-When Angels Cry-
Part 1.
It was a quiet afternoon in the town. I'd just moved into my condo. Strange as it is, I used to live here as a child up until the middle of highschool. I moved back, just in hopes that I'd find happiness once again. I parked my car in the driveway and decided to take a walk around town, for old-times sake. I walked down a few blocks to my old highschool. I leaned on the fence and just gazed at the building. This was no ordinary school, this was the school that changed my life forever. I walked a little further until I came to the end of the fence, but there was that same little gap in it, where it went into a small green patch of grass, covered with a thick coat of low trees and bushes. It was almost like my secret place.
I walked back to my house and decided to unpack some boxes of items before night came along so I cut open a box of my old clothes, and it occured to me that I had more cothes than I'd thought, so I opened another box. it just so happened to be my old photos from when I was little. I pulled out some of my baby pictures, then, I unexpectedly pulled out one of my teenage photos. I stared at it for awhile, then a tear came into my eye, closed my eyes and relaxed for a moment. I opened them back up and held the picture to my heart.
Oh, yeah, my names Emily. You can call me Em, for short. That's me in the picture. I was fifteen at the time. I'm the one with long brown hair, brown eyes, thick glasses, sitting beside my dog Orville and my stepdad, god forbid I ever see him again, and that's my mom, or, was my mom. That picture was taken three years before she died. And that girl, behind me, blonde hair and emerald green eyes, was the love of my life, Shelly. She's gone now, but I'll never forget her. It wasn't but about eight years ago that I was with her. I was a sophmore. I still remember those days perfectly...
~The school year was just around the corner. I was getting my school supplies ready for another boring year in ShitValley High(as I like to call it.) I'd just gotten all of my clothes washed for the new school year starting tomorrow.
"Hey Boxer!" I said as he ran up to me and rubbed my legs(Oh, yeah, he's my cat.) He ran around me and hid under the bed, just as dad barged in.
"Emily! What is this god-damn pile of clothes doing on the floor?!" I could tell he was drunk. He kicked the neat piles of clothes to the other side if the room.
"Clean it up!"
"Damnit dad, I just washed them and folded them and here you come in, drunk as usual, and totally mess up the clothes!"
"Hey young lady, watch that mouth of yours!" He threw his empty beer can at me then mom came in the room.
"What is all this about?" mom said in her soft, yet worried voice.
"Nothing mom, dad's just drunk." I said as I crawled across the room and picked up the clothes while the king-of-the-house stormed into another room.
The sun eventually hid behind the mountains and I sat out on me back porch, watching the sky turn from blue, to purple, to black. The stars shone clearer than ever that night.
"Shouldn't you be in bed?" Mom walked out onto the porch from the backdoor and sat down beside me.
"Yeah but.." I started, but couldn't make out the words to finish.
"Excited?" My mom looked at me and smiled.
"Yeah, kinda."
We both sat there on the porch, looking out into the blackness. There was nothing to look at, but yet, we both thought it was beautiful. The sound of crickets playing their song filled the air and a soft spring breeze blew across our faces.
"Come on, let's go, it's time for bed."
"Okay." I didn't argue. I could feel myself falling asleep, so I followed my mom inside.
After I had put on my nightgown and brushed my teeth, I crawled into my soft bed, cuddling my pillow and the soft mattress of my bed.
"Goodnight mom!" I said as I yawned.
"Goodnight." I could hear her reply. Her voice fading away as she walked further down the stairs.
"Rise and shine!"
"Mom?"
"Yep, wake up sleepy-head." She said as she walked into my room and opened my window.
"Oww, mom, too bright!" She closed the curtains a little, but pulled off my covers. I tried to fight back, getting a good grip on my covers, not letting her have them. She crawled onto my bed and started tickling me.
"Oww, mom," I giggled and started kicking my feet. "okay, okay, I'll get up!" Mom started giggling too.
"By the way, breakfast is on the kitchen table when you're ready."
"Okay mom, thanks."
I got up, took a shower, changed into my school clothes(which was just an ordinary pair of flare jeans and a tight black t-shirt) and walked downstairs to eat breakfast.
