Monday, August 17, 2009 ♥
Seize the day; or die regretting. (Chapter 3)
-Fast Forward: 1 Year.-
*March 1999*
Everybody stood around, mourning and weeping. Everybody eventually broke down as tears cascaded down their cheeks.
Matt Sanders announced for everybody to gather near the podium so that he could make a speech for his deceased father.
Matt cleared his throat and began his speech, sniffling and pushing away the tears from his cheeks with his palm.
"Gary Sanders, my father, my hero and shelter was a good man. He looked after not only my family, but my best friends, Valary and Michelle DiBenedetto, James and Estelle Sullivan, Johnathan and Jareb Seward, Zachery Baker and Brian Elwin. Gary provided food and shelter for us. He was there when I had my first-"
With that, Matt broke down crying, covering his face with his right palm while he took sharp intakes of breaths.
Matt finally calmed down and continued,"Fight, my father protected my sister and I when I experienced my first fight. Things might have seemed unfair at first, finding out that my pop died in a car accident but life moves on. Hence, even though Gary Sanders has passed on, our fond memories with this wonderful man remain vivid and clear." Matt ended off with a prayer and the Sign of the Cross.
He stumbled off the podium and immediately, Val enveloped him in a tight hug, caressing his head as he wept into her neck.
"Hmm. My name is Jareb and I have a few things to say about Mr Gary Sanders." She looked over to Matt and he gave her an approving nod.
Jareb continued with her speech and she ended off with saying, "Rest in Peace, I love you Papa Sanders." Jareb stepped off the podium and sat back down in between Estelle and Malachi.
Gary Sanders had passed on when a car came crashing right into him, the driver was drunk at that point of time.
Before everybody left, everybody kissed the casket before letting lower 6 feet below.
The impact that Gary had on each individuals lives will always be remembered.
He taught Matt how to fight properly, how to defend and how to go offensive.
He taught Malachi how to colour, draw and play the violin.
He looked after Michelle and Valary like his own daughters.
He taught Jimmy how to drink the proper way, teaching him how to sober up too.
Gary taught Estelle how to fight as well and also, she picked up some art tips from him.
He always talked and counseled Brian and Zacky when they had problems.
For the Seward twins, Gary talked to their parents, a heart-to-heart talk, making them understand their own children.
Johnny learnt his guitar tricks from Gary.
Jareb, well, was the only one interested in learning how to cook and was extremely drawn by the idea of fixing vehicles.
But most importantly, Gary introduced God to Jareb's Aethist lifestyle, teaching not only Jareb but the rest of the teenagers who were close to him about God.
Everybody could always find Zacky and Gary in the backyard, playing some baseball.
Now, it was so unbelievable that Gary Sanders was long gone.
It's been two weeks and everybody seemed more accepting... Yet there were some effects.
Matt became more angsty, he was always frustrated because teachers kept giving sympathetic looks and kept questioning Matt about whether he was all right.
Malachi just drifted deeper into her own world.
The rest seemed to have lost intrest in studying, except for Estelle, Jareb and Malachi, meaning, the rest dropped out of the school.
Matt started a band with Zacky, Jimmy, Johnny and Brian by the name of Avenged Sevenfold.
Each one of them had their own stage names:-
Matt became Matt Shadows due to his dark personalty,
Zachary became Zacky Vengeance due to him wanting revenge against those people who has hurt him.
James or Jimmy became Jimmy The Reverand Tholomew Plague,
Jonathan became Johnny Christ and
Brian became Synyster Gaytes.
They were into Heavy Metal and Screamo scene, using Matt's strong vocals to scream to the world about their feelings.
Estelle was a part time artist and sold some of her work for cash to pay her tuition fees.
Jareb did baby sitting as her part time job, to pay off her tuition fees.
Estelle wanted to be an artist and go to NUOA, the National University Of Arts but Jareb had no idea what to do do but she studied hard and eventually, both entered University, majoring what they wanted to since High School.
-2001-
"Rebo! We are going to be late! Faster your ass up!" Estelle's voice chimed from the other side of the door.
