For Whumptober Prompt 19: Broken Hearts - Grief

My second and last fic for this event.

So I just put a separate series for Shortest Thoughts called Intermission, entries that are not related to the episodes of the show. There will be more real soon.

No missions today, so I walked back to my room, sat next to my desk, and opened my tablet to check if I have new homework.

Oh, it's an English essay.

Oh, not again...

It's another from the series of "tell us about yourself". Man, it's like this has been through my whole high school life, from the time I was still going to school physically. I moved to online class when I became a full time IR operative. The principal knew me and she kept that as a secret.

I remember the first "tell us about yourself" and it went like this:

Ms. Firlan's task for us was to write an essay about our parents. I looked around the room. I guess almost everyone have a few good things to talk about. Skye, who's at my right, would only talk about her mother, since she has a stepfather, who has been super strict on her. She would sometimes rant about it when she's pissed. I looked around again for someone who could relate to me, who has lost both parents. What I know is that some have single parents. Am I the only one? What am I gonna talk about?

I've been wondering about that all night when I arrived home. What I only have are my four older brothers, one adopted sister, and my grandma. Maybe a little about what I remembered about my parents and more of my family who are like my parents to me? Sure, I'll put that, better aim that good grade.

I only had around a hundred words and there's not much to write about. I need two hundred more to go. I put my head on the desk, trying to think about what else I'm going to write.

I also thought about how am I gonna share it in class. I'm not gonna read the whole thing, just a summary. It's tough, like try not to cry challenge, because the more I think about my parents, the more it hurts me... it's hard to remember the little details...

I grabbed the old family photo album for additional ideas. I called Scott and Grandma too. I finally got to write the last two hundred, but I was still nervous about the sharing. I read my whole essay again, and that painful memory flashed to me...

I just woke up and was excited for my favorite breakfast meal. But the villa seemed quiet. No one was happy. I asked what's wrong, but no one answered. Grandma came to me and told me what happened. What I remembered is that I was yelling in disbelief. Then I gave up looking for him. He was really gone. Virgil wrapped his arms around me.

There were tears, buckets of them.

I didn't quite remember about the time my mother died. John said that I was crying continuously, in need of our mother's loving arms.

So, yeah. Double the ow.

I cried myself to sleep when that moment came to me. I just hope that the sharing won't get me down.

Ms. Firlan gave room to around six volunteers. The rest was her picking the interesting ones for her (she already collected the papers before sharing).

I was the third to the last to be picked. When it was my turn, I stood up and looked around. It's important to share your work to get a good grade. Disadvantage is, I've got three people to watch out for.

Ted, the one who usually starts humiliating people. He's the lead, and many people like him. For being an idiot like that? Sigh.

Rebecca, Ted's number one supporter and girlfriend. The queen bee of the batch. One of the meanest. Some people call her the Regina George of the batch.

Ted's supporters. Like allies of the dictator. That makes more than three people.

Just do your best, Alan.

I started sharing my work. I tried not to let my feelings get all over me, until I got to the grief part. I stuttered, and then this ass hat Ted started teasing me. And there went his allies following him. I walked out of the room even before I teared up. I rushed to the rooftop.

It felt like the time Dad left us.

Why did I even write that bit?

"Alan?"

I talked to Skye, my face still buried into my arms. "Ms. Firlan sent you?"

"She's concerned about you, you know."

She sat beside me.

"I'm sorry, Skye. I shouldn't have run away."

She rubbed my back. "Hey, it's alright. I'm sure Ms. Firlan would understand. We'll tell her."

"Thanks," I wiped away the tears.

You know, you're lucky if you're friends with Skye. She would come to you and she would understand why. Only a few people come to her for help and they feel relieved. This was my first with her, with this kind of help. I felt embarrassed at first when I cried in front of her, but when she came in to comfort me, I felt fine.

We waited until the class ended. We went through a hidden hallway so as not to be seen by our classmates. It's not that scary. It's just that it's dusty and the steps from the stairs were pretty high. But we made it.

We entered as our classmates left the room and I told Ms. Firlan if I would still share my report. She gave me a chance. Only five of my classmates (that including Skye) stayed to watch me, and I did well.

The rest of the "tell us about yourself" series were much easier.

Well, I gotta write a new essay tonight. I'll check back soon.