Shattered

Chapter 27

Speed walking down the hall, and having no idea where I was going, I tried to find the girls bathroom.

That was the best place I could think of.

When I got there, I noticed it was empty, so I paced around the abnormally large bathroom, trying to calm myself down.

I felt tears in my eyes, but I refused to cry.

I was not going to let Scott and Martha and all of their friends have that satisfaction, even though they wouldn't know either way.

That's just how stubborn I am.

The door opened suddenly, reviling Victoria.

"Are you ok?" She asked, sounding worried.

"O-office, phone." I said between gasps.

I knew how to handle panic attacks, but I was starting to get dizzy and lightheaded, which has never happened before, so I knew I needed to call Hunter; he would know what to do.

"Your phone is in your dad's office?" She asked, making me nod vigorously.

"Stay here; I'll be right back, don't pass out."

Yeah, like I could control that.

She came back seconds later with my phone, handing it to me.

I tried to thank her but failed when I could barely get any air into my lungs.

As I dialed Hunter's number, I started pacing again, still gasping.

"Hey, what's up?" Hunter answered happily.

I gave the phone to Victoria, knowing I wouldn't be able to talk.

"Hello, your sister can't breathe; do you know what to do?" She asked into the phone, sounding worried.

He spoke for a second before she handed the phone back to me.

"Adeline, sweetheart, you need to slow your breathing," He spoke calmly, "Everything is ok; I promise you are safe. Just sit on the ground and try to calm down; you're going to be ok."

I did as he said, sitting on the dirty bathroom floor in the corner, trying to calm down.

Hunter continued to speak to me calmly, telling me that everything was ok.

After about 5 minutes, I could breathe a little better.

Victoria was still standing by the door, looking at me with worried eyes.

I gave her a weak smile, trying to assure her that I was ok.

"I'm sorry." I said quietly into the phone after my chest didn't hurt anymore.

"Hey, no apologizing; you can't control those things," Hunter said gently, "I'm very glad you called me."

"Thank you." I mumbled, resting my head against the wall and closing my eyes.

"Of course, princess," He said, "Call me if you need anything else, ok?"

"Ok, thank you." I said quietly.

We hung up after saying bye, making me slowly stand up, holding onto the sink when I got a wave of dizziness.

"Are you ok?" Victoria asked slowly.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that; thank you for helping." I said with a small smile.

She nodded slowly, still seeming a little unsure if I was ok or not.

I thanked her again before leaving the bathroom, seeing Mr. Thompson standing outside the door.

Without saying anything, he pulled me into a hug which made me tense a little.

"I'm sorry." He said quietly.

For no reason at all, tears came into my eyes, making me quickly blink them away.

"It's not your fault." I whispered, relaxing into the hug a little.

He hugged me a little tighter before letting go and grabbing my hand.

We went back to his now empty office, sitting in the chairs again.

"You are a very brave child," He said, going back to his normal, business-y self, "I'm amazed that you could go through all of that, and not seem affected by it at all."

I smiled a little, not knowing what to say.

To most people, it might seem like it doesn't bother me, but any time someone does something as little as raise their voice, I panic.

Thankfully I've never heard Mr. Thompson or any of his son's yell.

He looked at me for a minute before shaking his head in disbelief and turning back to the papers in front of him.

We sat in silence for a while before he spoke again.

"I have one more question," He said, making me look away from my hands, "Why did you insult them and tell them to hit you harder?"

"They deserved the insults," I said quietly which made the smallest smile appear on his face, "And I wasn't going to beg them to stop because I have more dignity than that, so I told them to do it more."

"Your mother would have done the same thing if she was in that situation," He told me, "You two are very similar."

I smiled a little, trying to imagine what she would have been like.

I wish I had the chance to meet her; she seemed like an amazing person from the little bit that I've heard of her.

After about 30 minutes, he said we could go back to the mansion.

I was starting to get really tired, but I didn't say anything, and followed him to the car.

On the way to the mansion, I got even more tired, but I tried to stay awake.

That failed miserably when 5 minutes later, I fell asleep involuntarily.

I woke up to someone picking me up which freaked me out.

I immediately maneuvered my way out of the persons arms, seeing it was Mr. Thompson.

"Sorry." I said, still trying to wake up and recollect myself.

He just gently grabbed my hand and lead me to the front doors.

When we got inside, I went to my room, and laid on the bed.

After a few minutes, I got off the bed and sat at the desk, remembering I had to study.

So, I did that until someone knocked on the door.

"Come in." I said quietly, turning around in the chair.

"Are you ok?" Hunter asked, coming over to me and hugging me.

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that." I said quietly.

"You have nothing to apologize for," He said, still holding me tightly, "I'm glad you called me. Are you sure you're ok though?"

I nodded a little, closing my eyes, still feeling exhausted.

"What are you doing now?" He asked, pulling away from the hug.

"Studying." I sighed, glancing at the history book on the desk.

I was still worried about having my grade up by Monday, and this was my last day to study.

"Don't do too much," He said, "You should be resting."

I nodded, making him believe I was going to rest.

How am I supposed to rest when I'm stressed about the test that is going to decide my future?

Ok, maybe it won't decide my future, but I needed to have a better grade on the history test we have tomorrow, and I was very worried about it.

After Hunter asked me if I was ok again, he went downstairs to where someone was calling him.