A friendship to die for.

What appeared to be a perfect little town in Ohio, was actually one families nightmare. Westwood was mostly an upper class town, in the suburbs of Columbus. Consisting of all white families, with the exception of the Jackson’s.

Corey Jackson, a second grader at Westwood Elementary, was the only black kid in his entire school. He and his foster parents were struggling to even pay the bills, let alone up hold a reputation in the upper class town. Corey had jumped from foster home to foster home ever since he had been taken from his mom. Corey was only three years of age when his mom had been caught using and dealing cocaine in their low income apartment complex in Baltimore. Story got around about Corey and his past, many rumors flew.

Corey and his foster parents lived in a small two bedroom house just outside of Columbus. Fearing that Corey would get mixed up with the wrong crowd in a city school, his parents sent him to Westwood. Everyday at school, he would be literally tortured. In his eyes, as he was walking closer to the school, he felt as if he was walking closer and closer towards the gates of hell. Everybody teased and picked on him, calling him names, even racial slurs.

Corey demanded that he be home schooled, only to be rejected by his foster parents. That didn’t work, so Corey begged and pleaded that he be sent to an inner city school, where he thought that many more low income black families would be sending their children. His parents despised the idea, they told him to be strong. His parents weren’t very caring. It seemed that they didn’t even want him around.

The gruesome years passed and Corey was now entering the Fifth grade, he would now be going to Westwood Middle School, where other students from the other Elementary School would be attending. On the very first day of school, the unthinkable happened. Corey was searching for his third period class, when all of the sudden a clan of 7^th and 8^th graders had seen him. They forced Corey into a nearby bathroom, beating the living shit out of him. One kid threw him down and the rest started kicking him as if he were a piñata filled with millions. Gasping for air, Corey screamed, “Please, I’ll do anything!” The beating suddenly stopped. One of the older kids pulled out a knife, “Your not wanted here”, pressing the knife against Corey’s throat, “Just fucking leave, if we see you here tomorrow things will only get worse.” The kids left as if nothing ever happened. Corey laid on the floor thinking to himself, he has got to do something about this. He got up off the dirty floor, looked in the mirror. His face had appeared that it went through a paper shredder. His nose, gushing blood. His eyes, black and blue. One of his front teeth were loose. Corey didn’t want anyone to now what was happening. He cleaned himself up best as he could, but nothing could hide the black and blue rings around his eyes. Corey didn’t even bother to stay in school, he ran home, knowing that his parents were both working. He hid in the backyard for a few more hours until his parents were home. He walked through the front door as if he had just gotten off the bus. When he entered the house, Marsha, his foster mom, noticed his torn to hell face. She exclaimed “What happened to you?” He tried to hold back the tears, but he couldn’t. He told them everything. The only thing that his parents had to say was that he can make it. He could pull through these hard times. They did nothing to solve any problems at the school. Enraged with their half ass taken actions, Corey decided that there is no way in hell that he can go back there, he would fake sick until he could figure something out.

For the next week, Corey had told his parents that he wasn’t feeling well at all. He actually cried to make it look severe, the tears falling were from what Corey had kept locked inside for so long, everything was finally coming out. He had stayed home for an entire week, and he knew that he had to face his fears, he had to go back. It was a beautiful sunny morning, Corey had wondered if that was a sign of hope, or if even the weather had turned its back on him now. As he got on the bus, everything was going as planned, so far, so good. Corey sat in the front seat all alone, still with fear in his eyes. As they reached the school, his heart pounded harder and harder, everything was slow motion, he could hear his heart pounding as if it were a recording playing over and over in his mind. He stepped off of the school bus, nearing the school, everything was still normal. Corey kept his head down, fearing the thought of being seen. He had reached his first period class, He thought to himself, this may be easier than I thought. Corey’s first period class flew by, still nervous, but in shock, things were going as planned. He reached his second period, his third, and for the first time, his fourth period. Things would take a turn in his fourth period class. A turn that Corey had never imagined. He was sitting in the back seat of the class, when his math teacher has told everyone to pair up with partners. He usually just ignored that gesture, and went on with his everyday, lonesome routine. But in an instance, another fifth grade student had walked up to Corey’s desk. She asked him if he wanted to be her partner. He stared into her eyes, in shock, he thought to himself, this is amazing! He said, of course I’ll be your partner. This was a girl like none other Corey had ever seen. She must have been a student from the other Elementary School, he thought. She had a cute little pony tail, sparkling white teeth, and a scent to die for. She asked him for his name, very shyly he told her his name. He asked her hers and very confidently she says “Heather!” He goes about his business, with a bit of a sparkle in his eye. They didn’t talk a whole lot, but to Corey, it was a once in a lifetime experience. Someone had actually talked to him. He got off the bus that day, for once in his life, with his head held high, he was proud of himself. Corey laid in bed all night that night, thinking of Heather. He could not wait until Fourth period tomorrow at school.

