Read Online Bruno by Stephanie Pokorney - Free Book Online Page A

he was knocked unconscious for a couple of minutes, and when he looked over at his girl, Amanda I think her name was, she was bleeding from the mouth and nose. She died that night. I really thought Travis would lose it and maybe take his own life because he couldn’t stand the thought of being without her. But he didn’t. Eventually, he really did move on. Two years later, he goes out, mingles with other girls, and enjoys life. It’s like he never loved her at all. A part of me is happy that he isn’t suffering over her death, but a part of me hates him for forgetting she ever existed.
    The more I thought about it, the more I never wanted to live without this pain. The pain leaving would be like Bruno leaving. And without Bruno, I didn’t want to live. I was still living as long as I had this pain.
    “Saige,” Kent said, “Why are you clutching your shirt?’
    I look down and realize my shirt was smashed into my fist. I open my hand, starring at my red palm. So my brother won’t call my mom into my room to bandage me up, I hold it tight against my side as I crawl back into bed.
    “What is it, Kent?” I ask, not caring for anything he has to say.
    I would have cared before. I still would have cared if anything would have happened besides Bruno dying. Kent was my eldest brother and I respected what he had to say. When he graduated three years earlier, I cried everyday missing him. He’d come home every other weekend, even if he could only stay for lunch, just so I wouldn’t be sad. He’d do anything to make his baby sister happy. But he can’t make me happy now. The only person who can make me happy was gone forever.
    “I’m worried about you.” Kent begin, “We all are. Mom and dad don’t know what to do. Sam, Kyle and Kevin haven’t been going to basketball practice. I haven’t even returned to school. I’ve missed a week of classes. We just sit downstairs, waiting for you.”
    I hadn’t thought my actions would affect my family’s life. But I can’t help how I feel, and right now, I can’t pretend I’m okay.
    I roll over, raising my blanket to hide the back of my head from his view.
    Sighing, he stands. I wait to hear the door shut, but I don’t hear anything. I pull my blanket down slightly, craning my neck to get a peek at what he’s doing. His head is bowed, his hands folded awkwardly at his waist. He isn’t saying anything, but after a moment I see his lips mouth the word “Amen.”
    “Saigey,” his arms encircle me under my thick cotton blanket, “You know how much you hurt now that Bruno’s gone? That’s how much we hurt. And that’s how much your friends hurt. And that’s how much other people who haven’t even got to know you yet are hurting. It’s not fair that we lose Bruno and now we’re losing you, too. Bruno wouldn’t want that, Saige, and you know it. Bruno needed you, and you were there for him. Now we need you. The world’s so much less beautiful when you’re not in it.”
    He untangles his hands from my comforter and heads for the door. I don’t turn around to watch him leave, but I know he stands in the doorway and stares at me for a moment before leaving completely.
    “The world is so much less beautiful when you’re not in it” his words repeat over in my mind.
    I close my eyes, thinking of Bruno’s bouncing curls and deep brown eyes. That sounds like something he’d say. If Bruno were here right now, he’d tell me the sun is beautiful, and the wind is beautiful, and the trees are beautiful, and today is beautiful. He’d tilt his head at me, smiling, telling me that I need to go help make today more beautiful by adding my own beauty.
    My drapes are tightly shut, but sunshine still breaks through the loose corners. The lines of bright light lead reach from my window to my bed, from my bed to my bookshelf. I stare at Bruno’s book. For some reason, the light seems to brighten up Bruno’s book more than the others. It’s probably some physiological