Three Delivery: Return of the Jiangshi

Chapter 1:

It had been a month since Tobey's death. Sue sat at her desk in Mr. Andrews' classroom. Getting rather nervous, uneasy and fidgety, Sue could feel the sweat pour down her face. She found herself about ready to freak; she couldn't take her teacher's ramblings about history. She had to get out of here! Glancing up at the clock, Sue sighed as she realized that she still had a full 45 minutes left of class.

Now, anyone who new Sue would wonder why such a normally confident, calm and strong girl had become such a nervous wreck in the past month; well, one would probably say that it was because of the death of her friend. Actually, that wasn't the case. Sue had been quick to accept the truth; Tobey was gone. Nana's promise that wherever Tobey was, it was a better place also helped her. But what was truly bothering this talented and fierce fighter was her brother. Sid…he never accepted the fact that his friend was gone. Although he had hoped there was a way to resurrect his friend, the morning after, Sid had woken up and appeared to be in denial. For about a week, he had kept asking where Tobey was. After another week, Sid had finally accepted the fact that Tobey had perished; Sue had hoped that this would allow Sid to get his life back, but instead, Sid only plummeted into a deep depression.

It had been two weeks since Sid had even come to school. For that one week, Sid had only made it past the first period before he just froze and zoned out. Each time, the principal, Mr. Long, had been forced to call Nana and tell her to come take him back to Wu's.

"Now class, as the school year comes to a close in a week and a half…" Mr. Andrews got up from his desk and held out a huge stack of papers. As he walked around the room, he placed a ten page packet on each desk. "This shall be your final exam. You have only 40 minutes."

Forty minutes later, the bell rang out across the school grounds just as Sue scribbled her last sentence. Jumping up from her desk and slinging her backpack over her shoulders, Sue walked over to his desk and dropped it down. She was about to walk out the door when Mr. Andrews called out her name.

"Yes, sir?" she turned around.

Mr. Andrews pulled out his canteen and popped off the cup/lid before pouring his soup out. "Sue, I'm growing tired of your brother's shenanigans. He hasn't entered this classroom in over two weeks."

"Mr. Andrews…" Sue tried to reason. "My brother is going through a very difficult time."

"I am aware of your brother's emotions, Sue." Mr. Andrews replied. "That biking accident that claimed Tobey's life was a tragedy, and the boy will be missed. Even though Tobey caused quite a ruckus in my classroom, even I feel as if all of the lights in this very room have dimmed down permanently. But the time to mope is over."

"We all have different ways of dealing with loss, Mr. Andrews."

"Well, you're brother doesn't seem to be benefiting from his time off from school." Mr. Andrews pulled a paper from his drawer.

"Do you really think he's enjoying this?" Sue started to get angry. "According to Nana, Sid keeps himself locked in his room all day. We've tried counseling, we've tried everything! He's not eating; I don't even think he's sleeping!"

"I understand, Sue." Mr. Andrews sighed. "But I'm afraid that he must overcome his reclusive behavior. If Sid doesn't come to my class tomorrow to take the final exam, he will fail my class and have to go to summer school."

Sue lowered her head before walking over to Mr. Andrews' desk. Reaching down, she grabbed her exam and held it up before ripping it in half. "Then so do I…" Sue replied. "My brother needs support, and I plan on being there for him."

*$THREE DELIVERY*$

Back at Wu's Garden, Nana had finally been able to get Sid out of bed and been able to get him downstairs. Still wearing only boxers and a white T-Shirt, Sid sighed and lowered his head as he sat down at a booth. Nana reappeared seconds later and scooted a bowl of soup to him.

"Sid, please eat this." Nana pressured wisely. "You need to eat. Please Sid; Calvin made this specially for you."

"Not hungry…" Sid rasped as he pushed the bowl away just as Sue entered and sat down on the opposite side of the booth and placed a smoothie on the table.

"Look what I brought you, bro." Sue smiled. When Sid just grunted and lowered his head again, Sue sighed and continued. "Please Sid! This isn't you! If you don't get it together, Mr. Andrews will flunk you."

Sid suddenly lifted his head and let out a short, yet angered yell as he shoved everything off the table with his arm, where everything shattered. "Does that asshole think that I actually care?!" Sid roared. "I can't go back to school, Sue! Everyone there started making fun of me. They kept on calling me an 'emo'! I don't even know what that means!"

"Sid, I don't care if you take his dumb test or not…" Sue replied. "I even tore up mine. If you take the fall, then so do I…"

"I'm going back to bed…" Sid slowly got up from his seat and scooted away as if he were a snail.

Sue frowned. "Nana, I can't stand seeing him like this! What can we do?"

"There is nothing to do, Sue." Nana replied. "Sid must overcome this challenge on his own. Trust me, for all his insecurities, Sid is strong. He can overcome this."

As she watched her Nana get up and walk to the back, Sue replied. "I hope so, Nana. I hope so…"

End of Chapter 1

A/N: That was pretty angsty, huh. But is it good? Let me know what you think!