So I was in G&C and my teacher, Mr. Anthony, came up with this brilliant idea: we, as in 'the whole class', would write a book of short stories. So this is my contribution.
As you can see by the title, it was inspired by the song "Wake Me Up When September Ends", by Green Day (my favorite band). It was also loosely based on Billie Joe (A.K.A. the real BJ) Armstrong's story. His dad died of esophagus cancer when he was ten. When he died, it was the first day of September. So Billie Joe looked at his mom, his two older brothers and his two older sisters and said, "Wake me up when September ends," and left.
You don't particularly have to know the lyrics to this song for it to make sense. You don't even have to be listening to the song. Originally, this wasn't supposed to be a story for FanFiction. It was just my contribution to the class project, until I wrote in Abrahams as Brian James's last name. I'll write you a one shot if you figure out why I chose that name. Review what you think is the reason.
Enjoy, and please tell me what you think. I don't mind flames, but if it can be avoided, please don't go there. I really need to know what y'all think of it!
Oh, and did I mention I OWN NOTHING THAT IS STRICTLY IN THE GALLAGHER GIRLS SERIES BY ALLY CARTER?
This morning, I woke up with my mind set on grieving in my room, shedding the silent tears that wouldn't seem to leave me alone. For a week, my vision was always blurry from the tears pooled up in my eyes. My nose wouldn't stop running, and my eyes wouldn't go back to normal, it seemed they were stuck on the puffy mode. My voice broke every time I tried to talk, so I gave up on talking after a few hours on the first day. The memory still plagued my mind, not daring to leave me be for simply a second and let my mind rest. I could still see my father lying there on the hospital bed, motionless and lifeless. I guess he had let the brain tumor get the best of him, even after his promise to me. He told me that as soon as he left the hospital, he would take me to a local football game.
So much for that, Dad, my head told me. But it seemed like a week had somehow passed, because I looked outside to see a lot of strangers in black outside, making me realize that today, I wouldn't grieve on my own. Today, I would grieve with a bunch of people I never even heard of before, in his funeral.
I was a mess, so I got ready and walked out of our house and into my backyard, where Mom decided to have the funeral. I had been on the verge of tears ever since I woke up today.
The tumor that killed him had begun to form during the summer. I remembered Dad and I playing football in our backyard and he'd suddenly start clutching his head in agony, or when we were watching a movie, and he'd start asking to turn it down and he'd say he needed some medication. I never thought it would be something this extreme. I always imagined it being something normal, like regular headaches. Now I felt extremely bad, because if I had paid more attention to all the times Dad asked me to get him an aspirin and told Mom about it, I could've saved his life. It was my entire fault.
"Thank you all very much for coming today," I heard my mother tell everyone. This was supposedly going to be a small funeral that was reserved for friends and family. So much for a small funeral, huh Mom? She invited practically everyone in Roseville! As I went to sit down next to my older brothers and sisters, I saw the back of an undoubtedly beautiful woman holding a baby in her arms and seemed to already be in tears, with a man trying to wipe them away. I looked at the shade of her dirty blond hair, and I was sure I had seen her before. I recognized her from somewhere, but I couldn't place my finger on where. When she turned around, I knew from where I recognized her. That was Cammie Morgan, my dad's first girlfriend. Dad had told me about her and how I shouldn't judge the girls that went to the snooty boarding school just outside of town, Gallagher, because some of them are different. He explained to me that, even though he had felt played by her after she broke up with him, he couldn't have been happier. It was partly her fault that my mom and dad had gotten together. She sat down with her son and husband, not even sparing me a glance. I doubt she even knew I existed. It was all the same to me, though. It wasn't like I wanted to have people pitying me. I had enough pity to go around anyway.
We were halfway through the service and I was feeling the tears flow down my cheeks just like they had on the day he was proclaimed dead. I thought that the emotions would fade away with the time. Apparently, the emotions don't go away.
What are you doing, BJ? Are you seriously going to let all these people see the Brian James Abrahams break down in tears? My head asked me. Of course I wasn't about to let them all see me cry. I couldn't stand hearing person after person make speeches about my father. Every time one finished speaking, another would take their place, only making me cry even more. The first of my brothers began talking about him. I guess they actually expected me to talk about him. That was it for me. I couldn't cry. Not in public, anyways. Especially not when everybody was staring at me, waiting for me to give them a speech on the person I loved the most in this city of the damned.
So I ran. I seriously got up from my place and I ran to my room, locked the door and I cried. I cried until I couldn't anymore and then some. I was still sobbing when I heard a knock at my door. I felt like I couldn't be bothered to answer the door without my voice breaking, so I didn't even bother opening it.
"Brian? Honey, are you okay? Do you want to talk about it?" my mother asked me. Of course I wasn't okay! It was my father's funeral, for crying out loud! I just lost the person closest to me, and she expected me to take this just like if a flower had died? All I wanted was for September to be over. I wanted for the memories to go away. I wanted to go back in time and try to save my dad's life. There are some things that cannot be, and there are certain storms we cannot whether. But I didn't really care about it. I would find a way to make the pain go away. I just wanted to go back to sleep and have someone wake me up from this terrible nightmare.
Maybe that's why I yelled back, "Wake me up when September ends!"
So, that was it. I know, I'm a bad author. I pledged to update my other stories as soon as possible, but instead I cam back with a new one shot. I am so sorry. Seriously, I am. But with all that has been going on right now, it's kind of hard to write out the chapters for my stories, what with NaNoWriMo to keep up with (and I am sooooooo late!), ginormic (yes, it is now a word - deal with it) history assignments on books I haven't even read, stupid freaking tendinitis on my right arm and, last but not least, my insomnia. I have begun crashing from lack of sleep more often, so I don't have the time to write the chapters now. BUT I promise that I will update sometime in May! And I mean all of my stories! So get happy, children.
Please, tell me what you think of it... I need to know before I submit it to my teacher, and I figured that if I was subconsciously writing FanFiction, I might as well publish it here, right? I swear I hadn't noticed I was writing this as Gallagher Girls until I was proofreading.
I'll see you guys in May, with all new chapters and hopefully a lot of reviews!
Over and out
~JOZL