Her eyes were like stars in the night sky. Her voice was like music to my ears. I had the hugest crush on Audrey Rodriguez.
I shared one class with her, chemistry. Chemistry was the first period I had in the day, and it always begins very early in the morning. I always wake up early to take care of my siblings, so by the time I get to class, I'm already sleepy. I sat at my desk and put my head down to try to sleep. When I heard Audrey opening the door to the classroom and saying hi to the teacher, I immediately stood up and looked at her. She wore a yellow t-shirt and some ripped jean shorts. She had long black hair that went down to the end of her shirt collar and had brown eyes that shined like diamonds. She looked at me and waved, and I waved back. The thing is, I couldn't bring myself to actually talk to her. The second she tries to talk to me, I just freeze up. I'm fine with just staring at her and waving.
In class, I sit one row away from Audrey, so sometimes I just stare at her. Admiring her beauty. So when class finally started I overheard her talking to her friends. I just took out my earphones and started to listen.
"So, Audrey. Who is this boy you like?" One of her friends asked.
"Oh, he's a nice boy."
"What's he look like?" Asked another friend.
"He's Asian, he's a little shorter than me. He's athletic too."
One thing you need to know about me is that I am not athletic. So immediately I knew, she was not talking about me. I am Asian, and I am nice, but I am not athletic. But who knows, she might think I am athletic. I hope so.
"What else?" Asked another one of her friends.
"Well, he went to the same school as me."
"Oooo, I think I know who it is."
"Is it Darren?" asked another friend.
"Yes." Audrey said blushing.
As soon as I heard the name, it felt like I had been stabbed straight in the heart. The girl I liked doesn't like me.She liked another person. Those words hurt so much. The pain was insufferable. The bell soon rung and I went to my next class. On the way to my class she walked past me and waved at me. Did she even care about me in the first place?
The rest of the school day went by in a blur. If you asked me what happened today, I wouldn't be able to tell you. I felt like shit all day. And for good measure. Darren is one of those cool football kids who everyone loved. He was everything that I wasn't. He was good-looking, popular, athletic, and was just a good person to hang out with, in general. He also had the girl I liked, dancing in the palm of his hands. It hurt knowing she didn't like me. I always thought we had something. A special bond. I guess it was all in my head.
School was just about to end when I heard a bunch of guys tell Audrey to come to my class. They said it was something important. A few minutes later she opened the door to my classroom. Darren then got up from his seat and walked towards her. This can't be happening. Darren walked up to Audrey and grabbed her hands. Audrey then started to blush and looked away. Right towards me. We locked eyes for a moment and she looked towards Darren again.
"Audrey, I really like you. I think you're a wonderful cheerleader, and you're the most beautiful girl in the world. I was wondering if you would want to go out with me?" Darren said as he started to blush.
"YES! Oh my god!" Audrey said as she hugged him aggressively.
That was a huge blow to my heart. The girl I had the hugest crush on for the past 2 years just got asked out in front of me. Are you fucking kidding me? Tears started swelling up in my eyes. I could feel my heart breaking.
You don't get it. I really like her. I would do anything for her. I would give her my everything, whatever she asks. I would even take a bullet for her. She is my everything. She means the world to me. My vision started to blur as the bell rung.
I don't know how I got home, but I didn't question it. I headed to my room and started to cry. It hurt. It hurt knowing she'll never like me. That we'll just be friends.
A few hours later, I went downstairs to find my parents watching the news. My mom was covering her mouth in shock. She looked towards me and said "Sweetie, look." as she pointed at the TV. Audrey Rodriguez was murdered. Just then it felt like the whole world stopped turning.
Death is the final breath.
The silence after the last word.
In the simplest terms, death is the cessation of life. The body stops moving, the heart stops beating, and the soul—if you even believe in that—moves on. But in stories, death is never just a biological event. It's a mirror. It reflects what we value, what we fear, and what we love.
As I walked towards Audrey's coffin, I couldn't help but tear up. It hurt knowing that Audrey was gone. I felt more like shit. I couldn't help but feel like shit. One day she was here, then the next, she was gone.
Life is incredibly fragile—something we often forget in the rhythm of everyday routines. We're so used to the patterns of our days, the people we see, the things we plan for tomorrow, that it's easy to believe tomorrow is guaranteed. But the truth is, it's not. Death can come suddenly, without warning, in the middle of joy or sorrow, in the midst of plans, even when everything seems fine.
Sometimes it takes just one phone call, one moment, one breath too few. A sudden illness. An accident. A heart that just stops. And in that instant, everything changes. A person is gone, and the space they filled in the world becomes painfully silent.
Right now, my world is just silence. Without her, my world is horrifyingly quiet. She was like the light in my world. A guiding light, if you will. Without her, how am I supposed to live?
I stopped at her coffin and dropped a white flower into her coffin. Its a white rose. Her favorite flower. "I'm sorry you suffered a horrible death. I should've been there to help you. I'm sorry I'm so pathetic." I said as I started crying.
As I walked back through the aisle, I couldn't help but feel a wave of dread come over me. As I looked around the church, I noticed that there was a lot of people here. Mostly family and classmates. She must've meant a lot to them. I said to myself as I walked outside the church. .
After leaving the church, I headed across the street to wait for my parents to pick me up. They didn't want to attend the funeral because they don't like seeing death. They have like a death-phobia or something. Anyways, I was in a bathroom washing my hands when suddenly the door slams open. I turn my head to see three men, who wore blank bandanas around their head and had matching biker jackets, surround me. "May I help you?" I asked. One of the men (who we will call dumb, dumber, and dumbest) threw me against the bathroom stall. He had inhumanelystrength. Dumber, one of the shorter goons) grabbed me by the collar and flashed his gun in my face. "Are you Juzo Miyamura?" He asked.
"Yes." I said panting
"This fucker is the target." Dumb said (the goon that was in the middle of dumber and dumbest in terms of height)
Dumbest (the tallest one of the three) pinned me against the stall, so I couldn't move. Dumb put his gun against my head and smirked. "It's nothing personal, it's just business." He said as he pulled the trigger. BANG! The bullet shot throw my head and out the other side. I fell to the ground as the goons fled the scene.
I was now lying on the bathroom floor clinging to life. My head started to become extremely hot. I guess this is what it feels to be shot. I could feel my senses dulling. I guess this is it. This is how I die. I died being shot in the head by some low-life thugs. Aw man. This sucks. My vision started too get blurry as I began to lose conscious. The next thing I know, it's all black. Then, I hear a bell chime. I swear I have heard it before.
When I woke up, I was in my chemistry class sleeping. Class hasn't even started yet. And on my right. I see her. Audrey Rodriguez. Alive in the flesh. I had somehow traveled back in time.