April Fools' Memories

My eyes snapped open at the sound of clanging pots and pans. I rolled out of bed groaning and stumbled into the kitchen. Just as I suspected, my little brother Gray was slamming the two biggest pans together.

“Happy April Fools’ Day, sis!” Gray yelled. I shook my head, prying the pans out of his hands. I could feel his eyes following me as I put the noise-makers away.

“Come on, Liv! I’m just trying to have some fun. Today’s a day to be stupid and pull pranks!” Gray complained. Tears threatened me.

“Do you know what happened on this day six years ago?” I asked. Gray shook his head slightly.

“Of course not.” I took a deep breath. “I was ten. My friends and I were in a prank war. One prank had me and my best friend Jade go swimming in the lake. I still don’t know how, but she drowned.” I wiped salty droplets from my eyes. “Since then, I’ve hated pranks. So, cool it around me. Prank away anywhere else… Just don’t hurt yourself.” With that, I walked back to my bedroom, wrapping myself in blankets like a burrito.

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“Okay. We’re gonna go out there and I’m gonna pretend I don’t know how to swim," Jade whispered, mischief dancing in her eyes. I smirked, following her into the cold lake. As we swam out to the deeper levels of the water, my best friend and I giggled and talked about how scared Carter, our enemy, would be.

When the two of us reached the point where we couldn’t touch the sandy bottom, we stopped. I could make out my friend, Reese, on the shore, leading Carter down towards the water. Jade began bobbing her head up and down, under then above the water. I masked my grin with a worried, frightened facade.

“Hey! Help us! Carter! Help!” I yelled. Carter whipped his head to me. His mouth immediately dropped open. But he wasn’t looking at me. Carter’s gaze was to the left of me. I turned, watching Jade begin floating down.

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“Liv? Can I come in?” A soft knock and those words reached my ears, even though they were hidden under a mess of blankets.

“I guess,” I mumbled. The door opened, and I lowered my blankets enough to see my mom walk in.

“I brought you Moose Tracks,” Mom said. She sat down next to me. I release myself from my blanket cocoon to take the tub of ice cream and spoon from my mom. I felt her watch me as I dug in.

“How are you doing? Seriously?” Worry laced her voice. My head shook; I leaned into my mom, letting the teardrops fall. Mom wrapped her arms around me.

“It’s so hard,” I sobbed. “I miss her so much.”

“I know. I know, baby,” Mom replied, holding me tighter.

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“Jade. Jade? Jade?! JADE!” I screamed, diving underwater. I kept my eyes open, searching the murky depths for my best friend.

Finally, I came up, gasping for breath. I waved my arms and began yelling for Reese and Carter. Their eyes went wide; I watched Reese say something to Carter, then run off, leaving Carter on the beach.

I dove back down.

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My sobs slowly receded to a few stray tears rolling down. My mom had left the room when I covered myself with blankets again.

“Liv? Can… Can I talk to you?” Gray’s voice came floating into my room, as soft as a fuzzy blanket.

“Sure,” I sniffled. Gray tiptoed in, sitting down next to me. He sighed.

“I’m sorry for upsetting you. I really didn’t know.” Gray paused. “So, I was thinking that we could go to the soup kitchen and feed the homeless and stuff. If you want to.” Gray patted my shoulder awkwardly.

“Okay. Let me get ready, and I can drive us there,” I replied. Gray nodded, then headed out of my room.

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For many minutes, I searched for Jade. I only stopped when a frantic Reese came back with Jade’s dad. He rushed into the water with all of his clothes on, swimming out to me.

“What happened?” Mr. Zaga practically yelled. I shook my head, my eyes becoming watery.

“I don’t know! One second she was there, and then she was gone!” I began to bawl.

“Liv, I need you to calm down. We’ll find her. Now, we need to get out of the water.” Mr. Zaga tried to keep a calm voice, but it cracked at “We’ll find her.” I saw the tears forming in his eyes.

“Right. We’ll find her.”

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“What was she like?” Gray broke the silence of the car with his words.

“You mean Jade?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, she was very pretty. She was smart--top of every class. She liked to write a lot, like her dad. She was always there for you, even when you weren’t the greatest friend. Brooke always kept a smile on her face, cheering people up,” I replied. Gray nodded, then turned on the radio. “You Don’t Know Me” by Elizabeth Gillies played. Jade’s favorite song.

I held back the tears.

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“It’s been three days since the mysterious drowning of local Jade Zaga. Police reports say that-”

I clicked the TV off, silencing the reporter. Jade’s death was all over. I couldn’t get away from it, or my grief.

Ever since the day on the lake, I’d stayed on the couch, only eating or drinking when Mom forced me to.

“Livy? Why Livy sad?” my three-year-old brother asked. He sat on the floor, playing with his toys. He stopped to look up at me.

“You don’t want to know, Gray.”

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“Hi! Would you like to serve food or bus tables?” A young woman, only a couple of years older than me, approached Gray and me the moment we walked into the soup kitchen.

“I’ll serve,” Gray responded immediately. The lady smiled, handing Gray an apron and gloves. She turned to me.

“I can wait tables, I guess.” I shrugged.

“Thanks for the help,” the woman said. I grinned half-heartedly and headed to the first table.

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The phone rang. I lazily grabbed it, putting it up to my ear.

“Hello.”

“Liv! They found her. I just saw Mrs. Zaga screaming something about her sweet baby. She was running towards an ambulance in front of her house!” Reese’s voice came through loud and rushed.

“I’m heading over right now.” Without another word, I hung up. I jumped off of the couch, and ran out the door, not bothering with shoes.

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For two hours, Gray and I did community service at the soup kitchen. When we were finally done, the two of us met at the car.

“No pranks, and we fed the hungry. Feel better?” Gray asked. I nodded, then got into the car. My little brother slid in on the passenger side.

“Yeah. Wanna go get lunch at Ferrell’s?” I said. (Ferrell’s was the best burger place in the U.S.)

“Sure.”

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Mr. and Mrs. Zaga stood next to each other by Jade’s casket. The way they looked at her body broke my heart further.

“Our little girl wouldn’t want you to be sad. She’d want everyone to remember the good times you had,” Mr. Zaga stated. Despite his words, tears streamed down both his and his wife’s face. He grabbed Mrs. Zaga’s hand, and they bent over Jade to give her one last kiss on the cheek before closing the lid.