The next morning, Corey had set his alarm one hour early. He sprung out of bed, hopped in the shower, and slicked himself up. He even sprayed some of his foster dad’s cologne on. For once in his entire life, Corey was ready, he was excited, he was like a small child on Christmas Eve. He arrived at school, bursting through the doors. He wanted to get his first three periods done and over with as quickly as possible. Five minutes remained in his third period class… Corey was nervous as ever. The bell rung, he rushed to the bathroom to examine his hair. He made sure he was in tip top condition. He ran to his fourth period class. He arrived, sat in his seat. He spotted Heather. She looked back at him and their eyes met like they had known each other for years. He gave her a quick smile. The teacher had told the class to get into partners again. Corey was so excited, he thought to himself, this was the best day of his life. The two, together, shined like a brand new penny. Days passed, and the two became very good friends. Everyday, Corey woke up with one thing on his mind, Heather. Unlike all other children, Corey despised the weekend, because he didn’t see Heather.

Weeks past, Corey had always wondered why he had stopped getting harassed everyday. But as long as Heather was there, he didn’t care. One day, towards the end of the school year, Corey had gotten the idea to finally ask Heather if she would date him. But wait, he thought. What if she says no? He thought about it long and hard. He decided that it would be best to ask her if she liked any other guy first. After school one day, Corey finally got the nerve to ask Heather, “Do you like anybody?” She replied, “Well, there is this one boy.” As Corey felt his cheeks begin to get red, his hopes were diminishing, but he still stared directly at her with a smile. She had told him about this boy, Blake was his name. They had a long discussion about pretty much everything that has to do with love. She asked Corey if she should ask Blake to date her. He took a gulp, many numerous answers running through his head, but all he could think of was the right thing to say, “If you really like him, go for it, no regrets.” He thought to himself, “Stupid!” She was relieved. Days would pass, and Heather finally got the courage to ask Blake if he would date her. Blake said yes. Blake seemed to be a nice boy, but deep, deep down inside, he was a rotten spoiled little brat who had more than most people would ever have in their entire lifespan. Blake treated Heather okay, but his fake personality would soon fade. He absolutely despised Corey, he looked at him as if he were a convicted felon.

Corey’s middle school years would pass. It seemed as if the more time went on, and the closer Blake and Heather got, the farther apart he and Heather got, and the slower time went by. Corey grew very passionate with Heather, regardless of what Blake thought. As days passed, Blake grew more and more jealous of Corey, trying to pry him and Heather apart.

Entering high school was very strange for Corey. It was a very different story. It seemed as if his first day of middle school was reoccurring all over again. Only this time, he had Heather. Everyday, Corey would be harassed. Heather was always there to back him up, Blake despised Corey’s every move. Halfway through their freshman year, Blake had felt he and Heather’s relationship slowly slipping away. Heather and Corey were still best friends, heather decided that there was nothing that Blake could do to stop their relationship.

One cold Sunday came to Corey as a surprise, as if somebody slapped him across the face. He got a phone call from Heather. She was crying, so desperately for help. Corey told her that he would be over as soon as possible. He reached her house, wondering, had Blake finally messed up? Is he finally out of her life? He thought for sure that Heather and Blake were finally done. When she let him in, there were many others in her house, all standing, sobbing. He asked himself, what is going on? She took him into her bedroom and told him the news. Heathers mom had been in a serious car crash, she had passed away. Heathers reason for calling Corey was because Blake was at a wrestling tournament, and she had to talk to somebody, somebody important. After many hours at Heathers house, Corey began home. On his arrival, he thought to himself, “What a horrible thing, and I was happy at first.” He felt horrible about what had happened. For the next few weeks, Corey gave Heather all the attention he could. Blake grew even more and more crazed at the fact that Corey was Heather’s best friend.

Months flew by, and Corey had been thinking, if he doesn’t take a chance, he may never be with Heather. One Saturday afternoon, Corey had called Heather, “Baby, I need to tell you something, it’s really important, meet me at the park in 15 minutes.” She said, “Okay… I’ll be there.” Blake had been over at Heathers house, what neither Corey nor Heather knew was that Blake was listening on the other line. Heather thought of an excuse, something that she could tell Blake, something that would allow her to leave for 20 minutes, alone. Before heather could reach Blake, he had already gone. Heather thought off the top of her head that something must have come up, she tried calling Blake’s house, but no answer. Hmmm, she wondered. She decided to go to the park, in a desperate attempt to find out what Corey had to tell her. Reaching the park, Heather had a very strange feeling about everything. Today just didn’t seem right, she thought to herself. Where is Blake? What does Corey need to tell me? She actually started to hurry, she could not wait to hear what Corey had to say. Was it something important? Did something happen? He sounded awfully sincere on the phone. She entered the park, searching, she saw nothing. As she walked deeper into the park, she saw someone, it was dark, but she was sure it was Corey. She started to run towards the darkened outline of what she thought was her best friend. She got closer and closer, she realized, that isn’t Corey, she started to get frightened. “BLAKE!” She exclaimed. “What are you doing here?!” Blake was in shock, more so because Heather was there, Blake had been spotted, standing over Corey’s dead body. Blood running down his face, off the tips of his fingers. Heather would never find out what Corey had to tell her in the park, on that dreadful Saturday afternoon.

Lesson: Get out whatever it is that you need to say. Say it right, and say it soon, but most importantly, just say it. You never know when something may happen. Let everybody close to you know how you feel about them, especially the ones you love.

Not the best story, I know. But please understand, I suck at writing lol. Sorry…