"Good morning mom and dad." I said in a cheery voice, not sounding too cheery or they'd think I was about to beg them for something.
"Good morning to you too." said my mom in the same cheery voice.
"Yeah, hi." dad said as he read his newspaper and reach for his cup of coffee on the table.
I sat down on a wooden chair in front of the table and pulled up my chair to the bowl of cereal lying there, beside a glass of orange juice and two golden-brown slices of buttered toast, a typical school-day breakfast. I ate my breakfast, put on my shoes and headed out the door when my mom stopped me.
"Forgetting something?" mom said as she held up my bookbag.
"Oh yeah, thanks." I smiled, grabbed my bookbag and headed out the door to the bus stop.
It seemed as if I was the only one there. I waited a good ten minutes and finally the old bus came rolling along with its squeaky tires and screaming little kids.
"King of the road." I thought to myself and giggled.
The old bus stopped. The bus driver opened the door and I stepped in. That bus had the strangest odor you could ever smell. I finally stepped up to the aisle of the bus, and it seemed as if every eye in the bus was on me as I walked down the aisle. I made my way to the back of it and sat in front of someone my own age, away from the screaming kids. I rested my head down on the window, stretched my legs across the other seat and relaxed for the first few minutes before reaching the school.
"New here?" I could hear a voice say but it didn't occur to me that it was talking to me.
"Hey, wake up!"
I finally opened my eyes and looked up. There was the girl siting behind me, long golden- blonde hair, the greenest eyes you could ever see and lips looking so soft, you could almost eat them.
"I'm up, I'm up!" I said and sat up.
"Well?"
"Well what?" I said, confused.
"You never answered my question."
"What question?"
"Are you new here??" she said in a raised voice then started to giggle.
"Oh, not to the town, but to the school." I replied back and yawned.
"I never seen you around, what's your name?"
"Emily, you can call me Em."
"Cool, I'm Shelly."
The bus finally stopped at the school and we all got off. I walked over to the stairs and sat my bookbag down beside me, then sat down.
"Hey, there's no room for me." Shelly stood behind me and said.
"Oh, sorry." I said and moved my bookbag. Shelly sat down beside me and I started looking around at what was to be my new school.
"So, what classes do you have?" she said, but I didn't seen to hear her.
"Helloooo," She said "anybody home?"
"Oh, yeah, sorry, what was that again?"
"Do you have a daydreaming problem?"
"Sorry, I was just thinking."
"About what?"
"School."
"School?"
"Yeah, and what the new year will be like."
"Oh, okay, cool, this is my second year here, I'm in tenth grade. I take it you're a sophmore."
"Yeah, new to the school."
"I see. As I was saying, what classes do you have?"
"Gym, Algebra, History.."
"No, no, no. What teacher and what period? We might have a class together."
"Oh, who do you have for gym?"
"Coach Bryer, you?"
"Same! What class?"
"Fifth."
"Me too! Cool!"
As soon as we really started talking and getting to know each other, the bell rang, as if it were activated to ring as soon as I made my first friend there.
"See you in Gym!" Shelly said, and walked up the stairs and through the school doors.
"You too!" I said, but I doubt she heard me through the chatter of people in the hallway. I watched the back of her head fade into the crowded halls full of people trying not to be late for their first class on their first day of school from a long, yet short summer vacation. I managed my way through the crowded halls and to my locker. I could tell it, like all of the others, was a used, torn-up locker. The paint on it was worn down to the metal and the lock wouldn't even open so I had to carry my books throughout the day(not that I had any books at the moment because I hadn't even started my first class.) I searched through the hallways and finally came across my first class- English. I walked into what seemed to be a '50s-style classroom, wooden table, wooden floor and worn-out chalkboard(I hope you have an idea of what I mean by a '50s style classroom.) I sat in the second seat on the third row and pulled out my notebook, just as a crowd of what I assumed soon-to-be cheerleaders walked into the room and sat all together in their little clique. I cringed and looked around the room at the other people, who I was going to have to get to know, or else I'd look like the outsider. The loud bell rang a few minutes later than it should and the class waited a moment, then hushed as the teacher walked in.
