchell and I head to the hospital.

“Have you decided on what college you’re going to?” I asked to avoid an awkward silence.

“I think I’m gonna choose UCLA.” He says. “It’s the closest, and I want be able to come home, you know?”

“Yeah.”

“What about you? What college will you choose when the time comes?” He asks.

“I don’t know.” I answer honestly.

“You should just come back to school.” He says. “A lot of people ask about you.”

“Maybe for senior year I will.” I say.

We arrive at the hospital shortly after. Grayson’s mother and his siblings are in the room with him.

“Hi, Miss Scott.” Mitchell greeted her.

“Hi, Mitchell. Please, call me Diana.” She insisted. Her eyes fall on me, and my entire body tensed.

She doesn’t like me. She blames me for her son’s hospitalisation, which is fair. I blame myself too.

It is my fault.

“Dallas.” She politely acknowledged my existence.

“Miss Scott.” I respond.

But Grayson being in a coma wasn’t the only reason she didn’t like me. She, like nearly everyone else in this crappy town, had seen the picture before it was taken down. She even told me that I had to stay away from Grayson during the first month. It wasn’t until Mitchell had convinced her, that she finally let me visit. Still, I could sense that she didn’t want me here.

“When will he get better?” Asked Grayson’s little sister named Everleigh. Unlike her brothers, and their mother, who all had the same caramel shade of hair, Everleigh had dark blonde hair.

“Soon.” Miss Scott says. “He’s strong, he will be alright.” She places her hand on Grayson’s arm and whispered something.

“Alright, we have to go back home and get you two ready for school.” She says, taking her children’s hands in hers. “It was good to see you, Mitchell.”

“Good to see you too, Miss… I mean, Diana.” Mitchell nods his head.

Before they walk out, she looked over at me, and I swear that it was a look of disgust, however subtle.

“She truly hates me.” I say to Mitchell when she’s gone and out of ear shot.

“No she doesn’t.” Mitchell says, walking over to Grayson. “She’s just, not a people person.”

Is anyone ever a people person?

“Alright, I’ve gotta head to school.” Mitchell says. “Please don’t sit here all day like you usually do.”

“I do not sit here all day.” I say in my defence.

“Yes you do.” He says.

He puts a gentle hand on Grayson’s shoulder before walking away and towards the door.

“See you later.”

“Bye.” I take a seat beside Grayson’s bed.

A part of me believes that me being in his presence will somehow help him to wake up. I know, it’s silly to feel that way, but still.

The doctors say he could wake up any day now. Then again, they’ve been saying that for weeks now.

“My mom is doing a lot better.” I tell him.

His hair has grown in the time since he’s been here, he even has a little beard coming through.

He looks so peaceful.

“I don’t know why I’m talking like you can even hear me. Can you hear me?” I paused. “I read online that apparently some people can. I also read that that’s just a lie, that coma patients can’t hear anything. The internet has always been controversial about, well, everything.”

I put my hand in his.

“I hope you wake up soon.” I whisper.

Later that day I was working at The Nook, which was the book store/cafe where I had gotten a job at. The hours were flexible, the pay was good, and it was a very calming place.

I didn’t know that so many people enjoyed reading and drinking coffee at the same time.

“Excuse me, sir? I’m still waiting on my coffee over here.” Said a familiar voice.

I look over and roll my eyes at her.

It was Lucy, who was seated with the rest of our friend ground by the entrance.

“Right away, Miss.” I go along with it with a chuckle.

Whenever I have work after school hours, my friends usually come and hang out, since I don’t really see them anymore.

I finish making their drinks that they had ordered and place them on a tray before carrying it over to them.

“Here are your drinks, losers.” I say, placing their drinks down on the table.

“Thank you, barista.” Cody laughed as he takes his coffee.

“Dal, are you coming to the wedding?” Asked Lucy.

“Don’t tell me Jake proposed to you, Hannah?” I joked, chuckling slightly.

“My dad’s!” Lucy stated, like I should have already known.

There’s a slight chance that she might have told me about this, and an even bigger chance that I had forgotten about it.

“When is it?” I wondered, taking an empty seat.

“It’s next month.” She answered. “And the after party is going to be epic.”

“Okay. Yeah, I’ll see if I can be there.” I sighed as I slump into the seat.

“You okay?” Asked Phillip.

“I’m okay.” I replied. “Just tired. I haven’t been able to sleep much lately.”

Every time I closed my eyes, I am taken back to scene of the accident. I’m lucky if I even get three full hours of sleep without having to relive it.

“You’ve been through so much, Dal. We just hope that you know we’re all here for you.” Cody says, reaching over to put his hand on my shoulder. “Always.”

“Thanks.” I offered a smile. “You guys are the best.”

“So, how is he?” Phillip wondered. “Grayson, I mean.”

I inhale a deep breath before answering him. “He’s still in a coma. Doctors keep saying that he should wake up soon, but…”

“He will.” Hannah says. “I know he will.”

I wanted to believe her.

“Ugh, I better get back to work.” I say, standing up.

“Ooh, can I get a scone?” Asked Cody.

“A scone?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Yeah. You guys have scones here, right?”

“If you’re an old British man having tea.” I retorted.

“What does everyone have against scones?” Cody groaned. “They literally taste amazing. And, also, they’re not just for old British men, they’re for all ages, British or otherwise.”

I walk over towards the counter.

“I’ll also take a blueberry muffin.” Cody called out.

Waiting on friends was proving to be annoying.

As I get Cody’s scone and muffin, I return to the group and place them before him before heading back to the counter when a notification alert sounded from my phone in my pocket.

I halt, reaching into my pocket to check it.

My Idiot Brother:
He’s awake.