[complete] #2
"This isn't amusing. You're smiling, and your face is all bruised and bleeding. Is that not putting you in more pain?" Ren shifted on her feet and placed a hand on her hip. I smiled wider when her cheeks began to flush.
"Maybe just a t...
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G A B R I E L
The clouds were beautiful. Grey and reflective of the orange and pink sunrise, it calmed me. No sound beside the faint chirp of birds and my quiet breathing reached my ears. The feel of the slightly damp grass as I laid on my back caressed my skin with a coldness that woke me up completely.
I was fine. I was trying to be fine.
After punching a wall and yelling at the two most important people of my life, it took everything in my mind to convince myself I would be better after a walk.
I was not.
My parents were probably still looking for me after I stormed out of the house at 1am. They'd find me in the park ten minutes away if they were really looking, unless they were looking in the wrong places like they always did.
With my phone dead beside me, I knew their end of the call would start with my voicemail. It was better that way. Sometimes I needed the silence. Sometimes it ate me up. Other times, like when I was staring into the deep void of the sky with nothing but the sound of my breathing, I even liked it.
I was here. I was somehow alive and I wasn't sure why. But here I was, breathing. And I kept doing it.
I needed help. I didn't want it. I knew that I needed it. I didn't know where to get it from.
Knowing Zandra was still out there was becoming less of a bother to me. As long as I kept quiet, so did she. I hadn't seen her in almost a year. Well, physically. She was in my nightmares most nights.
And in my dreams, I'd see Serenity.
Since the night I froze up on her, almost a week ago, she'd see me in the school corridors and walk the other way. I didn't blame her. It wasn't like I made an effort to talk to her either. Why would I? What would benefit from a friendship with her? I'd only drag her down with me in the endless spiral of doubt and suspicion.
If she'd see me like this, she wouldn't want to talk to me again. She'd run away. She'd-
"Gabriel?"
My body tensed. The blood rushing through my veins ran cold for a few seconds, thinking the worst of the voice that called my name. But it wasn't Zandra.
This voice was sweeter, devoid of any bitterness. It belonged to Serenity.