Slow footsteps thumped on the stairs as an extremely sleepy Jareb emerged, dressed in a hoodie and a pair of skinnies with a beanie pulled over her blow dried hair.
"Finally! Let's go!" Estelle thundered as she dragged Jareb out of the door.
"What's your 1st lesson again?" Estelle questioned with a confused expression when Jareb finally removed her key from her bike's ignition.
"English Literature then Pure Mathematics." Estelle cringed when she heard Jareb's reply.
Don't get Estelle wrong, Estelle loves Literature but their teacher is some asshole who does not teach one bit and as for Mathematics, she even tried to convince the principal into not letting her take Mathematics up.
When Estelle heard that Jareb wanted to take up Pure Mathematics, she burst out laughing thinking Jareb was pulling a fast one.
When Jareb said that she was serious about Pure Mathematics, Estelle just gaped at her with awe and Estelle still remembers that moment even though it was last year, December, and it is now September as it was back to school since Summer vacation just ended.
Estelle and Jareb were learning about Julius Caesar and his greatness for Literature and to the whole class of 12 students who took this subject up, they did not understand a word Mr Sham says.
"Please copy this entire sheet of paper and you guys can go off." Mr Sham announced to the entire congregation huddled in the first 2 rows of the Auditorium.
Jareb was out of the door once Mr Sham was done with his instructions and she did not even bother copying what was instructed to be done so.
"Estelle Young?" Mr Sham called out.
"Yes Sir?" Estelle answered.
"Keep up the good work because you are doing excellent in your essays. Top in class, even higher standards than the 3rd yearers in this school." Mr Sham smiled. Estelle just beamed and walked out of the Auditorium.
-End of Chapter Three-
Tuesday, August 4, 2009 ♥
I almost told you that I loved you. (Chapter 2)
"Whoopee-fucken-doo!"Jimmy mimicked Jareb as the entire group walked home with each other.
"You guys wanna come over? I think my old man has cooked something and we can do homework as a large group."Matt announced and grinned, showing off his dimples.
Johnny and Jareb exchanged glances and nodded happily, smirking at each other.
"Hell yeah! I want to get away from that shithole!" Estelle exclaimed excitedly and high-fived her brother.
"Hey old man, friends are here!" Matt shouted once everybody stepped through the front door.
"Good afternoon to you too, Matthew young man. I've made lunch, alright? Help yourselves." A man, around his mid-late forties stepped out from the kitchen, wearing an apron. Everybody swore that Matt was a chip off the old block.
"Hello Mr Gary!"" The whole group chorused with a happy tone. They were extremely glad to be away from home.
"Let's get some gru-ooff!" Matt stopped short when somebody hopped onto his back.
"Hello to you too, Malachi." Matt sighed and chuckled.
"Heyo big brother Matty!" Malachi exclaimed into Matt's ear while clinging onto Matt's back, her voice causing her brother to wince.
"Kids... Why are they so damn troublesome?!" Michelle whined and pouted.
Everybody ignored Michelle and went over to the dining table. and started dishing out their food.
"Gosh, thish ish goods." Jareb mumbled with a mouthful of macaroni and cheese.
"Close your mouth when you chew and don't talk, Cookie Jar" Gary scolded softly, furrowing his eyebrows a bit before loosening up into a grin. "How was school today, kids?"
"I got into another fight again." Matt mumbled under his breath, looking extremely sheepish.
"Aw boy, I have told you so many times not to get into these kinds of crap." Gary said in a stern voice and stared hard at Matt who sank further into his seat.
"Daddy... What is crap?" Malachi's innocent voice broke the awkward silence, her big brown eyes looking deep in her father's brown ones. Everybody was waiting for Gary's explanation, wanting to know how was he going to get out of this sticky situation.
"Well... It means... Uh... Well... You know..." Gary stuttered and chuckled nervously to himself. Everybody was amused by this situation and continues watching intently, eating at the same time.
"Yes papa? What does it mean?! What, what?!" Malachi pleaded and pouted, while tugging on Gary's t-shirt sleeve.
"I'll tell you, soon, okay? I promise." Gary said in a nervous grin.
"Okay, daddy..." Malachi said, sounding a bit disappointed.
