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- Story Listed as: Fiction For Teens
- Theme: Drama / Human Interest
- Subject: Death / Heartbreak / Loss
- Published: 12/12/2012
Teenage Troubles of Lea Schmid
Born 1994, M, from Arkansas, United States.jpg)
“Control yourself!” Lea yelled at her brother Jordan. She was so sick of Jordan laughing at her!
“Take your own advice. You complain about being fat and you eat two gigantic pieces of peanut butter pie,” Jordan retorted.
“Well, it’s none of your business what I eat or how much I weigh!” Lea snapped back. Lea then stormed upstairs to her room, knowing she had just contradicted herself. Here she was fifteen pounds overweight, and very upset about it, but yet she was still eating a vast array of fatty, sugary food. To make matters worse, her brother Clint is upstairs playing his video games, LOUD. “Turn the volume on that plasma screen down about thirty notches!” She screams over the TV. She really doesn’t get what the problem is with all these people. Just because every other family has never-ending fights amongst brothers and sisters doesn’t mean hers should. After all, she’s better than everyone else, so she deserves more benefits, physically and emotionally, than anyone else does.
“There are so many days, don’t do this and don’t do that, and the rains falling onto the roof at night,” Lea sings after she enjoys her 1100 calorie snack. No one knows where she got her thing for singing made-up songs that don’t make sense. She doesn’t even have that great of a voice. Clint decides now is the time to turn up the volume of the TV. If Lea decides to cry over that, tough luck. She deserves to listen to race cars talking when he has to hear that jumbled-up language that she calls her music.
****
“Amber, why didn’t you get any garlic salt last night? You told me yesterday morning you were going to the grocery,” Shaun says.
“Don’t you remember what happened last night? You were at work so I couldn’t use your car, and Lea took my car last night without my permission,” Amber replies. Lea had gone off in Amber’s car to get a large Oreo Mcflurry.
“Oh that’s right. If she ever does that again, she is not going to go anywhere with any of her friends for three weeks. What should I use as a substitute for garlic salt?” Shaun says.
“Try some plain salt and just a bit of garlic powder,” Amber answers.
“Now this steak should be almost perfect!” Shaun tells Amber as he finishes sprinkling the impromptu garlic salt on the steak. “I’ll call the kids down for dinner.”
“Clint, Jordan, Lea! The steak’s ready!” their dad Shaun calls from downstairs. Jordan and Clint nearly run into each other as they rush out of their rooms and into the kitchen. Since Lea hasn’t come down, Shaun knocks on the door of Lea’s room. No answer. Maybe Lea snuck out with a friend without my permission, he thinks.
****
“Bet this car can’t go 90 miles per hour!” Lea challenges her friend Sabrina.
Sabrina, wanting amuse Lea, punches the gas, accelerating her Jetta from 50mph to 95mph in under a minute. Fortunately, they make it to Greenville without getting in a crash or getting stopped by a police officer. They’re stopped by a red light in front of Wal-Mart. Ding-dong, ding-dong. Lea’s ringtone goes.
“Aren’t you going to answer your phone?” Sabrina asks.
“No way! That’s the ringtone I have set for my dad,” Lea informs Sabrina. Lea likes getting phone calls from her parents and brothers about as much as she likes having strep throat.
Sabrina pulls into Wal-Mart’s parking lot, steers the Jetta into a parking space, and puts the car in park.
“We need crazy string, a light bulb for my lava lamp, and purple hair color. You get the crazy string and hair color in the party section, and I’ll get the bulb,” Lea tells Sabrina.
As Lea wanders to the home improvement shelves, she spots a bottle of Drano. She wonders if it would be better to die now than deal with ding-a-ling brothers and parents who pretend to love her but really don’t. The only real friend she has is Sabrina, but Sabrina has plenty of friends, so she really wouldn’t miss Lea. It hasn’t taken long for people to figure out what a manipulative teenage snob Lea is. Lea grabs a bottle of Drano, goes to the clothing section, and hides in a rack of clothes as if she were a toddler again. Then she just chugs that Drano. All of a sudden, she begins vomiting dark, clumpy blood uncontrollably.
A young mother shopping for clothes thought she heard someone cough up something. She is sure she has when her four-year-old daughter says she heard someone throwing up really hard. She has no idea who or what is making the noise, but is sure it is close to her.
Thud! Someone’s head has just smacked down on the fake wood floor, in the area right between a rack of clothes and her cart. The mother lets out a huge shriek and abandons her cart upon noticing how dark, clumpy blood has splattered all over it, and runs to the food section.
Meanwhile, Sabrina tries calling Lea, but there’s no answer. Lea always answers when Sabrina calls! After all, why ditch an awesome friend?
Sabrina runs up to the front of the store.
“I need to leave now and my friend’s not answering her phone. I will need you to make an announcement calling Lea Schmid to the front of the store,” She explains to an associate.
