Longer short story

Longer short story
Niki Stahlberg


Kayla was sobbing. Her world had fallen apart all over again. She couldn’t take back the things she said or did, although she wished she could. It had been one year exactly since Joey had died and she still blamed herself. He haunts her dreams and is with her everywhere she goes, and she can’t seem to get rid of the image of his face inside her head. It gets worse at night time, since that was when it happened, and especially on cold, rainy nights. Now that a new school year has started, people don’t stare as much and it’s rarely even mentioned anymore, but if Kayla had a penny for every time she thought about his name, face, smell, taste or touch, she could buy all the heartbreaks in the world.
“Kayla! Hunny, its time to get ready for school!”
“Okay Mom, just a second!” Kayla said wiping the tears away.
She wished she didn’t have to go to school. The further away from people she is, she figured, the less she could hurt them. Ever since the accident, she isolated herself so much her friends don’t even bother calling anymore. Kayla is strangely okay with it, and doesn’t mind that the only people that talk to her are her family. They have stuck by her side throughout the whole ordeal. Although it’s hard to watch, they figure whatever can make Kayla happy these days is something worth keeping around.
Every day is always like the last. She does her morning routine and drives to school with her brother Greg. Kayla is a senior this year, and has been forced to help her freshman brother adjust to the crazy world of high school. She begged her mom for Greg to take the bus, saying that she wanted to get to school early every day and having to bring Greg would interfere with that. That of course wasn’t the real reason, but although she tells her family a lot, she does not tell them everything.
Her mother insisted she drive her little brother to school, and reminded Kayla of when she would get a ride from her dad when she was a freshman instead of having to ride the bus.
With the school now in sight, she couldn’t help but think of Joey’s laugh. He always hated coming to school. He never was the smartest kid, but he didn’t get into much trouble either. He just didn’t like coming. He always said that when he went to college that he and Kayla would push each other to go to class, but that it probably wouldn’t work. She always liked that about him. He was always joking, always laughing. He didn’t like life get in his way of having a good time. They both found that out the hard way.

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Totally isn't finished yet. I still need to think of where I want to take my character and stuff.

QUESTIONS FOR PEER REVIEW:

1. Do you think I need to tell what happened to Joey in order for the story to make sense?

2. Do you like where this is going or should I take it a different direction?