When Sun Shines

    It had been only an hour when it happened. Everyone already knew. You could tell by the hushed whispers and stares everyone gave Lincoln Sun, as she walked through hallways, lips turned down, and her milky brown hair draping over half of her face.

All I could do was watch Lincoln, or what was left of her.

    Just yesterday, she was bouncing around, laughter echoing the hallways while her friends had crowded against her. They had cheered her on as she chugged down a bottle of lemonade to keep her day hyped.

So much has changed since then; Everything was supposed to happen just like yesterday. She was supposed to pull out some Mello Yello and start her morning routine.

But, just one hour ago, fate decided that today was going to be different. And it wasn’t in a good way.     

Before today’s school bell had rung, an uncomfortable beep had rung through all our phones. Recent news has discovered that a man, Timothy Burner was found dead after getting hold of a gun, injuring 12 and killing 2. James and Kathy Sun were found with three injuries each. By the time medics got to them they had already lost too much blood and had passed away. Their daughter, Lincoln Sun wasn’t near the sight but was found unconscious in a bathroom stall of a nearby gas station. We believe her parents hid her…

And as it had gone on, we could almost feel the lights dimming, the cheers fading, and her smile disappearing. We all knew who Lincoln Sun was. A girl who wasn’t scared to back down from a fight. A girl who kept on smiling, if not for her, for everyone. She wasn’t even pretty, but all of us boys fell for her because of that one smile. No one could ever get a girl to smile as real as her.

And now, back to present time, that smile, and the Lincoln Sun we knew, was gone. It was as if it was opposite day, and Lincoln decided to play along.

But what would you expect, when the more positive girl in the world, lost her parents? The two most amazing people in the world, who had shaped Lincoln Sun into the best she could be, now gone. Gone, taking away the old Lincoln with them.

Lincoln opened her locker, not noticing all of us staring, and drops her notebook. She paused, staring at the fallen notebook, turning her head over her shoulder as if she was looking for someone.

All her friends seemed to have disappeared. As if she never had any.

They were supposed to pull out her pack of gum and each take a piece, while all the while Lincoln’s smiling, watching them as if nothing else mattered in the world.

She noticed us all staring, and locked eyes with Lydia, her best friend. All Lydia did was cast her eyes down from Lincoln’s desperate glance. The rest of her friends even took a step back, mixing in with other crowds.

We were all shocked. I’d never talked to Lincoln in my whole entire life, and I knew that her friends were everything to her.

Suddenly, right that moment, right as she shed a single tear we’d never seen on her, I knew I should’ve walked up to her. I knew I should’ve picked up that old book, handing it to her, hoping that she would at least fake a smile.

But it was too late, she was already sprinting down the hallway, her soft cries getting drowned by the kids in the hallway.

They were eyeing her shrinking figure, shaking their heads, talking, whispering.

‘Can you believe it?’

‘She’s crying.’

‘Should we go after her?’

‘No, I’m not getting into her mess. You do it.’

‘Why would I do it?’

‘I don’t know, weren’t you her friend?

My own friend, Max, nudges me, “Can you believe it, Ryan? She was there during the shooting. Saw the whole flipping thing, and still shows up at school. How messed up is that?” He kept shaking his head. I wanted to tell him to stop, that it was making me feel worse about the way everyone was now treating her, but I couldn’t. How could I complain about others? When I’m also making the same mistake?

“If it’s so messed up, then why don’t you go ask her how she feels?” I say lightly, hoping he would maybe, just maybe he would walk up to her.

“No way dude. Even her friends didn’t talk to her. And plus, all this sad stuff doesn’t really work with me.” My shoulders sag a fraction of an inch, and I muster a tight smile, hoping he doesn’t notice my disappointment.

“True. Now come on, we can’t be late to class again.”

She was there, surprisingly, sitting in my seat which was pushed way back in the corner. A perfect place to take a snooze if things got too boring.

People were starting to watch me, waiting for me to do something that might entertain them.

I got ready to sit down in someone else’s seat, but Lydia places her small hand on my chest, “Don’t. That’s my seat. Ask her to move” I watch her strangely. I’d only talked to her once or twice, and for the first time, up close, I realized that she had a splatter of freckles on the bridge of her nose.

“Why would you want me to talk to her? Do it yourself.” I knew I said that a little too harshly because she flinches.

“Please. It’s too late for me. She cracks easily under pressure, and she’s at that point.” At that point? What was she implying? “Just one sentence, that’s all I’m asking.” It seemed like she was going to start crying, and by now, people seemed to have gotten bored, resuming their conversations. No would really notice if I quickly went up to Lincoln and told her that she was sitting in my seat.

I just nod and force myself to walk towards Lincoln, who has her head tilted down, hiding her face from others.

Her head slowly turns up, and her gray eyes penetrate me. They catch me off guard for a second, the way they were so emotionless as if trying to see through me. She didn’t say anything, her blank face tilted to the side in… curiosity?

I then realized, she was waiting for me to talk, waiting for me to talk to her.