“Lea Schmid to the front of the store please. Your friend must leave now,” The associate says over the speaker.
Even after five minutes of waiting, Lea doesn’t show up. A security camera does show Lea’s head hitting the floor in the clothing section. Sabrina rushes to the clothing section, assuming Lea probably passed out! Upon seeing Lea and the empty bottle of Drano, she sees if Lea is breathing. When Lea is not, Sabrina starts to cry. Lea could sing any random song, pull three all-nighters in a row, and do things that were risky but fun. Goodbye to all that. Sabrina also knew she would always be hated by Lea’s parents because it was her who had taken Lea to Wal-Mart. Or would she?
****
“Hey Shaun,” Sabrina whispers. “Hi Sabrina, how are you?” Shaun asks Sabrina. “Terrible! Lea and I went to Wal-Mart, and she went off by herself, supposedly to get a lava lamp bulb. I finally found her lying unconscious by an empty bottle of Drano,” Sabrina sobs. “We’ll be over there right away!” Shaun informs her. Shaun quickly explains the situation to his wife Amber. They both rush out to Shaun’s car. Not a word is spoken during the 15 minute drive to Wal-Mart.
The police and EMS have been called, and there is a crowd of people around Lea. “That’s my daughter! What’s happening with her?” Shaun demands. “I’m afraid she’s dead,” One of the medics answers.
Shaun recognizes this medic! This medic used to be a police officer, and he had pulled him over like 10 years ago. Lea was four and she didn’t have her seatbelt on!
Sabrina then glances over at Shaun, not knowing what to expect. Shaun traipses over to Sabrina and gives her a hug.
“It’s not your fault. It was Lea’s choice to do this,” Shaun informs Sabrina.
Complete silence is again the backdrop of Shaun and Amber’s ride home. Upon entering the house, Amber runs up to her room, hoping to just fall asleep.
Upon spotting Clint and Jordan playing a video game together, Shaun places a hand on each one’s shoulder and says “Clint and Jordan, shut down those video games.”
Jordan just senses he should shut them off this time, he’s not even tempted to argue with his dad.
“Lea was at Wal-Mart with her friend Sabrina. Lea drank a bottle of Drano, and she dropped dead,” Shaun told them.
“Oh,” Jordan and Clint both say in unison.
Guilt arose as they thought of all the things they had done to her, the worst being when she was twelve. They had drawn a picture of her as a 700 pound zombie with size 16 shoes. Her skin was green, her hair was blue, and her nose was so big and flat that is covered almost her entire face. They had thought that was funny, but apparently she hadn’t.
****
“Which funeral home should we plan Lea’s funeral at?” Amber asks Shaun.
“Let’s plan it at Oliver Floyd up in Greenville. It’s where my grandpa’s funeral was held. Plus it’s the only locally owned funeral home in Greenville. I’ll get the door,” Shaun tells Amber.
“I’m really sorry to hear about what happened to Lea,” The youth pastor Cody offers.
“It wasn’t your fault Cody, but thanks. Even though I was nowhere near ready for this to happen, I guess this was Lea’s time to go. After all, we just have to believe that she is where she belongs,” Shaun replies.
“Yes, she sure is where she belongs, and we will see her again someday soon. I remember that Wednesday night when she made the most important decision of her life! Unfortunately, those faith free people will never understand that,” Cody points out.
“Oh, that’s right, she talked accepting God, but why was she hopeless to the point of suicide if she really did believe in him?” Shaun asks.
“Well, I hate to say this about your daughter, but she just seemed like a naturally pessimistic person. I really don’t think she is that much like you. You and your wife can be a little too blunt sometimes, but at the same time you’re so optimistic, and I never hear your sons complain about you,” Cody answers.
“Well, that’s my compliment of the day,” Shaun says.
Shaun and Cody normally wouldn’t do this together, but they warmly embrace, which reminds them how important it is to have love and care around them. Shaun knows Lea’s faith is what counts.
Despite the background noise from Shaun and Cody, Amber’s still able to listen to the funeral home manager she just called.
“Sweetie, I know Lea’s death must make you feel very uncertain. Please don’t worry though, I will get everything taken care of with this funeral,” The funeral home manager tells Amber.
“Well, the reason I sound stressed is because I thought my daughter would be planning my funeral, not the opposite!” Amber informed the manager.
“I’m sure that’s a rough feeling. I will get this funeral taken care of. Your daughter’s funeral is the last one I would forget about. I forgot to ask you, what kind of funeral do you want?” The manager says.
“The cheapest kind is the kind I want. I really did not have any cash stashed away for a funeral,” Amber explained.
“I can do that,” the manager assures Amber. “Thank you for choosing Oliver Floyd, and though it may be hard, try to have a nice day.”
Amber hangs up the phone, almost angry she’s even bothering to have a funeral for a young teenage brat. Ever since Lea was 11, she hated Amber.
