Heaven.
It's such a simple word really. It means different things to different people, whether it be a religious place, a fake one, or anything in between.
For Mum, it was the last strand of hope before she died giving birth to me.
Yes, that's right. My mother is dead, and I am the cause. After she gave birth to me, there were a few complications, and she couldn't make it. My father and my grandmother were there, too. Nearly drowning in their tears, they managed to think of a name for the also wailing baby in the background.
Before my mum died, my father whispered in her ear, "Heaven. Her name is Heaven." She gave a weak smile and died while he was stroking her hair, tears quietly streaming his face.
They named me that because they had no doubt in their minds that's where my mother, Emmeline Campbell, was going.
Some may see the irony in my name because I believe in no gods, and I have no religion. If there really was some supreme overlord watching over us, my mother would still be here. Bad things happen to good people.
As you can see, there is no such thing as Karma.
Anyways, on from the sob story. As I said, my name is Heaven Campbell. I'm 15, currently in my softmore year. I have only two other friends, Rose and Jack, but they're all I really need at this point. I think if you have too many friends you can never really grow close to them, but Rose, Jack and I are about as close as you can get.
Apparently I'm very outgoing, and I love the outdoors. Sadly, neither Jack nor Rose have the same passion for nature as I do, so I don't do things like that with them. I love hiking, camping, biking, you name it.
I do okay in school. I'm not a star student, but I don't exactly get terrible grades. I have about a C average, which honestly isn't bad.
Actually, school happens to be where I'm headed. I lace up my boots and throw on my army green jacket over my beige turtle neck. Yes, I dress weird, but where's the fun in being normal?
I grab my keys, phone, and backpack and head out the door. Before I close the door, I see my father and he says, "Bye, Heaven!"
I wave back and close the door. I walk to my bus stop, only to see Rose and Jack - among a few others - talking to one another.
Jack looks over to me. "Hey Heaven," he says. Rose nods in my direction, still engaged in whatever she's doing on her phone.
I smile at him and point to Rose's phone. "What're you guys doing?" I ask, playing with the zipper on my jacket.
He opens his mouth to say something, but then Rose interrupts. "We're looking at the latest news feed from all the Mayor's speeches and stuff." There's Rose for you. She's very quiet, but when she does speak, it's in random bursts. She also loves investigating things. She like a girly Sherlock Holmes basically.
I raise my eyebrow. "Why?"
This time, Jack speaks. "Her new obsession is the Mayor's daughter. Apparently you never see her in the news and she doesn't go to our school or anything."
Rose looks up. "Exactly. Why would we never see her? We all know she exists, the Mayor's confirmed it himself."
Jack shrugs. "I just think she doesn't like publicity or something. She might be camera shy."
Rose tucks her phone away into the pocket of her jean shorts. "It's still suspicious."
Just then, the bus rolls up and all the students pile on. We find our seats. As I settle next to Jack, I see Charlie Easter try to sit by Rose.
"Imma sit here," he states firmly, not asking if he's allowed.
Rose tries to tell him no, but he ignores her and sits anyway. She gives us a helpless look, and Jack and I just quietly laugh at her.
You know that one kid in the grade who always smells bad and looks like they haven't taken a shower in about five years? Well, that kid is Charlie Easter.
His hair curly and brown, but greasy, and he wears glasses. He typically wears some kind of v-neck, but it depends.
Rose tries to subtly block out the fumes, and when we get to school, she runs out the bus doors before everyone else and yells, "Thank god, fresh air!"
We run outside to join her. She looks at us accusingly and Jack and I both burst out laughing.
Her face turns red. "Not funny!" Rose fumes. "He picked. His. Nose."
That makes Jack laugh even harder. "Oh my god!"
After we've all calmed down, whether it be from anger or laughter, we head into Harpington High School.
We go our separate ways for our classes and sit together when we have lunch. I sit with Rose next to me and Jack directly in front of me.
I start unpacking my tuna sandwich and some fruit. I'm vegetarian, but I still eat fish. "Jesus ate fish," my grandmother would always say, to which I just rolled my eyes. I guess I need protein from somewhere though, so I stick to tuna.
"So," Jack starts. "Do you guys wanna come over today?"
Rose shrugs. "I need to study for a biology test." Rose is very book smart, by the way.