"Aw, 'Chi, let Rebby give you some cookies, okay?" Jareb called from the kitchen counter and went over to Malachi and swooped Malachi into her arms, carrying Malachi over to Johnny's backpack.
"Here ya go, babe." Jareb grinned and handed Malachi a double chocolate chip cookie that she made for Johnny and herself for break time.
"Yay! Thanky!" Malachi screamed and chomped happily on her cookie. All of a sudden, a loud, obnoxious sound erupted from Zacky's lips.
"Holy! What the f- I mean, what the heck is wrong with you?!" Estelle exclaimed and carefully chose her words due to the presence of a 9-year-old Malachi.
"That, my dearest Estelle, meant that I enjoyed Uncle Sander's cooking." Zacky beamed and gave a cocky grin.
"I'm glad that somebody enjoyed my food. Even my son doesn't comment on it." Gary babbled dramatically and sighed dreamily.
Everybody chuckled and giggled at Gary while Matt rolled his eyes and said over enthusiastically, "Oh, daddy kins, the food you conjured up today is oh-so-irresistible! Can I have some more?! Please, please?!"
Everybody just cringed and stared at Matt and his father "I cannot believe that my boyfriend is becoming a pansy." Val sighed sadly and meddled with her food using a fork.
-After Lunch-
"Alright, we are done with rubbish Physics. What else is there for us to help each other with?" Lena questioned, rubbing her temples and groaned.
"We have... Well, Calculus!" Estelle beamed and immediately, everybody stared at Jareb expectantly.
"What? I am not going to give y'all the answers, Dimwits." Jareb grumbled and rolled her eyes, taking out her Calculus notebook.
Everybody just pouted and gave puppy-dog eyes, making whiney noises to persuade Jareb to get her to give the answers.
"All right! All right, Jeez! Pass me all the papers and I'll work them out for you guys." Jareb sighed and shook her head.
Everybody lingered at the table after five minutes before getting bored and walking off to the lounge room to watch some television programs, leaving Jareb alone.
"You need help, Jareb?" Estelle questioned with concern, Jareb just shook her head and continue working on the questions.
"Heyo Jarry. How's school? Anything new? Any new crushes?" Gary questioned from Jareb's side and had a cheesy grin plastered on his face.
Jareb pursed her lips tightly and a tinge of red rose to her cheeks. She just shifted her eyes to glance at Brian and quickly looked back to continue her work.
"Ahh, actions speak louder than words, young lady." Gary quoted and smirked at what Jareb just did.
"Hi Rebby big sister!" Malachi called and giggles, eyes sparkling. Malachi plonked herself down on a chair next to Jareb.
"How's elementary school, 'Chi?" Jareb questioned with a raised eyebrow concentrating on her work.
"I'll get it." Matt announced when the phone started to ring, interrupting Malachi the chance to reply.
"Um, erm, good evening to you too Mr Seward. No,... No, th-, They aren't here." Matt hung his head low as he stammered into the phone.
"I'm not lying, sir." Matt muttered into the phone.
"Fine then. Come over, sir." Matt said with confidence. Johnny quickly scrambled to his feet and jogged over to Matt.
"Brother, what the hell?! My dad's gonna kick out asses!" Johnny gushed and was waving his hands frantically in the air.
"Don't worry kid, I'll have a talk with your father." Gary explained with a sympathetic look.
Around 10 minutes later there were loud bangings at the front door.
"Fuck." Johnny and Jareb were standing next to each other and muttered that obscenity at the same time.
"Yer stinkin' lyin' pig. Tellin' me that Jonathan and Jareb weren't 'ere. Lyin' to yer elders now, eh?" Mr Seward slurred and stabbed a finger into Matt's chest. Gary grabbed Mr Seward's wrist and made Mr Seward look at him.
"Why don't we take a walk, friend?" Gary wrapped an arm around the confused eldest Seward. Matt just furrowed his brows and walked away, rolling his eyes.
The two grown men walked out of the front door and walked towards the direction of the park. Everybody sighed in relief except Jareb.
"We are still gonna get it sooner or later, Johnny. We should leave. Bye all." Jareb dragged Johnny home without another word.
-End of Chapter Two-