****
“You told me your daughter spent hours and hours in her room daily. Is life that much different now that she’s dead?” Jay, one of Shaun’s coworkers asks. He’s busy loosening a few screws from a panel on an air conditioner.
“More different than you’d think. She was always singing songs loudly in her room. We don’t hear anything like that anymore,” Shaun explains, remembering how few people actually seemed to know Lea.
“How are your sons doing? Jay inquires.
“Well Jay, they seem to be happy with their video games. I don’t mind a little of that, but I wish they would have a more productive hobby, like playing football or maybe working somewhere,” Shaun replies.
****
“I can only imagine, what it will feel like, when I walk by your side.” Listening to this song and halfway crying, people walked around the funeral. Most wouldn’t know what the next few weeks would feel like for the Schmid family. They seemed like such nice people.
What could they have done, if anything, to make Lea upset?
“It was just because she was a teenage girl,” one woman muttered to Shaun and Amber as she walked past the casket.
“I don’t know. Some things might have been going on in her mind that I wasn’t aware of. Everybody tells me this was not my fault, but I still question what she thought of me,” Shaun replied.
“I’m so glad that’s over,” Clint tells Jordan.
“Me too. I hate having to dress up for stupid funerals. And I have to refrain from laughing too,” Jordan responds.
They sit back down to try to beat their next level in video games, knowing Lea is gone, but not thinking much of it. How kind their dad was, not to give them a 30 minute lecture about all they had done wrong to Lea.
****
“Smells good in here!” Shaun lets Amber know.
“Thanks. I’m making a chicken pot pie. The taste is definitely worth the work,” Amber replies.
Maybe making some food from scratch would remind Amber of how life was before Lea. Amber had quit making homemade food once Lea was old enough to complain about it.
****
“Look what I found!” Clint told Jordan.
Clint had been snooping around in Lea’s room and found a recent diary entry. It read:
Why does my family think I’m fat? Come on, goof bags, I’m just fifteen pounds overweight. I really do not get why they are so rude to me. My mom says I don’t do anything around the house to help her. Come on, how can I get a chance when I have a ton of homework to do? If I get anything below a D my parents ground me. My teachers yell at me for talking in class. How else am I supposed to communicate with my friends in person when my parents won’t let any friend except Sabrina in this house? Plus my physical therapist is making me do thirty minutes of dumb stretching exercises every other day. I also am told I can only eat two sugary foods per day. I need more sugar for energy. Dad cooks all our steaks rare. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. There’s blood in them! The only good food I get is when Sabrina gets me fruit freezes at Taco Bell. She’s like the only soul on the face of this earth who actually understands me. I should just commit suicide. There’s no point in living any more.
“I wonder why Lea never shared her diary entries with anyone. If mom or dad would have seen this they would have gotten Lea immediate counseling! Lea could have talked about these problems with Pastor Cody and he could have helped her,” Jordan tells Clint.
“Yeah, I agree. It’s just that Lea was too stuck up to ask any responsible adult for help. She thought she had all her personal problems taken care of herself,” Clint explains. “By the way, something smells sort of like chicken. But I have never smelled that since I was like, four.”
“Chicken pot pie from scratch! Any takers?” Shaun hollers up to Clint and Jordan. “Taker one and taker two have arrived as usual!” Shaun observes as Clint and Jordan get down to the table.
“We’ll never have taker three again, but we only had her before when we were having dessert,” Amber points out.
Shaun says grace and gets a big piece of pot pie for himself. Then Jordan and Clint get two big pieces each, and Amber gets a small piece.
“Yum!” Everyone says in unison.
****
“Let’s see if we can find any more diary entries,” Clint told Jordan.
“I’m up for the challenge!” Jordan tells Clint.
They find in the back of the diary a document that should have been made legal:
Lea’s Will – I’ll probably be dead soon.
I want my brothers and parents to receive absolutely nothing I have. I want Sabrina to get my lava lamp for sure. It is her favorite item in my room. She gets first pick on EVERYTHING in my room. I want all my other friends to get the stuff in my room that is left over. Anything that does not find a new home is to be burnt.
“Mom and dad, check this out!” Clint exclaims to his mom and dad. “There’s this document I want to show you that Lea wrote.”
Shaun accepts the challenge and reads Lea’s Will.
“We thought Lea was a great girl who was simply in the process of becoming more independent. We are just parents who recognize teenagers can’t make every decision themselves. Anyway, this will is going to be hard to meet if Sabrina doesn’t take everything. Lea should have known we don’t let her friends in this house unless we know them,” Shaun informs Clint.
“We could start by contacting Sabrina,” Clint replies.
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea,” Shaun agrees.
Shaun sends Sabrina an email.
He types out “hey Sabrina, Lea’s left a lot of stuff that would be great for you. Sometime when you get a chance, you come over here and see if you want any or all of it.”
