My brother died a year ago today, so I felt like writing something depressing.
So Ryan, this is for you.
Forget me not, I ask of you. Wherever your life takes you to --
"Cam Fisher?"
"Yeah?" Cam answered into his phone, breathlessly. He heard his phone ring from the sidelines while he was running laps at soccer practice.
"Hurry up, Fisher!" the Coach shouted. "Stop being a pussy and get off your damn phone!"
Cam held up one finger to the coach and returned his attention to the phone. "Sorry, I'm at soccer practice."
"Oh, sorry for calling…it's Andy. Andy Ryan? You know, from two summers ago? We hung out at skateboard camp."
"Oh…hey, Andy," Cam said, unsure of why Andy Ryan was calling him. He was Harris's age, and they hadn't really talked during that one summer.
"She died, Cam," Andy's voice broke. "Olivia died. Last night. I was with when she…when she died. She wanted me to tell you."
Cam's blood ran cold. Olivia had gone to boarding school a year ago –tired of Massie Block's teasing, Cam assumed-, and Cam hadn't really heard from her. He had heard she had leukemia from Harris –she had gotten it last January.
"She's…gone?" Cam's own voice sounded fuzzy, as if he was hearing it through bad service on a cell phone.
"Yeah," Andy's sobs had stopped and his voice was thick and tired. "The funeral is next week. S-she'd want you to come…but I know you're busy and all, so you don't have to…"
"No," he mumbled, feeling numb. "I'll be there…I have to go. Bye." He snapped his phone shut and threw it in his bag.
He began gathering his stuff, then threw his soccer bag over his shoulder and began to run.
"Fisher!" The coach shouted. "Where the hell are you going?"
Cam ignored him, and continued to run out of Westchester Academy's soccer field.
"Cam Fisher!" The coach screamed after him. By now, the other soccer players were all staring at him. Josh Hotz and Derrick Harrington exchanged glances at Cam's heartbroken face.
"Cam, if you don't get back right now, you're off the team for good!"
"Fine!" Cam screamed at him and the jumped into his car. Only after he was half-way to the Ryan's house did he break down and sob.
"I'm just going to miss her so much," Massie Block said through her tears to the TV camera in front of her. "We were like best friends."
Bull, Cam though, glaring at Massie from across the funeral home. You were a complete bitch to her.
The local press had decided to do a story on Olivia –her family was one of the families in Westchester with old money.
Alicia Rivera wiggled her way beside Massie so the camera could see her too. "Me and Olivia were dance partners for so long…I didn't even know she had cancer!"
Bitches. They were all lying bitches. None of them cared about Olivia. They just wanted to be on the news.
After the funeral, few people were allowed to go to the burial. The Ryans wanted it to be close friends and family only, so Cam was not invited.
After waiting a painful two hours in his car, Cam drove to the cemetery. Olivia's grave was in the newer section, and in with all the other young deaths.
Her headstone was marble, with a pair of angel wings on it. Olivia Clarissa Ryan. Born December 19th, 1994 – April 13th, 2009.
'An angel in a world of sin' was on the headstone. It was true, Cam noticed. Olivia had been nice to everyone, no matter how much everyone else had teased her.
Cam inhaled a deep, shaky breath. "I-I brought forget-me-nots," Cam held up the bouquet of flowers he held. "I remembered that they were your favourite. I guess no body else thought that," he looked at the roses and tulips around the headstone. "But those flowers are nice too."
He placed them in between a bunch of red roses. "I'm sorry, Olivia. I'm sorry that when you were in OCD that the girls were so mean. I'm sorry that you went to boarding school and I never replied to your e-mails. I'm sorry that even when I found out you had cancer, I didn't come to visit. If I could go back in time, I would."
"Cancer's a bitch, huh?" Mr. Ryan said, appearing beside Cam. His face was lined with wrinkles and his eyes looked tired and red.
"I'm sorry for your loss," Cam said quietly.
"I am too, son. I am too."
Cam felt tears flow down his cheeks. Silently, he reached out and touched the marble headstone, as if he was touching Olivia's smooth skin as well.
Forget-me-nots were her favourite flower. And as Cam Fisher stood by her grave in the empty cemetary, he promised that he would never, ever forget her.