Jessie had walked all the way home-- a fair distance-- all the while brimming with a truckful of emotions. Who had sent this note? What kind of question was that? And more importantly, who gave them the right to say he was in pain in the first place. I'm doing just fine.

In all his thoughts leaving school so abruptly meant that he had forgotten his keys, and therefore he'd have to wait for his mother to come home and let him in. Which would then lead to a string of questions he didn't have the energy to lie about.

That would force his mother to worry, which would then push this whole mourning process three months back, and Jessie couldn't let that happen.

Despite his mum expressing her dissatisfaction of leaving his balcony doors unlocked, Jessie was grateful that he hadn't done as he was told, as thankfully, he had a way of getting into the house.

"Jessie, what are you doing here at this time? No school?"

Jessie should've known that his partially blind neighbour wouldn't be out, but instead, she was tending to her garden.

Hunched over her flowery dress blowing in the wind as she fiddled with the petal of a yellow flower.

"As always, Ms Lanse, you have very keen ears." Jessie smiled and headed towards the woman who was now standing up a cardboard box tucked under her arm.

"You're not taking the death of your father well." As always, Ms Lanse was too the point no need to worry energy on the pleasantries. Had anyone else said that Jessie would once again stomp away, but Ms Lanse had nothing but good intentions in her words.

"Not as well as I hoped."

Ms Lanse chuckled and hit his nose with her dirty gardening glove dropping soil all over Jessie.

"What did you expect you silly boy? To just continue with life."

Jessie shrugged he wasn't sure what to expect after his father died he just didn't expect this. The emptiness that could only be filled by one person.

"When I lost my Lance I was stuck in a hole for years. I didn't know what to do with myself."

Lance, her husband, died of a heart attack 10 years ago. With no kids and thus no grandkids Ms Lanse became utterly alone in a few short days. It was only until Jessie reached the age of 15 that Ms Lanse began to venture out of her room, and that is when she focused her efforts on gardening. She and her husband would often sit on their rocking chairs just outside their front door listening to their vinyl.

"How did you get out of it?"

"I couldn't go up the same way I came down. That path was for the time when he was there, and it was futile to assume I could."

"So what did you do?"

"I created a new path with the memories he gave me and reached a new top one that accepted his death and cherished the memories. And that's what you need to do Jessie. Create your own path." With that wisdom-filled insight, Ms Lanse left, her small little steps taking her back up the stoned steps passing the twin rocking chairs by the door.

Her words did something to Jessie, it gave him the first step in his new ladder to climb into his new path, and as he watched Ms Lanse go inside, he smiled a little.

When his mum did arrive, she never even thought of the idea of her son scaling the back of the house climbing onto the balcony like a robber.

Now that he had calmed down he knew that his treatment to Makayla was unjust and unfair, and that she was only trying to help. Jessie knew their friendship was already on the rocks currently, and the smallest thing could truly leave him more alone than he'd ever felt.

She had forgiven him, or at least she wasn't mad at him, and that's all he could ask for. He smiled at her efforts to bring back their friendship.

😤

Makayla and Jessie spoke as though they hadn't been through an ordeal. They laughed about old times Makayla making sure not to mention his father in those times, and when it was reaching midnight, the pair called it a night both of them wishing they could pause this moment and continue it in the morning.