Shortly after Sabrina emails Shaun back!
She writes “hey Shaun, I’ll be over there at nine this Saturday morning, unless you object.”
****
“I really like this Jewelry box. Lea had so much nice jewelry too, and I never saw her wear anything but these two sets of earrings,” Sabrina informs Shaun as she places the jewelry and box in her pile of things she wants to take.
“I’m so glad you made it out. I have something for you to read,” Shaun informs Sabrina. Sabrina takes the diary from Shaun and reads the will Lea created.
“This is a pretty straightforward will,” Sabrina observes.
“Since we don’t know all Leas’ friends, we are just going to burn anything we don’t end up giving away to you. It sounds like a waste, but that’s just what we think is the right thing to do,” Shaun explains to her.
Sabrina doesn’t want to see all this stuff get burned either.
“Since all this stuff is so nice, I’ll go home and get my dad’s pickup truck. Then I can easily take everything in here,” Sabrina replies.
“Man, I want to sleep in until ten so bad, but I really better get up now,” Clint tells himself as he forces himself out of bed.
“Clint, don’t you be spending this whole morning playing video games. Sabrina and I could use some extra strength moving things out to her truck. Mom’s at work and Jordan’s out with friends,” Shaun explains to Clint.
“Wouldn’t think of it. Today is self-disciplined Saturday for me,” Clint tells Shaun.
“I guess it’s just us three for now. All Lea’s so-called other friends are missing out on heavy lifting, which Lea has never done,” Shaun tells Sabrina. “Do you still want this dresser, my girl?”
“I still want it,” Sabrina replies to Shaun. “You and Clint together should be able to get this down the stairs and into my truck.”
Sabrina knows that everything getting burnt would be terrible, so she plans on giving the things she doesn’t really want to other people. Lea would never suspect this, but Sabrina might even give something to someone Lea doesn’t like. Sabrina is sure she won’t keep the pink lava lamp Lea thought she was in love with, as the last time she saw it was two years ago. She had cases of severe heartburn three times since then, and every time she took Pepto-Bismol it made her think of Lea’s pink lava lamp.
****
Amber’s finishing off the special touches on her dessert for tonight.
“You haven’t made Oreo cheesecake for several years! Thanks for making it now!” Jordan tells Amber as he strolls in the house from practice.
“I know you like it, but that does not mean you can eat three pieces,” Amber warns Jordan.
“Oh, I get why you’re making it now!” Jordan replies.
Jordan remembers the day when Lea was 12 years old and she ate three mega pieces of Oreo cheesecake Amber had prepared for a party with her friends. Upon discovering the plate in Lea’s room dirty from the missing dessert, Amber had promised never to make Oreo cheesecake again.
Finally, the cheesecake is ready to eat. Shaun, Jordan, and Clint take a big piece and Amber takes a smaller piece.
“We should make Lea’s old room a computer room,” Amber tells everyone.
“I don’t know. We’d probably have to have a certified electrician redo the wiring to make it suitable for a computer. That’d cost more than a few dollars,” Shaun says doubtfully.
“Think of how much more money we’ll have now that we’re not buying fashion clothes and beauty products for Lea anymore,” Amber replies.
“Good point,” Shaun agrees.
****
Driving home, Sabrina thinks of where in her room she is going to place all Leas’ goodies. She cleaned out her closet a few weeks ago, and she threw a lot away. Even then though, she doubts she’ll have enough space for all this stuff. She pulls off to the side of the road. She puts the jewelry and box, which she really wanted, in her cab. Then she starts to text her friends to ask if they would like any of Lea’s belongings. Within a few minutes five reply yes. That means she has five houses to drive to. But hey, who said being friends with Lea would be easy? Kayla is closest to where Sabrina is now, so she will be the friend Sabrina visits first. Then she will visit Taylor, Courtney, Alicia, and Sarah.
This is such a long drive to Kayla’s house. Longer than I imagined. I hate how this truck steers, Sabrina thought. When she finally arrives in New Madison, where Kayla lives, Sabrina pulls into Kayla’s driveway.
“There you are!” Kayla exclaims.
“Anything in the back of this truck you can keep!”
Upon hearing Sabrina say this, Kayla eagerly takes half the truck load. Next, Sabrina drives over to her three other friends’ houses. They all take quite a bit themselves, but Sabrina gets to stop at her last friends’ house….Sarah. Lea and Sarah had gotten along very well, until Lea stole Sarah’s car and backed it into a telephone pole. Lea wasn’t even old enough to drive. As Sarah gladly accepts the last thing left, Lea’s rainbow - colored end table, Sabrina tells Sarah how mad Lea would be if she knew about who she gave the end table to. Laughing, Sarah reminds Sabrina of all the names Lea called her, the silliest being “sickly skinny Sarah.”