"Hello class," said the high-pitched voice coming from the middle-aged woman who was to be the teacher of the class. "my name is Ms. Macardy, and I'll be teaching reading, writing and language arts."
She passed out our assigned textbooks and we wrote our names in the cover. Ms Macardy didn't assign any homework that day, probably because it was the first day of school. She took role and then let us talk to each other for the rest of the class period. She dismissed us early so I ran to my locker, put my book in and ran to my next class, home-ec. I walked down the long stairway to the dark school basement. I walked through the downstairs hall and looked around for my home-ec classroom, then the bell rang. I expected a swarm of people to come out of the rooms but they didn't, in fact, there were no people down here. It seemed to get colder as I walked further down the hall to maybe see another set of stairs at the end, but there was nothing, I realized that I was alone, then the second bell rang. I was late for class, but I didn't bother going. It occured to me that if I wasn't going to do anything, I might as well sit down doing it. I sat down in front of the open door to the janitors equipment room(oh how cold a cement basement floor feels when you sit on it!). A huge bucket and mop was to my right, while about two yards of empty concrete floor then a wall was to my left. Suddenly, I heard a voice. It sounded like it was coming from the stairs, getting closer and closer. I hid behind the giant bucket(which I thought was a trash can) just in case it was a teacher coming, and if it was a teacher and they caught me, they'd think I was skipping. I forgot about how cold I was, I was more concerned in getting caught.
"Emily," the voice said. I suddenly realized that voice, it was Shelly!
"Shelly?" I called, just to make sure.
"What are you doing down here?" she said as I started to get up.
"What are YOU doing here?" I asked her back.
"I asked you first."
"Ok, I was looking for the home-ec room and I made my way down here but the bell rang and I thought I might as well stay down here, now, why are YOU down here?"
"First of all, girl, the home-ec class is WAY down on the other end of the building, and to answer your question, I often come here whenever I can because its peaceful. I came to this spot since I first started highschool.It's a restricted zone but I don't really care." She said as she sat down where I sat, so I sat down next to her.
"Cool." I said as I leaned against the wall.
"Are you going to class or..?" She started, but I interrupted her in the middle of the sentence.
"No, you?"
"Nope, besides, this is the first day, there won't be much going on."
"What if we're counted absent?"
"Your point is?"
I smiled and sat with my knees bent upwards and my feet pointing to the other side of the wall. I leaned forward a little to take off my bookbag and I let out a small sigh, feeling a strange feeling. A feeling of freedom.
"You okay?"
"Yeah, just tired." I said and yawned.
"Ever had a boyfriend?"
"No," I replied. "you?" I said, but as if she wasn't paying attention, asked another question without answering mine.
"A girlfriend?"
"WHAT?" I said in a raised voice, shocked.
"Nevermind."
"No, what did you mean?"
"Forget it."
"You sure?"
"Yeah."
Suddenly, the silence was broken by the loud tone of the bell. I asked her where the Algebra class was and she gave me directions. I hugged her, but I could tell that when she hugged me, she was very warm, and I noticed that a small tear was forming in her eye. I pretended not to notice and went on to my algebra class. That period, I couldn't think of anything or anyone but Shelly. The class ended and I found myself only a period away from seeing her again. I finally was able to open my locker so I put my Algebra book in it and walked to the cafeteria. It was crowded! I managed to get to a table with my lunchbox and was able to finish eating before the bell rang (though I doubt you call twirling your spoon around the food and daydreaming the whole time actually eating.)
Here it was, finally fifth period, where I'd see Shelly again. I walked into the gym, tossed my bag onto the bleachers and sat down. I waited and waited for the golden-haired, emerald-eyed beauty to come walking through that door, and at last she did. She put her bag beside mine and sat beside me.
"Hey!"
"Hey!" she replied.
"What's up?"
"Not much."
"Cool."
"By the way, about what you said in the..." I started, but was interrupted by the coach as he walked in.
"First, we'll assign lockers." he said, and directed the boys to the boys locker room and the girls to theirs.