My heart was pounding as I cleared my throat to talk, but something was holding me back. Almost like someone suddenly yanked the collar of my shirt backards to stop me from finishing a race.
“I-uh,” I take in a small breath, “Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

I didn’t look at anyone as I walked to the front of the class, sitting in the only empty seat. Lincoln’s empty seat.

No one seemed to have noticed, except for Lydia, who I could tell was watching me, trying to catch my attention. It was as if she was trying to burn a hole right through my back.

I suddenly had a great interest in what Mr. Dave had to say, even though he hadn’t started to teach yet.

He was busy watching someone behind me, and we all turn around to see Lincoln, getting up and pushing a strand of hair out of her face, “I need to go to the bathroom.” She croaks out

Before Mr. Dave can even say something, she rushes out the room.
But what really arises the whispers, was the fact that she turned around and stared directly into my eyes, almost trying to send me a message.

I act like I don’t even notice the bullets of stares that shoot around me, as I lean down to grab my notebook.

“Well then,” Our teacher mutters, running a frustrated hand through his hair. He starts to talk, but I’m not listening.

Instead, an idea pops into my mind, and I’m grabbing my notebook in a flash, trying to make my handwriting as neat as possible while the led scribbles words onto the paper, like ashes floating into the snow.

If everything worked according to plan, then maybe things would change.

Lincoln

I stare at my reflection in the mirror. Glassy eyes, a tear-streaked face, and hair matted against my forehead from the sweat that rolled off my face.

They were gone. They weren’t coming back.

No more of their honey smiles, and words that seemed to flow into my ears, like new tunes my dad makes on his computer- wait. Like new tunes, my dad used to make on his computer.

Frustrated, I slammed my hand against the wall, trying to ignore the throb that aches now, in not only my hand, but my chest.

I tried to blink the tears away, but whenever I tried, they’d just come back. I didn’t want to close my eyes anyway, because pictures of Mom and Dad leaped through my mind, reminding me of memories that weren’t going to happen ever again.

Like ripples in a pond, their faces were there, fading until they didn’t exist anymore. Almost like me. I, too, was fading away. My own friends couldn’t even look at me anymore.

Life I grew to love was now something I couldn’t even stand to live in.

Ryan

I was looking expectantly as she walked towards her locker once again, strands of hair hanging over her face like vines in a forest. She twisted her lock, the tiny numbers spinning around quickly as she inserted her combination. A small piece of paper flutters onto the ground, and she looks at it for second, before bending down to pick it up.

I wait.

It seemed like hours were passing, days, years, even centuries, as she picked up the note.

Everything was in slow motion for me, almost like someone reset time itself,

just to mess with me.

Her eyes darted through the note and seemed to create vibrations inside me. Some filled with excitement, others like rocks hitting water. Sinking… Sinking… and sinking until it hits the bottom. My mind was screaming for her to hurry up, the suspense slowly turning my excitement into nervousness, as her long fingers brushed through every word, painting each letter. What if she didn’t like it? What if she thought it was some sort of joke, and it just made her feel worse? What if she got angry?

The bell rang to go to the next class, but I was still standing there, acting like I was

zipping up my backpack, waiting for her to finish. The note hadn’t been that long. In fact, it had only been, like, three sentences.

And then I realize she wasn’t even reading it anymore. She just blinked and turned

the paper around, as if making sure it was real.

The two of us were the only ones in the hallway, and when she looked up, her eyes automatically locked onto mine, her eyes like gray pearls lost in the snow.

Her face stays the same blank way, and she takes one step towards me. Two. Then

three. And four.

I lost count by the time she reached me, and for a moment, we just stood there, both

of our bodies frozen, waiting for the other person to speak.

She handed me back the note, ending the fraction of time, in which we had been frozen in.

I looked at the note, and back at her, keeping my face calm even though my body was whirring with confusion.

But something seemed to have changed in her, after reading my little note. Her

shoulders had suddenly straightened with confidence, and her chin was now tilted up in defiance.

It… almost seemed like the old Lincoln was back.

But not quite.

There was still a curtain behind her eyes as if a wall wasn’t letting her true emotions

show.

“So… what’d you think?” I asked nervously. It was the only word that popped up in

my head, and before I knew it, I had already said it out loud.

But just like that, the wall in her stormy gaze shattered into a million pieces, some sort of light making its way into her eyes.

“It was nice. Thank you.” She whispered to me, almost sounding like she was crying without any tears.

But I wasn’t paying attention to the fact that she actually spoke to me.

In those two seconds, the corners of her lips had turned upwards, just like the perfect smile she used to wear every single day. A radiant light was coming from it. Even though her smile was forced back into a frown, I knew I had done something right.

Before I could really say anything else, she turned away and walked to probably what I assumed was her class. I could tell she wasn’t as upset anymore. There was even a slight, very slight, skip to her walks.
I realized, that she didn’t need a hug or someone’s shoulder to cry on. All she needed was a few words of encouragement. All she really needed, was a few words that told her it was ok to feel sad.

All she needed, was someone to speak.