“For a fourteen year old teen, Lea had a long life.” Sabrina points out.
Teenage Troubles of Lea Schmid(Caleb Sunvold)
“Control yourself!” Lea yelled at her brother Jordan. She was so sick of Jordan laughing at her!
“Take your own advice. You complain about being fat and you eat two gigantic pieces of peanut butter pie,” Jordan retorted.
“Well, it’s none of your business what I eat or how much I weigh!” Lea snapped back. Lea then stormed upstairs to her room, knowing she had just contradicted herself. Here she was fifteen pounds overweight, and very upset about it, but yet she was still eating a vast array of fatty, sugary food. To make matters worse, her brother Clint is upstairs playing his video games, LOUD. “Turn the volume on that plasma screen down about thirty notches!” She screams over the TV. She really doesn’t get what the problem is with all these people. Just because every other family has never-ending fights amongst brothers and sisters doesn’t mean hers should. After all, she’s better than everyone else, so she deserves more benefits, physically and emotionally, than anyone else does.
“There are so many days, don’t do this and don’t do that, and the rains falling onto the roof at night,” Lea sings after she enjoys her 1100 calorie snack. No one knows where she got her thing for singing made-up songs that don’t make sense. She doesn’t even have that great of a voice. Clint decides now is the time to turn up the volume of the TV. If Lea decides to cry over that, tough luck. She deserves to listen to race cars talking when he has to hear that jumbled-up language that she calls her music.
****
“Amber, why didn’t you get any garlic salt last night? You told me yesterday morning you were going to the grocery,” Shaun says.
“Don’t you remember what happened last night? You were at work so I couldn’t use your car, and Lea took my car last night without my permission,” Amber replies. Lea had gone off in Amber’s car to get a large Oreo Mcflurry.
“Oh that’s right. If she ever does that again, she is not going to go anywhere with any of her friends for three weeks. What should I use as a substitute for garlic salt?” Shaun says.
“Try some plain salt and just a bit of garlic powder,” Amber answers.
“Now this steak should be almost perfect!” Shaun tells Amber as he finishes sprinkling the impromptu garlic salt on the steak. “I’ll call the kids down for dinner.”
“Clint, Jordan, Lea! The steak’s ready!” their dad Shaun calls from downstairs. Jordan and Clint nearly run into each other as they rush out of their rooms and into the kitchen. Since Lea hasn’t come down, Shaun knocks on the door of Lea’s room. No answer. Maybe Lea snuck out with a friend without my permission, he thinks.
****
“Bet this car can’t go 90 miles per hour!” Lea challenges her friend Sabrina.
Sabrina, wanting amuse Lea, punches the gas, accelerating her Jetta from 50mph to 95mph in under a minute. Fortunately, they make it to Greenville without getting in a crash or getting stopped by a police officer. They’re stopped by a red light in front of Wal-Mart. Ding-dong, ding-dong. Lea’s ringtone goes.
“Aren’t you going to answer your phone?” Sabrina asks.
“No way! That’s the ringtone I have set for my dad,” Lea informs Sabrina. Lea likes getting phone calls from her parents and brothers about as much as she likes having strep throat.
Sabrina pulls into Wal-Mart’s parking lot, steers the Jetta into a parking space, and puts the car in park.
“We need crazy string, a light bulb for my lava lamp, and purple hair color. You get the crazy string and hair color in the party section, and I’ll get the bulb,” Lea tells Sabrina.
As Lea wanders to the home improvement shelves, she spots a bottle of Drano. She wonders if it would be better to die now than deal with ding-a-ling brothers and parents who pretend to love her but really don’t. The only real friend she has is Sabrina, but Sabrina has plenty of friends, so she really wouldn’t miss Lea. It hasn’t taken long for people to figure out what a manipulative teenage snob Lea is. Lea grabs a bottle of Drano, goes to the clothing section, and hides in a rack of clothes as if she were a toddler again. Then she just chugs that Drano. All of a sudden, she begins vomiting dark, clumpy blood uncontrollably.
A young mother shopping for clothes thought she heard someone cough up something. She is sure she has when her four-year-old daughter says she heard someone throwing up really hard. She has no idea who or what is making the noise, but is sure it is close to her.
Thud! Someone’s head has just smacked down on the fake wood floor, in the area right between a rack of clothes and her cart. The mother lets out a huge shriek and abandons her cart upon noticing how dark, clumpy blood has splattered all over it, and runs to the food section.
Meanwhile, Sabrina tries calling Lea, but there’s no answer. Lea always answers when Sabrina calls! After all, why ditch an awesome friend?
Sabrina runs up to the front of the store.
“I need to leave now and my friend’s not answering her phone. I will need you to make an announcement calling Lea Schmid to the front of the store,” She explains to an associate.
“Lea Schmid to the front of the store please. Your friend must leave now,” The associate says over the speaker.
