Echoing footsteps resounded through the hallways. The chattering of the students seemed like a dull roar, their voices filling up the room like a deep resounding bass sound. One young lady schlepped through the halls, her dull teal eyes focusing intently on the floor. Her normally effervescent personality had been halted and rerouted,her emotions dying inside of her.
She still couldn’t believe what she had heard to be true. Her morning had followed the same routine as previous Mondays before that. Her phone alarm screamed at the break of dawn this morning, mercilessly screaming at her to get up and get ready for school. She had managed to survive her way through her Fitness and Conditioning class, the vehemently demented instructor making sure that on the day she hated most, that it was her turn to die. Her Microbiology class had run smoothly as she expected it to, her sitting in class trying to focus and understand everything that the professor was throwing in her direction. Even in her US History class, she fell asleep as per usual, taking only half-assed notes, thanking God that she had the notes of her History Buff best friend to rely on when she would inevitably lose all desire to give her full attention to the professor.
Her uneventful day was eventfully interrupted when her phone started to ring off the hook during the half end of her History class. She received multiple missed calls. Her phone rang again, the vibrations irritating her to the core. She took it out with great stealth, though it didn't take much since her professor was incredibly air headed, and looked to see her father calling on her Caller ID.
The next few minutes to her had been a complete blur. Her father spoke to her in great concern, asking if she was alright. Upon her response, he told her the devastating news that was affecting her greatly.
“Your grandfather....”
The words blurred in her mind, her brain not registering what he had just said. She felt as if her soul had died right then and there, all her emotions being shot in the back with no clemency, her mind numbing all feeling in her body. She asked what he had said, not fully understanding what he had said.
“I said your grandfather...”
The dull roar had been slowly dissipating, her body having shifted into an auto-pilot. She stood outside the room to her next class, but her body refused to enter through the door. Seeing a bench near the bedroom, she slowly walked over to it. Her body crumpled onto the bench, her emotions finally letting through. Tears shined in her eyes as her psyche started breaking. The dam that her mind had built up to block out all the pain, all the suffering that she was feeling at this current motion was crumbling. She buried her face in her hands and started to cry quietly, her emotions overcoming the numbness that her brain had given her only moments before. Through her tears, she picked up the phone and dialed her Voicemail. Immediately, the voice of her crying mother echoed through her ear.
“Gracie! It’s your Mother... Please call me as soon as you can. Your grandfather... He.... He shot himself. I love you so much; please call me back as soon as you hear this message!”
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My footsteps lead me through the building, but my brain had no recollection of what I was really doing. I think there’s chattering going on in the hallway, but I have no idea. Oh my God... I just.... I still can’t believe it.
I looked around dully, my eyes blurring in front of me. My heart was telling me to cry but my brain was telling me that it’d be a huge mistake to start bawling right in the middle of the hallway with so many people around me. I didn’t want everyone to see me break down emotionally and mentally in the middle of the Biology building.
The day had gone so... normal. The alarm clock yelling at me to wake up this morning so I’d get up. I hate that clock so much sometimes. Makes me want to throw it again the wall. Then I realize that it’s my cell phone too, so if I throw that, I’ll end up shattering against the wall and have to shell out more money for a brand new phone. I love not having money. My day got even better when the instructor in Fitness and Conditioning decided that it was my turn to die that day. Not terribly uncommon because everyday I go to that class he wants me to die. I miss Aerobics so much... At least the instructor liked me! Microbiology was the same: the professor talked to fast for my liking. And I could hardly pay attention. Yay.
History was a bit... off. I had fallen asleep slowly and surely about halfway through the class. There was only so much of the Stupid Age I could take. I think Troy called it the Gilded Age, but I called it the Stupid Age. I mean seriously, who really cares? The only weird thing was that my phone kept ringing, who knows calling me. I ignored it, thinking it was someone trying to call me. People around me started to look when it kept ringing. I finally looked at it, avoiding Professor MacDonald from looking at me. Like she ever would. She was so oblivious anyways that I could get away with doing the crossword puzzle and not get reprimanded for it in the least.
It was my father. I exited the room and opened the phone. I honestly can’t remember what happened next. It just all became a blur. He asked me if I was alright and I got worried about the response. I asked him what he was talking about and I felt my emotions shatter.
“Your grandfather...”
I couldn’t hear him.
“I said your grandfather...”
I went back to the classroom and time just seemed to lose all depth that I thought it had. And now I was in the hallway, trying to recollect what I thought was talking around me. I could see people move, but I didn’t seem to be registering what all was going around me. I think I reached the classroom, but I really didn’t care anymore. I just didn’t care. I saw a bench near me, near the classroom. I just can’t stand it anymore.
I walked over to the bench and collapsed on it, my emotions collapsing with it. I felt the tears starting to flow and they just wouldn’t stop. I had to hide my eyes from everyone and everything around me. I placed my hands over them and just sat there, thinking about what had happened within the last half n’ hour. My mind crossed my parents calling me and I remembered all the phone calls.
Taking out my phone, I flipped the lid open and immediately speed dialed my voicemail. It took a few seconds to connect, but I immediately heard the voice of my mother and the tears flowed even more.
“Gracie! It’s your Mother... Please call me as soon as you can. Your grandfather... He.... He shot himself. I love you so much; please call me back as soon as you hear this message!”