The Saddest Song by Susie Kaye Lopez Read Free Book Online Page B

table and prepared to force myself to take a small bite. But this time after the first taste I quickly and willingly ate two, draining the milk along with them. Max watched me, eyes widening, but said nothing. He ate his also and then we went straight to homework.
    There wasn’t a lot of homework on the first day of school, but there were a few review sheets that we needed to complete. Max finished before me thanks to the thirty math problems I had to struggle through.
    “Want some help with that?” Max moved his chair closer to mine and began to figure a problem before I even had time to reply. He quickly made his way through the problems, explaining them as he went.
    “Thanks Max, I forgot how good you are at Math. I suck.”
    “Yeah, well you can help me with history, how’s that?”
    “You got it, “I said, packing my books into my new backpack.
    “I’m working on a new song. Do you want to hear it?” Max asked, casually. I nodded enthusiastically and followed him up the stairs. Pausing at Garrett’s doorway I peeked in, knowing with certainty he would not appear. I had finally gotten past the “what if it was all a dream” stage. I just looked in because it made me remember him and it was still my favorite thing to do. I never ever wanted to forget him. I was afraid that too many days without him would make the memories fade away.
    “You coming?” Max asked gently, standing in his doorway.
    “Of course.” I kept my eyes on him and followed him into his room. He picked up his guitar and sat on the corner of his bed while I sat on the couch and listened to him strum the guitar, his fingers picking out a haunting melody, slow and beautiful.
    When he finished I smiled. “Max, you are so talented. That was really, really beautiful. It sounded like the saddest song. Does it have lyrics?” I asked, curious.
    “Sad, huh? I’m not done with it yet. You know I have to get the melody done before I can write the lyrics.”
    “Well, I can’t wait to hear them.”
    “Hi Max! Hi Rainey! I see you found the brownies.” Mrs. McKinley came in and hugged each of us. We filled her in on our first day of senior year, leaving out the nasty parts. She didn’t question us and seemed to be holding up pretty well.
    “Rainey, did Garrett turn off your clock last night?” She had gotten into the habit of asking me every day. I didn’t mind, it was one of the highlights of my day.
    “He did! I was smart enough to set my alarm on my phone instead so I didn’t oversleep!”
    She laughed and her eyes lit up when she said, “I think I felt him around me today. When I was making the brownies the timer turned itself off twice. I think he knew I would need him today. It was a long day without you guys.”
    “You didn’t feel like going to Yoga?” I asked.
    “No, I haven’t since…it’s funny, the only time I leave the house is to go to the grocery store. I know I need to. I just walked next door to see Linda and you should have seen her face! She looked so surprised. I need to get my life back so Garrett isn’t worried. We all do.”
    She looked pointedly at the two of us.
    “We’re trying mom. I played my new song for Rainey. Do you want to hear it?”
    “Sure, I’d love to, what’s it called?” She asked, sitting down next to me on the couch.
    Max looked at me and answered her as he began to pick out the notes. “It’s called The Saddest Song.”

Max
    School has a way of creating a pattern that is easy to follow without expending an abundance of emotion or energy. I welcomed the routine. Living without Garrett was like learning a new language, difficult and foreign. The friends I had shared with my brother were too careful not to mention his name, when I actually might have liked remembering the good old days. Memories of Garrett never left me anyway, might as well share some of them. But no, the subject never came up. They all stuck to neutral topics when I was present. I got it. I made the guys a little