Even after five minutes of waiting, Lea doesn’t show up. A security camera does show Lea’s head hitting the floor in the clothing section. Sabrina rushes to the clothing section, assuming Lea probably passed out! Upon seeing Lea and the empty bottle of Drano, she sees if Lea is breathing. When Lea is not, Sabrina starts to cry. Lea could sing any random song, pull three all-nighters in a row, and do things that were risky but fun. Goodbye to all that. Sabrina also knew she would always be hated by Lea’s parents because it was her who had taken Lea to Wal-Mart. Or would she?
****
“Hey Shaun,” Sabrina whispers. “Hi Sabrina, how are you?” Shaun asks Sabrina. “Terrible! Lea and I went to Wal-Mart, and she went off by herself, supposedly to get a lava lamp bulb. I finally found her lying unconscious by an empty bottle of Drano,” Sabrina sobs. “We’ll be over there right away!” Shaun informs her. Shaun quickly explains the situation to his wife Amber. They both rush out to Shaun’s car. Not a word is spoken during the 15 minute drive to Wal-Mart.
The police and EMS have been called, and there is a crowd of people around Lea. “That’s my daughter! What’s happening with her?” Shaun demands. “I’m afraid she’s dead,” One of the medics answers.
Shaun recognizes this medic! This medic used to be a police officer, and he had pulled him over like 10 years ago. Lea was four and she didn’t have her seatbelt on!
Sabrina then glances over at Shaun, not knowing what to expect. Shaun traipses over to Sabrina and gives her a hug.
“It’s not your fault. It was Lea’s choice to do this,” Shaun informs Sabrina.
Complete silence is again the backdrop of Shaun and Amber’s ride home. Upon entering the house, Amber runs up to her room, hoping to just fall asleep.
Upon spotting Clint and Jordan playing a video game together, Shaun places a hand on each one’s shoulder and says “Clint and Jordan, shut down those video games.”
Jordan just senses he should shut them off this time, he’s not even tempted to argue with his dad.
“Lea was at Wal-Mart with her friend Sabrina. Lea drank a bottle of Drano, and she dropped dead,” Shaun told them.
“Oh,” Jordan and Clint both say in unison.
Guilt arose as they thought of all the things they had done to her, the worst being when she was twelve. They had drawn a picture of her as a 700 pound zombie with size 16 shoes. Her skin was green, her hair was blue, and her nose was so big and flat that is covered almost her entire face. They had thought that was funny, but apparently she hadn’t.
****
“Which funeral home should we plan Lea’s funeral at?” Amber asks Shaun.
“Let’s plan it at Oliver Floyd up in Greenville. It’s where my grandpa’s funeral was held. Plus it’s the only locally owned funeral home in Greenville. I’ll get the door,” Shaun tells Amber.
“I’m really sorry to hear about what happened to Lea,” The youth pastor Cody offers.
“It wasn’t your fault Cody, but thanks. Even though I was nowhere near ready for this to happen, I guess this was Lea’s time to go. After all, we just have to believe that she is where she belongs,” Shaun replies.
“Yes, she sure is where she belongs, and we will see her again someday soon. I remember that Wednesday night when she made the most important decision of her life! Unfortunately, those faith free people will never understand that,” Cody points out.
“Oh, that’s right, she talked accepting God, but why was she hopeless to the point of suicide if she really did believe in him?” Shaun asks.
“Well, I hate to say this about your daughter, but she just seemed like a naturally pessimistic person. I really don’t think she is that much like you. You and your wife can be a little too blunt sometimes, but at the same time you’re so optimistic, and I never hear your sons complain about you,” Cody answers.
“Well, that’s my compliment of the day,” Shaun says.
Shaun and Cody normally wouldn’t do this together, but they warmly embrace, which reminds them how important it is to have love and care around them. Shaun knows Lea’s faith is what counts.
Despite the background noise from Shaun and Cody, Amber’s still able to listen to the funeral home manager she just called.
“Sweetie, I know Lea’s death must make you feel very uncertain. Please don’t worry though, I will get everything taken care of with this funeral,” The funeral home manager tells Amber.
“Well, the reason I sound stressed is because I thought my daughter would be planning my funeral, not the opposite!” Amber informed the manager.
“I’m sure that’s a rough feeling. I will get this funeral taken care of. Your daughter’s funeral is the last one I would forget about. I forgot to ask you, what kind of funeral do you want?” The manager says.
“The cheapest kind is the kind I want. I really did not have any cash stashed away for a funeral,” Amber explained.
“I can do that,” the manager assures Amber. “Thank you for choosing Oliver Floyd, and though it may be hard, try to have a nice day.”
Amber hangs up the phone, almost angry she’s even bothering to have a funeral for a young teenage brat. Ever since Lea was 11, she hated Amber.