I nod. "I have a test in geometry on Friday."
"We can study, too. I was just thinking it'd be nice to do something since we haven't gone anywhere all together in a while."
"Well... okay," I agree.
Rose shrugs. "Okay, I guess I'll go too. To make sure y'all aren't alone." She looks at us knowingly, but both Jack and I ignore it. She thinks it's funny to pretend Jack and I have feelings for each other, but we don't. She knows that, but she still thinks it's funny.
"We should go to that new restaurant by Main Street," Jack suggests. "Chez's or whatever it's called."
"Okay," I chirp. "But isn't that a fancy restaurant? Do we have to wear something nice?"
"It is," Rose replies. "So we do."
We decide to meet up at Jack's house after school once we all get dressed nicely, since we all live within walking distance of each other. So we get through the rest of the school day, and get on the bus once again.
Fortunately, this time there's no Charlie Easter incidents, so the ride is fairly smooth. Once I get home, I find my dad isn't there. I go up to my room and scan my closet.
I don't own too many nice things, since I have no use for them, but I find a gray romper that looks fairly okay. I throw it on and slide my jacket over it, since it's October and it's getting a bit cold. I lace up my boots, attempt to comb my fiery hair, and run out the door. I'm about to lock the door when I remember that I should probably tell my dad where I'm going.
I text him: Going to Jack's and then out to eat. Be home around 8 or 9.
I lock the door and then sprint to Jack's house. I get a text back from my dad saying: Okay, have fun.
I knock on the door of his house, and the door is answered by his mother. She has a duster in her hand and her hair is sticking up all over. Jack's mother works hard for herself and Jack, since Jack's father left when he was about 4. She's a very nice woman who does too much. Jack appreciates her a lot though.
"Hello, Heaven!" she says. She tries to say it excitedly but the tiredness is evident in her voice.
I smile at her. "Jack is upstairs," she tells me. I say thank you and head to Jack's room. I see him sitting on his bed playing some video game.
"Hi," he says. "Rose is getting changed in the bathroom."
"Cool," I tell him, and find a seat next to him on his bed. I realize that I had sat a little too close, so I scoot over a bit.
Rose comes out of the bathroom wearing a light blue dress with yellow trim and a yellow belt. "Pretty," I comment, and Jack nods in agreement. I look over to Jack. "What're you gonna wear?"
"Oh." He looks at himself. "I'll go change."
He walks out of the room and I see Rose looking through her bag. "Whatcha looking for?" I ask.
She continues searching. "My dress shoes. I can't find them..." she trails off.
I peek over at her bag. "Why don't you just run home and get some? You don't live far, ya know."
She gives up and signs in exasperation. "No, it's fine." She pulls up her mismatched socks, only to have one slide back down. She signs once again but makes no attempt to fix it. Then, Jack walks out of the bathroom wearing a dark blue suit.
I raise my eyebrow, impressed. "Wow," I remark. "You look good."
He blushes slightly and rubs the back of his neck. "It's the nicest thing I could find..."
"You could probably just wear what you normally wear," Rose points out. Jack's normal attire usually consists of some solid color sweater and the same whitish-grey jeans. He claims he has several pairs of them, through, so I guess he just likes wearing them.
Jack shakes his head. "Nah, I thought I'd go all out." He jumps onto the bed next to me, and Rose joins us. "So, what should we do?" Jack asks.
Both Rose and I shrug, to which Jack rolls his eyes. He pulls out his Wii U. "How bout some Smash?" he suggests. We agree since there's nothing else to do.
14 rounds of Smash, a whole liter of pop, and 1 1/2 bags of chips later, we're pretty tired out. I lay my head back onto one of Jack's many pillows. Meanwhile, Jack and Rose are arguing about who won.
"I knocked you clean off!" Rose insisted.
Jack just shakes his head. "I would've won if the game hadn't of lagged, and you know it."
Rose throws her hands up into the air. "What lag?!"
I chuckle at their little display and both of them look at me. I continue laughing and then they join in. After we're done laughing, I look at my phone.
"Guys, it's 6. Should we go?" Both Rose and Jack nod in agreement.
We grab our things, get in the car - which is so kindly driven by yours truly - and off to the restaurant we go.
