I feel so depressed right now because there's barely any time left until Graduation for the seniors, and I have waaaaay many more senior friends then what is considered healthy for any given freshman. Sure, a bunch of them are jerks, but I wuv many more of them. So this one goes out to Rosey, Rachael (Teme—hope I spelled that right… ^^;), Elizabeth, and anyone else in Seniors '12 that has ever been in my heart. I know. I'm a sap. So deal. And here, I guess, is Chapter 8. Geez, that far already? This is pretty much more than halfway through (I think)! Thanks to bookppl93, Nami98, and Basketballrox1120 for reviewing 5-7—now THAT was fun to read. xD You guys are awesome~! Aurghh! Off track again! Here it is before I forg—Hey, did ever tell you about the time I—

Chapter 8

Zach was still there, miraculously.

He had his hands back on the piano keys. The tune resonated slightly with my jingly one from a couple nights ago, but then I banged the door open, tears streaming freely down my face, and he rushed to catch me as I tripped over the doorframe again.

"Kirsten? What's wrong?"

"Zach…" I whispered, and mu brain turned to mush. "I…"

He half-carried me over to the piano bench, and sat us both down, my hands in his. "What? You have to tell me what happened."

"My mom…" I said, the words still not completely coherent to my own ears, "She…"

I shuddered, not believing the pain, the reality, was possible. My head fell to his shoulder. I barely knew Zach, yet he felt like I had known him since…I dunno…forever.

~'~

~'~ Random POV Change of Awesomeness ~'~

~'~

Zach could feel the tension radiating off of Kirsten, and something was obviously wrong. As far as he could tell, she didn't have any type of mental sickness, and she certainly wasn't bipolar, yet there she was, sobbing into his shoulder. Not fifteen minutes ago, she had been smiling at him. How could so much change so quickly?

Zach didn't even know how that was even possible, considering that they hadn't actually known each other for more than a couple hours. But he did not care, that didn't matter. All he knew was that Kirsten was in some kind of bad situation that seemed to come with pain.

Pain is not a good thing.

~'~

~'~ POV Return~'~

~'~

I felt my breath steady a little. Zach was holding us together. I don't even remember collapsing, really, but what does that matter?

My head came up, and my voice echoed with a thousand worries. "Sorry."

"Not at all," Zach paused, seemingly unsure for just a moment. "You want to tell me what's going on?"

"Ahem…well… yes, I do, but…" I blew out a couple breaths, concentrating on not sobbing. I was surprised I wasn't already. "Just bear with me, please."

He nodded slowly, the concerned glimmer in his eyes winking in the fluorescents like Christmas lights.

I breathed a few more times, then said it. "My mother OD'd on Advil. She…" My shoulders tensed even more than I thought possible, causing my head to drop. I swallowed the jagged rock in my throat, and began again, a tear marching its way very slowly down my face. "She told me that she wanted to die. And then…she did. Right in my arms."

I looked at my hands, still feeling Mom's fading warmth on them. The silence I was receiving was heart wrenching.

More tears. I had a feeling we were both shedding them now.

... ... ... ... ... ... ... ...

A full ten minutes later, I picked myself up from Zach's shoulder and stood shakily. "I…I can't go back there."

Understood. But where will you go?"

I whisked the last traces of water away. "First, to town to find someone who can go back to my house and…"

"Take proper care of the body?"

"…Y-yeah."

Zach stood as well. "Funeral?"

I shook my head, my face contorting. "Not enough money. Maybe if I ask the school for sponsorship or—" I closed my dreadfully big mouth before revealing any more of my pitiful life.

Zach's eyes flicked to my face, squeezing my already-guilty conscience. "What?"

My face reddened. I paused for a moment, preparing myself. "Umm…ah, I'm what you would call an 'in-school service project' up at St. Gabriel's. As In, I'm that one girl with no money, no social status, and now, no parents," I bit my lip hard, almost tasting blood. "I don't know what I'll do now. I can't go to some sort of foster home, not with so much to leave behind. I'll ask the school if I can stay here, I guess. And if they will pay for the funeral."

Zach's face softened, with a hint of a sad smile. He wasn't laughing. "St. Gabe's huh? I go there too, as a junior. And I'm behind you all the way."

I knew there was a reason I like this kid.

… … … … … … … … …

The administration denied my request. The freakin' administration denied my freakin' simple request. They said they would give me the funeral, but I couldn't stay in the music room. They wouldn't say why.

When I told Zach (Zachary, as I like to tease him), shrugged and said "Yeah? And? Stay anyway. It's not like anyone comes her anyway, other than us. Did you see the layer of dust?"

I then laughed and mentioned that, yes, I had definitely seen the layer of dust. I had been the one to clean it. Then he cackled, and we carried along, making plans to help me move my stuff in after the funeral.

This guy is seriously my hero.

Yayyy~! Applause for Lorakeet (me)! I have up to Ch. 13 written, I may have already told you that. By the way, I don't know if it sounded this way, but the last time break lasted a couple days. When I go back through and reread this, I realize it feels like it was all in the same day, which was not my intention. After all what kind of main character would she be if she could not mourn her mother's death for more than a mere couple of hours? (KUROSHITSUJI REF~~~) Heh heh. Anyway, I hoped you like it, and that it wasn't too short. I would now like to thank the people from the US, UK, Australia, Singapore, South Africa, Germany, Pakistan, Austria, Taiwan, the Philippines, the Netherlands, Saudi Arabia, Poland, Malaysia, and Iceland who have all read my singular story, though there will most likely be more to come. No joke. I got at least one hit from each of those countries, according to the 'Traffic Stats' portion of my account database. Dis kid's proud of herself~ ^_^

Ta,
CosNin-chan~