Too Broke For Afterlife

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I look at Judy who is trying to hide those thin tears behind a chuckle. 

I hardly know this girl but her story still makes me angry. I was an asshole in highschool as well but accusing someone of prostitution and outing them to their parents? What kind of psychopath do you have to be to do something like that just because your friend is dating someone you like?

"Thank you for sharing." Clemens smiles in her direction and together we watch as Judy nods and lets Walter put his arm around her shoulders. 

I quickly glance over to Isabella to see her reaction but to my surprise, she is looking at me instead. 

I mouth a 'what'.

"Maybe you'd like to share a funny story after all this depressing talk."

"Funny? I don't think we share the same humor."

But she looks at me with pleading eyes and the others seem to agree. 

Well, the others except for Clemens who isn't faced by all the heartbreak and Nox who doesn't have any emotions anyway. Except for maybe boredom, currently she is watching a bird hopping over the grass. 

And here I thought I was the one lacking empathy.

"Any story will do." And she adds "please" with a whisper.

"Fine. Let me think."

<<<

When I was 14, my family went on a trip to Disheyland because my brother Alex and I had been begging our parents for ages.

My brother wanted to go because back then he was the biggest Dishey fan in the universe, always carrying his Goofny plushie everywhere and breaking out into random musical numbers at the dinner table. Until he turned 12, all he ever wanted for birthdays and christmas were posters, dvds and movie tickets but I guess there are worse things to be obsessed with.

I on the other hand wanted to go to Disheyland because I was the only person in my class who had never been there before. That was in 2013, when Instagranny slowly got super popular and I was hoping to snap some cool pics with hot princesses I could post later for my 12 followers to be jealous of.

This was the first time both of us had ever been on an airplane before. Our family isn't the wealthiest and the furthest we've ever traveled for vacation was New Mexico to visit one of my mom's old college friends. 

But California? Damn! Suddenly all the sacrifices and abstention that came from growing up in a low-income household seemed worth it. 

We arrived at Disheyland the second the gates opened and Alex stormed right through, with my mom screaming and running behind him. The security guards seemed completely unbothered by this scene, probably used to seeing child chases on a daily basis.

The first place we went to was a rollercoaster and because Alex was too young and my mom too scared, my dad accompanied me. Maybe not the smartest move to start the day like that because this one went through water and in the end both of us were soaked and freezing. So we decided to take a break inside a cafe.

And that is when I saw her.

A girl around my age with beautiful auburn hair in shorts and a tank top. I just had to go over and say hi.

Her name was Emily, she was 15 and visiting Disheyland with her older brother, Peter.

Peter didn't seem to be too excited about me trying to hit on Emily but after a couple of jokes he relaxed. Sadly, that was when my parents wanted to keep moving.

"Oh my goodness, is that your little brother?" Emily's eyes lit up when she looked at 9 year old Alex who was showing his plushie the Mickey Mice cup he had just drunk out of. 

Emily seemed to be completely fascinated by this boy, I guess he triggered her premature mother instincts. That was when I had a genius idea.

"Mom, can Alex and I hang out with Emily and Peter for a bit?"

My mom was unsure, not ready to let her two fledglings roam free but agreed. She allowed us two hours and then we would meet up at Space Hill. 

Two hours? Enough time to win over Emily's heart and make her my new girlfriend!

"Your brother probably wants to take pictures with all the princesses and heroes, right?" 

She may have addressed me but was looking at Alex the whole time who nodded excitedly.

"I saw your plushie, do you like Goofny? I think I saw Goofny earlier! Should we visit him?"

Now Alex was jumping up and down. 

9 years old and still this excited over hugging a fictional dog. A bit of a late bloomer, I guess.

"Goofny!" Alex started yelling as soon as we saw him and I had to hold my brother back, else he would have straight up skipped the line. After 20 minutes of my life I would never get back, Alex had gotten his hug and picture and was beaming from ear to ear.

I wish I could have appreciated that wholesomeness but I was too focused on Emily. 

After a bit, Peter left because he spotted a friend from school and probably got bored from watching us children.

That was my opportunity.

I shooed Alex onto that spinning teacup ride so I'd have a few minutes alone with the girl of my dreams.

"You're really pretty."

"Oh, thanks."

"Do you live in Cali?"

"Yeah. You?"

Well, I couldn't say no, right? She would have never kissed me, had she known that my home was hundreds of kilometers away from hers.

"Yup."

"Really? Where exactly?"

"Uh…"

F*ck.

"South...California?"

She laughed.

"You're silly."

"In a good or bad way?"

Emily smiled. "Good way."

And that is when I leaned over and kissed her.

The kiss might have only been two seconds long but it felt like the best thing in the world.

Emily seemed overwhelmed and slightly uncomfortable.

"Did you just…"

"Yeah."

I felt like such a player.

"I think you're really pretty and cool and-"

"Where is Alex?"

Emily had jumped up from the bench we were sitting on.

"Who?"

"Alex? Your brother?"

"Oh. Wasn't he…"

I looked over to the teacup ride which had come to a standstill and scanned the children who just got off of it. None of them looked like Alex.

"Hmm."

Then it hit me. "Oh shit!"

I had lost my brother, the only thing my parents loved more than their car. They would KILL me!

"Okay, no need to panic. He can't have gone far. Let's just start looking."

But Emily didn't listen, she started running around, yelling Alex' name. So I did the same.

I think we made everyone go crazy. We asked all the workers and visitors if they had seen my brother but nobody could help. 

What happened to him? Was he wanting to play hide and seek? Or was he abducted by aliens?

After a few lapses through the park, we returned to the cursed teacup ride to ask the person operating it if they had seen anything. But to my horror, the person inside the control booth was not the bald guy anymore but instead a young, tired woman.

"His shift ended five minutes ago, sorry."

"Can you check the CCTV?"

The woman wasn't amused by Emily's amazing idea. 

"No, we can't just check the footage whenever we want to. Why don't you guys calm down and wait? Someone will find up your brother and bring him to the office where you can pick him up. This happens all the time, don't worry."

Easier said than done. I already saw myself moving into an orphanage after my parents would disown me. If I couldn't find this little shit, I'd be dead.

A look at the woman's wristwatch told me that the two hours were almost over and if I didn't make my way to Space Hill now, my mom would probably call security right away.

But I couldn't turn up without Alex either! I was f*cked.

"Can we make an announcement over the speakers?"

The woman sighed. "Kids, seriously, get lost. Just wait, I'm sure - oh, would you look at that!"

I turned to where she was pointing.

And there he was.

Alex came running towards me, crying. Next to him a worker.

"Parker!"

He jumped into my arms and I held him closely as my heart was pumping like crazy.

"Where were you?"

"Where were YOU?"

The worker patted Alex' shoulder.

"He had gotten sick after the ride so I quickly brought him to the nearest bathroom but when we got back, you were gone."

I remember how I stared at the man in disbelief.

"You should have told me where you were going!"

"I told Benny. He probably forgot."

I cursed them out, took Alex' hand and together we ran all the way to Space Hill where our parents were already waiting.

"Where were you? Your mother was just about to call security!"

I looked at Alex with pleading eyes and to my surprise, he understood.

"Sorry, mom. Sorry, dad. Parker said we need to go now but I really wanted to take a picture with Mickey Mice! I'm sorry."

Looking into his big eyes, my parents couldn't be mad and believed the story.

Man, that f*cker really saved my ass.