• Tyler Woods Journal Entry #13
    March 28, 2010


    tab When I told myself that saving Stacy was going to be simple, I was fooling myself. Saving someone's life is never simple.
    tab Contrary to what I believed, I told myself over and over it would be simple.
    tab Just find her and tell her what's going on...Simple.
    tab Finding her was simple, actually. So was telling her what was going on. Convincing her, on the other hand, was impossible.
    tab First off, she absolutely hated me now. It's ironic, now that I think about it, going from hero to villian in a matter of weeks.
    tab But I didn't blame her. Not one bit. She had every reason in the world to hate me. Because of me, no one talked to her anymore. I saw her walking alone in the classroom, her thought only set on getting to the next class. A once popular kid in school, brought down even farther below my level...
    tab Second, my story was completely outlandish. I left out key things, like me being robotic. As I recall, the conversation went like this:

    tab "Stacy, I have something very important to tell you." Her pace quickened as she tried to get away from me, making me feel even more guilty. But I couldn't show it. I just...couldn't.
    tab "Are you still angry?" Suddenly, she just stopped. Completely.
    tab "What do you mean..." She turned around towards me, face bright red and tears rolling down, "...still angry? Did you expect me to just stop being angry, after what you did?" I really didn't know what to say. I mean, what was I supposed to say?
    tab "Stacy, I--" I looked down, and went on slowly and more cautiously this time,
    tab "I know you hate me. But just forget about everything for this one second...I need to tell you something." I stared at her for a second. Maybe she saw how serious I was...Maybe she was actually going to consider what I was going to say.
    tab But, again, I was fooling myself.
    tab "All right," she said, hands on her hips. "But make it quick; I got a class to get to." To think, she was talking about being late to a class, when I was going to talk about her death.
    tab "Stacy...I'm not who you think I am. I mean...I mean, I might not even be who I am.
    tab "But I do know...I know that in these next 24 hours, you will...you're...something is going to happen to you."
    tab "I have no idea what you're talking about," she said, her eyebrows peaked up.
    tab "I know you don't...and maybe I don't either. But...you got to trust me! Today...today, you're going to--" I couldn't finish. I mean, how could I? How could I possibly tell her she was going to die, and more over, how could I possibly make her believe it?
    tab "I'm going to what?"
    tab "Look," I began, staring down at my shoes, hands dug in my pocket, as if I'd be able to find something in there that would make this conversation slightly less awkward. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you everything, but...but just stay close to me for today, ok?"
    tab "Stay close to you? Why?"
    tab "I hate when you ask me why!" I cried, eager to convince. "For once, just trust me!"
    tab "Why?"
    tab "I just told you, I hate it when you--"
    tab "Why should I trust you after what you made me into?" she asked, persistantly eager for her answers. It got my heart pumping. I had no idea how to respond to that. How was I suppose to debate against something that made perfect sense?
    tab "If it's an apology you want...I'm sorry."
    tab "You know, that's great that you're sorry and all, but it doesn't change anything. To everyone else in school, even my closest friends, I'm just a pig now. Do you know how that feels?" I had been brought pretty low down myself, but when I considered how far down she was, I knew she was right. I had no idea what it was like to be treated so coldly.
    tab But even with that consideration, I still needed to bring her down to Earth.
    tab "Stacy, this goes beyond reputation, even one like yours."
    tab "Are you just going to keep screwing with me?"
    tab "What?"
    tab "If it's something that important, just tell me. Stop developing some stupid explanation, and tell me straight."
    tab She said she wanted it straight, she said she didn't want long, half-truth explanations. It's what everyone always wants. But I knew...I knew, from past experience, that when the truth is revealed, all condensed and spat in your face, the ripple effects are absolutely catostrophic.
    tab But at the same time...
    tab I looked at her face. I knew that if I didn't tell her now, she would never believe me. So, before I got any second thoughts, I just blurted it all out in a six word sentence:
    tab "Today, you...are going to die."

    tab We stared at each other for a couple seconds, and then she scowled at me.
    tab "All that build up, just for some stupid joke?"
    tab "I'm not kidding," I said, dead serious as possible.
    tab "Yeah, sure."
    tab "Look at me," I said, grabbing her shoulders, not giving her much of a choice. "Does it look like I'm kidding?" She loosened away from my grasp, and backed off a little, shaking her head.
    tab "Tyler, just stop well you're ahead. You're not being funny. You're just embarassing yourself."
    tab "You asked me for it straight...And I gave it to you straight."
    tab "Tyler, I told you, stop!" Her exclaiming just cut me off. I couldn't say anthing. And even if I could, nothing would convince her of anything. All that there was to do...was watch as she kept walking down the hall.
    tab It was the single saddest thing I ever saw in my life, her strutting into class, not even taking what I told her seriously. Even though it was, very serious.
    tab "I tried..." I whispered, Stacy now just a small image in the distance now. "But I think...I think it's done now..."
    tab There's nothing I can do.
    tab The bell rang.
    tab I was late.
    tab But I didn't care. I had much bigger things to worry about.