"Alright were good for tonight. Have a good, long weekend!" Blaine announced to his fellow Warblers.
He took his leather bag off of the chair and walked. Ahead of him, was Jeff? Blaine could tell that something was wrong. He walked pretty fast, when usually he was the slowest walker in all of Dalton Academy. Jeff sped up, and out of impulse, as did Blaine.
Managing to shout Jeff's name while running down the hallway, he stopped in front of him. Blaine asked what was wrong. Jeff's face turned a little pink, which had been exaggerated in comparison to his blonde hair. He tried to keep running, but Blaine thought of it as a joke and kept blocking. Jokingly, he punched his friend in the arm.
"C'mon Jeff," he said with a fading smile "Tell me what's wrong." This was Jeff, the boy who always a random reason to make himself smile. The boy who Blaine had by his side since preschool.
He remembered how they first became friends. In preschool, Jeff asked if he had a pencil. Then he switched schools towards the end of third grade. They still talked, just not as much. Then in Blaine's first year at Dalton, a boy came behind him during study hall… Asking if he had a pencil. It was Jeff.
"Back off." Jeff mumbled while running home again. A few students had laughed at him, sprinting home.
Now Blaine had two choices.
1. Respect his wish and go home
2. Follow him.
He stood in the middle of the hallway, speechless and hurt. All he could do, he thought, was walk away.
The next few weeks were excruciating. Jeff was perfectly normal. The catch was, he was always dashing out of Dalton when the day was over. Blaine couldn't take this anymore. Jeff had told him everything… Through the girls, friends, school… Even pencils, for god's sake! The passed two and a half weeks had come down on him in a way he had never thought would happen.
But Blaine was overreacting.
Warblers had ended and Blaine was damn sure that they were ready for the regional show choir competition... That's it, Regionals. Was Jeff depressed over the fact that they didn't win this year? Maybe. But Jeff wasn't the type to hold a grudge. Neither was Blaine. This is how the friendship worked, it was him beside himself.
Driving slowly, he saw Jeff running faster than light into his house. Blaine took off his trademark Dalton uniform jacket, and hid behind a bush in front of the window.
"Is she okay? Where is she?"
Blaine cringed as he heard a woman crying, and unquestionably it was his mother. Jeff's dad on the other hand was telling Jeff to calm down. Where was his sister? Blaine slowly crept up to the window, not caring if any of the neighbors thought it was shady.
Jeff's mother was crying, and so was his dad. The house that he had spent most of his life in had seemed so broken. Jeff walked out the door, breaking/pushing anything he could see. He slammed the door closed, which chilled Blaine as he felt the side of the house shake. Jeff walked to the end of the driveway and fell to his knees. Head in his hands, the tears were building up. He stared at the house. Every inch of it, left to right.
And then he saw Blaine, rustling in the bushes. Blaine knew that Jeff saw he was there. What was there to do, though? If he ran, what good would that do?
"Blaine?" he whispered quietly as Blaine closed his eyes. After a couple seconds, he stepped out from the bushes. Standing awkwardly in front of the house, he kicked a pebble.
"Jeff."
"What the f- What are you doing here?" Blaine's eyes opened wide as he heard all the anger in his voice. He stuttered a bit before he managed to say anything. "I told you to leave me alone, Blaine." Jeff took a step closer. "What're you doing here?"
Nobody moved for half a minute.
"What's going on Jeff. You have to tell me." Blaine found it hard to swallow his own spit. Why was his best friend, the one he knew the best, so mysterious? Thinking back, he had to reason to be.
"I'm not telling you anything!" he yelled. Blaine sat him down on the front steps. Jeff was tearing up, so Blaine asked why he was so… Secretly, all of a sudden.
"It's complicated..." he said while getting up. Being told no, Jeff sat back down.
"I've been... running. Running home. I'm just checking on my sister, making sure she," Jeff rolled his neck "hasn't killed herself yet, alright? Can you go now?"
Blaine's eyes widened as he stared at the ground. Did this mean that…? The little girl who he spent most of his life with, had killed herself? The little girl he always dunked in the water of the pool? No, she was still that little girl... Right?
"Where is she?" he asked. Seeing Jeff's head drop basically spelled it out. Blaine knew what was up. "Oh, look I-"
"Don't. My sister told me she had something special for everyone." He walked away and as his hand touched the door, he said. "Wait. Come inside." Blaine asked why, "She took a liking to you."
"Blaine, there's a box here for you." Jeff's mom said, handing it to him. He knew she was trying not to burst into tears over her baby's death.
Blaine took the box. He shook very hard, taken that he never had an experience like this before. Looking at the big box, it was full of folded up papers, pictures and items with notes pinned on them. He saw his name on a small teddy bear, which was easily recognized as the one he had given her on her 5th birthday. There was a separate box, marked "Blaine". Why had he been given his own box?
He took it from Jeff's mom and opened it, sitting on her bed with Jeff. There was a page of her diary, torn and folded.
"Dear Diary,
It's been so long since I've seen him. This just adds to everything… Great news, right? Jeff say's he's going to Dalton now, but that's hard to believe since he hasn't come and visited me yet. Stupid Warblers."
Blaine sunk into the bed. He knew he wasn't the only reason she killed herself, but he still was one of the reasons. He wanted to die, but seeing the grief would make him feel terrible. He took more things out of the box. Most were pictures of the two, including some adding Jeff.
A month later, it was Annabelle's birthday. She would have turned 15. In memory of her, the Warbler's put on an impromptu concert for all family and friends. They performed, The Tide by The Spill Canvas. The only significant change was the lyrics from Vaida, to Annabelle.
"And he can't understand
How everyone goes on breathing when true love ends.
His mother whispers quietly;
Heaven's not a place that you go when you die,
It's that moment in life when you actually feel alive,
So live for the moment.
And take this advice, live by every word,
Love is just a hoax so forget everything that you have heard."