We had her buried in the same cemetery as my grandmother. The funeral service was beautiful. It was only us since no one else really knew Gabby. I just couldn't stop crying though. I kept thinking about her entire life that she lived. I was convinced to say that she died in vain, but I knew if I was her, I would've disagreed because at least I got to meet my sister. At least there was someone in this entire fucked up world who was less than fucked up who cared about me. That's what I would've thought.
I visit her almost every single day. Charles does too. Sometimes we go together, sometimes alone. Sometimes we bring Damien, and sometimes Mother and Father visit as well. They never agreed with Gabby's life choices, but they never wished death on anybody regardless of their choices.
Anna was officially back in the picture. We always hung out. We did everything together. Neither of us cared about the bullshit drama we had before. We were over it.
It was 8 months later... since Gabby passed away. I've officially graduated high school, however the hell I managed to do that. Anna and I decorated our caps to match, and when we watched each other walk across the stage, we both cheered for each other. We also framed our caps as well with our diplomas.
The only problem was, I never signed up for any colleges, but after the year and a half that me and everyone else went through, I thought I'd give myself a break. Mother and Father agreed. They said when I'm ready, we'll look into colleges. In the meantime, I started working with Charles at a cleaning company in Castle Rock. We do residential cleaning. Sometimes we get to do commercial cleaning which we get paid extra for. I don't mind it either way though, I don't need a whole lot of money living with the family I do. I'm already wealthy, better I save the extra money for someone who needs it more, and I do. Every paycheck, I donate thirty percent to charities that help homeless people. The rest of my paycheck is to take care of Damien.
Damien is finally walking now. It took him a little longer to start, but he did it. He's growing so fast, and he looks more and more like Charles every single day. He's so handsome. I can't wait to spend these next 17 years raising him.
One day at work, we got to go clean this very beautiful home. When we arrived, the owner seemed to be home. Usually the owners aren't home, but this one seemed to be. When we knocked on the door, an older man opened the door. He looked like he was at least 50. He greeted us with a smile, and spoke with my supervisor.
"Hello, there, welcome back! I'll be right in my office if you need anything," he said.
Welcome back, huh? I asked my supervisor and apparently they've been cleaning this residence monthly. I had only started two weeks prior at the time, so I didn't know.
We started cleaning the house. My supervisor asked for me to dust the ceiling fans and the picture frames on the walls while they took care of the bathroom. Charles was cleaning another bathroom, and another person was tidying up the kitchen.
I had just finished dusting in the living room and my supervisor asked me to dust the back bedroom. I headed back to it, and the door was shut. I didn't want to walk in on anybody, so I knocked. A woman responded.
"You can come in!"
I opened the door to this beautiful bedroom. There was a large bookcase parallel from the door. Next to it was a desk, and a lady was sitting at the desk on the computer. She looked awfully familiar from her backside, but I didn't think much of it until she turned around and looked at me.
"Dr. Carla?" I said.
"Oh my goodness, I remember you. How've you been?" She said. She walked up to me and gave me a hug.
"Since the last time I saw you, I've been doing better, for sure," I said.
"That's good to hear!" She said with a big smile.
"What are you doing now since you moved back here?" I asked.
"The same thing as before," she said, "but I work from home, so I do therapy sessions through zoom calls."
"Oh, ok," I said, "well I'm glad to see you again after so long."
"You as well," she said. "Well, I don't wanna keep you, let me get out of your way," she said before walking out of the room.
I was shocked but happy to see her again after so long. However, I also felt like my past was chasing after me. I simply forgot about the conversation and continued to clean as I didn't want to upset my supervisor.
That same day, I went to get photos printed out of me and Gabby, and also photos of me and Charles and Anna as well. I bought a scrapbook to put all of the photos in. Though, there was a photo in particular that stood out to me. It was Gabby and I. The day we first met in person. That cute little outfit she had on with her backpack. No person would ever believe the backstory of this innocent girl. I really missed Gabby in this moment, and I had an idea. I decided to draw the photo of us together. It was the first time I drew anything that detailed, but I knew I had the motivation because I was doing it for her. I think it came out pretty good too.
While I was drawing, there was a knock on my door. It was Anna that walked in. I was almost finished with the drawing and Anna started praising it.
"That looks amazing, Jayda!" She said.
"I'm not even finished with it yet," I said while chuckling. I was just so happy to see Anna.
"Can you draw one for me as well. How about this one?" She asked.
She pointed at a photo I already put in the scrapbook. It was a photo of her and I... before everything. We were at the beach in Santa Monica. We were 11 at the time. It was a photo I always had saved in a box of old memories, but I decided to add it to the book.
I took the photo out of the scrapbook and just looked at it. How I'd give anything to go back to this day. We were so innocent. We had no problems in our lives. We were happy, just happy.
"Yea, I'll draw it for you," I told her.
Anna stayed next to me as I made the finishing touches on the drawing of Gabby and I. She told me it looked so beautiful and that Gabby would've loved it.
She definitely would've loved it, wouldn't she?
YOU ARE READING
Sketchbook
Teen Fiction"Life is like a sketchbook. There's a beginning and an end. When you start, your drawings will start simple but become more detailed over time. Some are filled with color while some are black and white. Some were easy to create while others took mor...