****
“You told me your daughter spent hours and hours in her room daily. Is life that much different now that she’s dead?” Jay, one of Shaun’s coworkers asks. He’s busy loosening a few screws from a panel on an air conditioner.
“More different than you’d think. She was always singing songs loudly in her room. We don’t hear anything like that anymore,” Shaun explains, remembering how few people actually seemed to know Lea.
“How are your sons doing? Jay inquires.
“Well Jay, they seem to be happy with their video games. I don’t mind a little of that, but I wish they would have a more productive hobby, like playing football or maybe working somewhere,” Shaun replies.
****
“I can only imagine, what it will feel like, when I walk by your side.” Listening to this song and halfway crying, people walked around the funeral. Most wouldn’t know what the next few weeks would feel like for the Schmid family. They seemed like such nice people.
What could they have done, if anything, to make Lea upset?
“It was just because she was a teenage girl,” one woman muttered to Shaun and Amber as she walked past the casket.
“I don’t know. Some things might have been going on in her mind that I wasn’t aware of. Everybody tells me this was not my fault, but I still question what she thought of me,” Shaun replied.
“I’m so glad that’s over,” Clint tells Jordan.
“Me too. I hate having to dress up for stupid funerals. And I have to refrain from laughing too,” Jordan responds.
They sit back down to try to beat their next level in video games, knowing Lea is gone, but not thinking much of it. How kind their dad was, not to give them a 30 minute lecture about all they had done wrong to Lea.
****
“Smells good in here!” Shaun lets Amber know.
“Thanks. I’m making a chicken pot pie. The taste is definitely worth the work,” Amber replies.
Maybe making some food from scratch would remind Amber of how life was before Lea. Amber had quit making homemade food once Lea was old enough to complain about it.
****
“Look what I found!” Clint told Jordan.
Clint had been snooping around in Lea’s room and found a recent diary entry. It read:
Why does my family think I’m fat? Come on, goof bags, I’m just fifteen pounds overweight. I really do not get why they are so rude to me. My mom says I don’t do anything around the house to help her. Come on, how can I get a chance when I have a ton of homework to do? If I get anything below a D my parents ground me. My teachers yell at me for talking in class. How else am I supposed to communicate with my friends in person when my parents won’t let any friend except Sabrina in this house? Plus my physical therapist is making me do thirty minutes of dumb stretching exercises every other day. I also am told I can only eat two sugary foods per day. I need more sugar for energy. Dad cooks all our steaks rare. Ugh. Ugh. Ugh. There’s blood in them! The only good food I get is when Sabrina gets me fruit freezes at Taco Bell. She’s like the only soul on the face of this earth who actually understands me. I should just commit suicide. There’s no point in living any more.
“I wonder why Lea never shared her diary entries with anyone. If mom or dad would have seen this they would have gotten Lea immediate counseling! Lea could have talked about these problems with Pastor Cody and he could have helped her,” Jordan tells Clint.
“Yeah, I agree. It’s just that Lea was too stuck up to ask any responsible adult for help. She thought she had all her personal problems taken care of herself,” Clint explains. “By the way, something smells sort of like chicken. But I have never smelled that since I was like, four.”
“Chicken pot pie from scratch! Any takers?” Shaun hollers up to Clint and Jordan. “Taker one and taker two have arrived as usual!” Shaun observes as Clint and Jordan get down to the table.
“We’ll never have taker three again, but we only had her before when we were having dessert,” Amber points out.
Shaun says grace and gets a big piece of pot pie for himself. Then Jordan and Clint get two big pieces each, and Amber gets a small piece.
“Yum!” Everyone says in unison.
****
“Let’s see if we can find any more diary entries,” Clint told Jordan.
“I’m up for the challenge!” Jordan tells Clint.
They find in the back of the diary a document that should have been made legal:
Lea’s Will – I’ll probably be dead soon.
I want my brothers and parents to receive absolutely nothing I have. I want Sabrina to get my lava lamp for sure. It is her favorite item in my room. She gets first pick on EVERYTHING in my room. I want all my other friends to get the stuff in my room that is left over. Anything that does not find a new home is to be burnt.
“Mom and dad, check this out!” Clint exclaims to his mom and dad. “There’s this document I want to show you that Lea wrote.”
Shaun accepts the challenge and reads Lea’s Will.
“We thought Lea was a great girl who was simply in the process of becoming more independent. We are just parents who recognize teenagers can’t make every decision themselves. Anyway, this will is going to be hard to meet if Sabrina doesn’t take everything. Lea should have known we don’t let her friends in this house unless we know them,” Shaun informs Clint.
“We could start by contacting Sabrina,” Clint replies.
“Hey, that’s not a bad idea,” Shaun agrees.
Shaun sends Sabrina an email.
He types out “hey Sabrina, Lea’s left a lot of stuff that would be great for you. Sometime when you get a chance, you come over here and see if you want any or all of it.”
