Chapter 3

The next thing Stephanie realized, she was in the hospital. She woke up to see her worried family staring at her. "She's waking up," Danny said to the others. He then turned to Stephanie. "Stephanie…what happened?"

Stephanie wasn't quite sure that she was ready to tell her family that she was trying to kill herself. "Um…" Stephanie started. "I was playing with that balloon, and it got caught on the light fixture. I used the rope to climb up to get it, but I fell down on some razor blades, which happened to be nearby."

Danny actually seemed to buy the story, as well as the other members of the family. D.J., however, appeared skeptical to Stephanie's story. She didn't say anything to get her in trouble in front of her family, but she planned to talk to Stephanie later. "I'm so glad that you're going to be alright, Steph," Danny said. "I don't know what we'd ever do without you."

"Without me?" Stephanie thought inside her head. "I don't think I'm that important to them. I'm not that important anyway. I need to try to kill myself again when my family isn't around. Maybe I should go see Jacob again for some more advice. Then again, he has never successfully killed himself. Still, he knows more about suicide than I do."

A few weeks later, Stephanie was discharged from the hospital and had to go on antibiotics to ensure that she did not get an infection from the razor blade cuts. When Stephanie returned to her room, she found that her precious razor blades were still on the floor. She quickly gathered them and put them in the top drawer of her night stand so that nobody would throw them away. She planned to use them again at another date.

The next day, Stephanie went to school. She was dying for her first few classes to pass quickly so that she could go to lunch. She wanted to meet Jacob again and ask for some more suicidal advice. When lunchtime finally did come, Stephanie got a lunch and sat with Jacob.

"Hey, Stephanie," said Jacob.

"Hi, Jacob," said Stephanie.

"There was one time a few months ago when I tried to suffocate myself with a plastic bag to see if I could make it unconsciously to the spiritual world. Unfortunately, the bag leaked air, and I did not seal it to my face with duct tape, so it didn't really work," Jacob said. Stephanie started to comment, but Jacob interrupted her. "Also, something I plan to do in the near future is dyeing myself black and shaving my hair. I'll go up to black people and throw insults at them. Then, the next day, I'll come back, and those guys that I insulted won't know it was me. By doing that, I'll get more confidence."

"Okay…" Stephanie said. Although Jacob had convinced her to be suicidal, Stephanie still thought that Jacob was moronic at times. Then, she remembered that she wanted Jacob to give her some suicide hints. "Uh…Jacob, I tried to commit suicide a few weeks ago. I inhaled helium, cut myself with vintage razor blades, and even tried to hang myself. I ended up in the hospital. I want something that will work for sure."

"I'll bet you just weren't doing any of those things correctly," Jacob pointed out. "But if you want to die quick and fast, then just starve yourself. Don't eat or drink a single thing. Within days, you won't be around. It will be a slow and painful death," said Jacob.

Stephanie was really enlightened by Jacob's "knowledge." "Thanks a bunch, Jacob!" said Stephanie. She started to eat the food on her tray, when Jacob slapped her hand.

"No eating means no eating, and that starts right now!" Jacob insisted.

"Okay, okay," Stephanie said.

Jacob settled down when he told Stephanie a story. "You know," Jacob reminisced, "last year I almost came to school with an m60 and shot everyone to death."

Stephanie's eyes widened. "Why?" she asked.

"This teacher, Mrs. Mel, gave me a zero on my English paper. I did everything correctly, but she kept insisting that I did everything wrong. My average was a 70, but it dipped into the failing range. I was so furious that I wanted to shoot that bitch 'til she was dead. But then, my mom intervened when she found out about my low grade. We went to talk to Mrs. Mel, and she raised my grade, and my average put me in the clear. But if I failed that class, everyone here would be in great danger," Jacob said. He seemed both angry and proud of himself at the same time.

Stephanie's eyes were open wide and full of shock. Jacob was truly a maniac. Maybe she shouldn't have been trying to kill herself. Instead, she thought that it might have been a better idea to help Jacob with his issues. Right now, though, she decided that she didn't want to sit with Jacob. "Uh…I'll be right back," Stephanie said. She got up, threw her lunch away, and ran off.