I followed the group of girls and we stood in a line in front of the door as the coach gave us peices of paper that had our locker numbers and combinations on it. After we memorized our combination, we threw away the paper so that others wouldn't know it. The coach opened the door and we walked inside to out locker room. It was old. It has writing on the wall, scraped paint, broken benches, a shower with the knob loose and there was only two toilet stalls- and thirteen of us.
"Lovely." one of the girls said and we all giggled.
"This is our locker room," another girl groaned "it needs some spicing up."
In no time, everyone was putting stickers and images on and in their lockers. (Well, as soon as the coach had left. )
"Everyone get into the gym and line up in two single file lines- ones for girls and the other for boys." the coach said.
We did just that.
I stood behind Shelly, and for some reason, couldn't stop staring at her, nor looking into her eyes whenever I had the chance. I looked over her shoulder and saw what the lines were for, they were measuring weight and height.
I was the next up.
I stepped up onto the weight scale and then the nurse jotted down something I couldn't make out, but I could hear her mumble 132 pounds, and then she measured my height. Again she wrote down something. I glanced at it. It was my height. I clearly saw the numbers 5'7 and knew that I was above average height, so I was qualified to take Basketball or Swim team this year.
I stepped off of the scale and she asked me my name.
"Emily Hartsfeld." I replied, as she wrote that down.
I walked up to the bleachers and sat down by Shelly.
"I feel fat." I said
"No you're not," Shelly said "you're very.." and before she finished the sentence, I accidentally interrupted.
"Yeah I am, I weigh 132." Then I realized that she tried to say something, but couldn't. Instead, she said "Seriously?"
"Yeah," I said, and nodded my head. I still thought of what she tried to say, but as if some will in her was holding her words back. She couldn't say it. I could see he breathing deeply and slightly blushing. I could tell that inside, she wanted me to know something, but she couldn't find the right words to put it in.
"Wow, I weigh 131," she said in a soft voice, trying to forget about what she was about to say earlier.
We both giggled at the coinsidence and I no longer felt fat anymore. >From then on, everytime I looked in the mirror, I could see that I was born with a natural beauty inside. Not the type that one brags about, but the type that only you and the ones you love can see.~
Part 2.
I came out of my flashback and found myself lying on the sofa, with that picture in my hand. I unknowingly dozed off in that same place and some few hours later, I was awakened by a knock at the door. I sat up. Rubbing the sleep from my eyes and trying to get up, I slowly paced my way through the mess of boxes and opened the door.
"Hello." A friendly woman, who looked about my age, said in a greeting voice.
"Hello." I replied
"I heard you were new here."
"Yeah, I am, though I had lived here before."
"Ahh, okay." she said and then nodded
"Oh, I'm sorry, how rude of me! Please, do come in."
"Thank you." she said faintly, almost a whisper.
I cleared a path through the boxes to my sofa, sat down and offered her a drink.
"No thank you." she said in a soft polite voice.
"My name's Emily- Emily Hartsfeld."
"I'm Melissa Holland."
I smiled as we shook hands.
"So, what part of town do you live in?" I asked.
"Eastern, on Mills Road."
Mills Road, Mills Road. The name sounded so familiar, but I couldn't remember where I had heard it. Maybe I'd seen a roadsign with that on it, or remember it from when I was younger, but this wasn't that kind of familiar- I had felt that this road name was extremely close to me, and played a big part in my life.
"It's getting late- I'd better go. I just stopped by to meet you."
"Goodbye." I said, seeing her off
The next day, I woke up on the sofa, and took about half of the day putting some of my things up, then the name Mills Road came into my head again, this time, I was desperate. I decided to see why it was so important to me, so I got into my car, drove out the dirveway and searched around the town to find the haunting road name. I searched the whole town, street by street, but never came across a Mills Road. "It might be out of town," I thought to myself, and drove about ten miles out of town and still no Mills Road. I finally gave up and drove back home.
I walked back into my house and picked up the picture again and sat down on the sofa. The memories flooded my mind, and surely, I thought, I could finally recognise Mills Road. I just kept staring at the picture, as if it were some portal, just at anytime could tell my future. The memories came back.