Shortly after Sabrina emails Shaun back!
She writes “hey Shaun, I’ll be over there at nine this Saturday morning, unless you object.”
****
“I really like this Jewelry box. Lea had so much nice jewelry too, and I never saw her wear anything but these two sets of earrings,” Sabrina informs Shaun as she places the jewelry and box in her pile of things she wants to take.
“I’m so glad you made it out. I have something for you to read,” Shaun informs Sabrina. Sabrina takes the diary from Shaun and reads the will Lea created.
“This is a pretty straightforward will,” Sabrina observes.
“Since we don’t know all Leas’ friends, we are just going to burn anything we don’t end up giving away to you. It sounds like a waste, but that’s just what we think is the right thing to do,” Shaun explains to her.
Sabrina doesn’t want to see all this stuff get burned either.
“Since all this stuff is so nice, I’ll go home and get my dad’s pickup truck. Then I can easily take everything in here,” Sabrina replies.
“Man, I want to sleep in until ten so bad, but I really better get up now,” Clint tells himself as he forces himself out of bed.
“Clint, don’t you be spending this whole morning playing video games. Sabrina and I could use some extra strength moving things out to her truck. Mom’s at work and Jordan’s out with friends,” Shaun explains to Clint.
“Wouldn’t think of it. Today is self-disciplined Saturday for me,” Clint tells Shaun.
“I guess it’s just us three for now. All Lea’s so-called other friends are missing out on heavy lifting, which Lea has never done,” Shaun tells Sabrina. “Do you still want this dresser, my girl?”
“I still want it,” Sabrina replies to Shaun. “You and Clint together should be able to get this down the stairs and into my truck.”
Sabrina knows that everything getting burnt would be terrible, so she plans on giving the things she doesn’t really want to other people. Lea would never suspect this, but Sabrina might even give something to someone Lea doesn’t like. Sabrina is sure she won’t keep the pink lava lamp Lea thought she was in love with, as the last time she saw it was two years ago. She had cases of severe heartburn three times since then, and every time she took Pepto-Bismol it made her think of Lea’s pink lava lamp.
****
Amber’s finishing off the special touches on her dessert for tonight.
“You haven’t made Oreo cheesecake for several years! Thanks for making it now!” Jordan tells Amber as he strolls in the house from practice.
“I know you like it, but that does not mean you can eat three pieces,” Amber warns Jordan.
“Oh, I get why you’re making it now!” Jordan replies.
Jordan remembers the day when Lea was 12 years old and she ate three mega pieces of Oreo cheesecake Amber had prepared for a party with her friends. Upon discovering the plate in Lea’s room dirty from the missing dessert, Amber had promised never to make Oreo cheesecake again.
Finally, the cheesecake is ready to eat. Shaun, Jordan, and Clint take a big piece and Amber takes a smaller piece.
“We should make Lea’s old room a computer room,” Amber tells everyone.
“I don’t know. We’d probably have to have a certified electrician redo the wiring to make it suitable for a computer. That’d cost more than a few dollars,” Shaun says doubtfully.
“Think of how much more money we’ll have now that we’re not buying fashion clothes and beauty products for Lea anymore,” Amber replies.
“Good point,” Shaun agrees.
****
Driving home, Sabrina thinks of where in her room she is going to place all Leas’ goodies. She cleaned out her closet a few weeks ago, and she threw a lot away. Even then though, she doubts she’ll have enough space for all this stuff. She pulls off to the side of the road. She puts the jewelry and box, which she really wanted, in her cab. Then she starts to text her friends to ask if they would like any of Lea’s belongings. Within a few minutes five reply yes. That means she has five houses to drive to. But hey, who said being friends with Lea would be easy? Kayla is closest to where Sabrina is now, so she will be the friend Sabrina visits first. Then she will visit Taylor, Courtney, Alicia, and Sarah.
This is such a long drive to Kayla’s house. Longer than I imagined. I hate how this truck steers, Sabrina thought. When she finally arrives in New Madison, where Kayla lives, Sabrina pulls into Kayla’s driveway.
“There you are!” Kayla exclaims.
“Anything in the back of this truck you can keep!”
Upon hearing Sabrina say this, Kayla eagerly takes half the truck load. Next, Sabrina drives over to her three other friends’ houses. They all take quite a bit themselves, but Sabrina gets to stop at her last friends’ house….Sarah. Lea and Sarah had gotten along very well, until Lea stole Sarah’s car and backed it into a telephone pole. Lea wasn’t even old enough to drive. As Sarah gladly accepts the last thing left, Lea’s rainbow - colored end table, Sabrina tells Sarah how mad Lea would be if she knew about who she gave the end table to. Laughing, Sarah reminds Sabrina of all the names Lea called her, the silliest being “sickly skinny Sarah.”
“For a fourteen year old teen, Lea had a long life.” Sabrina points out.
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