~It was the second day of school. After I had eaten and gotten ready, I walked outside to catch the bus. When it arrived, I saw Shelly in the seventh row of seats and sat down by her. She looked at me and smiled. My heart lit up. I couldn't understand why it was only her smile that made me feel comfortable and secure inside. After arriving at school, I got off of the bus and sat on the steps by the school's doors. As I expected, Shelly came over and sat down beside me. I looked over at her, and her hair looked golden from the light shining on it. Her eyes looked like green marbles, only a million times clearer. For some reason I looked at her differently. She didn't seem like just a friend, but someone that I cared for so much more. I couldn't understand it. I barely knew her, and surely I couldn't be in love, because she was a girl- a girl, but the more I looked at her and been around her, the more obvious it was that I had feelings for her- but I didn't dare tell her or she might have thought I needed mental help.
A few months passed and the more we hung out, the closer I emotionally felt towards her. I no longer was afraid that it wasn't boys I liked, but a girl. I felt in my soul that she was like an angel sent from heaven, and I was attracted to her more than I ever recalled being attracted to anyone else. I just wished that I could tell her...
It was around the middle of the school year, the day before Valentine's Day, and this was the day, I thought, that I would tell her how I felt about her. After the morning ride to school, I waited outside by the school for the first bell to ring, standing by Shelly, of course. I waited for the perfect moment to tell her, but I knew it wouldn't be now, and giving her a note wouldn't mean a thing to me.
The first bell eventually rang and I managed my way through the halls to my first class. I didn't care about any homework now because I was determined to find a way to tell Shelly how I felt. Ideas ran through my head and soon, the bell rang. I didn't want to be late for home-ec, but I had just remembered the basement hall, and how I met her there on the first day of school. "Now was the time to tell her," I thought to myself. As I walked slowly down the hallway, a strange sensation came over me. I felt excited and nervous, warm, yet cold. In a soft whisper, I could hear a voice mumbling something to herself, like she was practicing words or something. I instantly realized that it was Shelly.
"Shelly?" I called out, just making sure that it was her.
"Yeah," she answered back. "is that you, Emily?"
"Yeah, it's me."
"What are you doing here?" she asked
"Well, what are YOU doing here?" I replied, remembering the first day of school and us repeating just this
We both giggled and she waved her hands to me, like she wanted me to come over there.
"Wanna stay here until class is over?" she asked
"Yeah," I replied "that's why I came here."
She looked at me. It was a look she'd never given me before. I didn't know what to do. I sat down beside her.
"I.. I need to tell you something." she mumbled
"I... do too." I said after her
"You say it first." she said
"Why not you?" I said
"Let's both say it together." she insisted
"Ok." I said
A moment of silence passed as we each took a breath.
"I like you." "I like you."
As if we were reading each others minds, we just glanced at each other. I almost cried. I couldn't believe what I heard. Was this a dream? Maybe I fell asleep during home-ec. I asked Shelly to pinch me just to make sure it wasn't a dream, and thankfully it wasn't. The person I care so much for feels the same way about me. I was speechless, and all I could do was look into her beautiful eyes.
"You do?" she said
"Ever since we started getting to know each other, I have." I said, smiling
"You remember the second day of school, when I tried to say something to you, but couldn't?" she asked
"Yeah."
"Well, what I tried to say then, is that I thought you were very beautiful, but I thought you'd think I was a psyco if I said so."
I took a deep breath, and leaned my head on the bottom shelf of the janitor's room.
"You okay?" she asked
"Yeah, I'm great, just shocked."
She leaned her head on my shoulder and I wrapped my arm around her.
I lifted her chin up slightly with my other hand, and she looked up at me.
"You're beautiful." I said in a soft whisper
"Kiss me." she replied
I felt warm all over, and at that moment, I thought that I was the happiest girl ever. I licked my lips and softly pressed them against her ruby-red lips. Time had stopped when I kissed her. I felt like we were the only two humans on earth, the only two people ever to be in love, the only two females to care for each other so deeply. I opened my mouth and kissed her a little more passionately. I sucked on her sweet tounge and I could hear her moan as I felt her hands on my waist. At that time, I knew that I had found someone worth saving myself for.~
Part 3.
There was a knock at the door and I had come back out of the flashback once again. I answered the door. It was Melissa. I welcomed her in and offered her a seat on the couch. She sat down.
"Has anything new been happening?" I asked, trying to be polite
"Not really, I just stopped by to see how it was going with you, and I won't be staying long."
"It's great, thanks."
"Could you please show me the way to the restroom?" she asked
"Yes, down the hall, it's the second door on the left." as I walked to the hall and pointed to the bathroom door.
I was walking back to the sofa when I heard a voice which sounded like Shelly's. "No, it couldn't be." I thought and then sat on the sofa.
"Eeemilyyy" the voice called. I was afraid by now.
I walked into the hall and opened the bathroom door, not thinking about who was in there. "Did you just hear--" I started, but just then, where Melissa's reflection in the mirror was supposed to be, was Shelly's. I gasped. I was about to faint then Melissa turned around. It was her- black hair, blue eyes. She looked back into the mirror again, and the reflection was hers.
"Heard what?" she asked
"I'm sorry, I'm deeply sorry." I said to her as I backed out of the bathroom and leaned against the hallway wall, breathing as deeply as I ever had.
"Shh, it's okay." she said and hugged me.
I turned around and walked toward the sofa but then remembered something else I was going to say.
"By the way, Mills Road--" I started, but then I turned around, and she was gone.
I looked all around the house and seen no sign of her. there was no backdoor or open windows she could have gone through, plus I had been facing the front door the whole time. I was now freaked out.
That night, No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't remember anything past the time Shelly and I kissed, as if all the rest had just been erased. I gave up on trying to remember Mills Road and decided to call it a night.
I slept on the sofa that night, since my bed wasn't put up yet.
^It was Valentine's Day and Shelly and I were going to stay the night at her place. She showed me around her house, then the backyard. There was a cleared path through the woods from her backyard. We walked on it. At the end of the road was a sign. I walked up closer. "Mills Road" it said. Shelly waved for me to follow her. I could see she was going to an old abandon mill. We walked inside it and the floor wouldn't stop creaking. As if from a slide show, the scene from which I stood appeared a ladder and us climbing up it to the attic of the mill. Shelly pulled a golden locket out of her pocket and put it on me. She smiled and kissed me softly. The scene changed again. Shelly was standing in the doorway to the water wheel when the old floor caved in. The scenes kept flashing every moment of her falling.. falling.. falling, and hitting the water. I remember crying. All I could do was watch her fall. I was powerless to stop it. Then the water turned red. Then another scene showed up. This was Shelly's funeral. It showed images of me taking off my locket and putting it around her neck. I hugged her and the image of Shelly turned into my mothers. An image shown my dad grinning his evil grin and laughing at her funeral. Then I saw Shelly's grave, then my moms, then I woke up.^
I now knew what happened. Mills Road is where Shelly died...
It was 5:36am and I turned over to go back to sleep when I saw something on the floor. There was something wrapped up in cloth and a letter by it. I read the letter:
Sometimes things are not meant to happen,
Some people are not meant to die,
Time can get carried away,
So keep a watchful eye,
Keep faith in your heart and in your soul,
Keep the hope in your heart nigh,
There will be your fate in life,
When angels cry.
-Melissa "Shelly" Holland
"Shelly..." I thought
I felt a small tear pop its wat out from my eye and I picked up the piece of cloth. My heart skipped a beat. I unwrapped it and I could tell it was made of something metal. I got it out, and it was the golden locket in the shape of a heart. I opened it up and there it was, a picture of Shelly and I standing beside each other. The word "Love" was in gold on the inner part of the locket. I closed it and put it around my neck...
I was fifteen, standing on the middle of the upper floor in the old mill.
"Shelly!," I screamed and ran over to her. I grabbed her hand just in time, or she was sure to fall to her death. "Are you okay?" I asked in a worried voice.
"Yeah, thank you so much."
"No problem," I said as I smiled. "imagine what would happen if you fell." We both looked back at the water wheel.
"If someone fell in it, they could probably never get back out alive." she said
"Let's get out of here." I said
We walked out of the mill and looked back at it. It was now a mark in both of our lives forever and who knows what would have happened if I hadn't gotten to Shelly in time...