THALIA

7

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"You and miss Audrey seem to get a long pretty well" Ryder spoke on their way to the mansion "opposites attract" Reece smirked and Ryder chuckled "I'm happy to see you've started coming out of your shell" "So am I" Reece sighed relaxing in the warmth of the comfortable leather seat. They arrived home and met Thalia sitting in the living room and watching a movie. They both stopped in their tracks "Hey" she smiled up at them and Ryder got in "Good evening Ms Thalia" he said walking to her hair "come in Reece, what's wrong with you?"  "nothing, it's just odd to see watching a movie"  "and it's odd to see you falling head over heels with the girl from school" she smirked showing him a picture on her phone of Audrey and Reece dancing. 'We look so perfect together' he thought, but then came back to reality. He shrugged going upstairs "Come back Reece, what's her name?!" she yelled sounding like a jealous girlfriend.

"Audrey, ma'am" Ryder quickly answered "shut up Ryder!!" he yelled before slamming his door shut. Thalia laughed "He's acting like a 14 year old. How did it go? Did he have fun?"  "yes, he had a good time" he sat beside her. She held his hand and smiled "it's been a while I've seen him smile. I'm just happy that his finally relating with people again. You know mom and dad's death hit him so hard and in fact for while he literally stopped talking. I'm really happy he met this girl, whoever she is" she sighed relaxing in the couch and stroking Ryder's thumb. "She's a nice girl from the ....low class side of town, but she's really independent and cheerful. She's great Lia"  he smiled and Thalia  nodded "I'm glad" she said and continued with the movie.

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New York Manhattan
10:15 AM

Reese sighed lowly as he stared down at the cold air that escaped his mouth. 4days had passed and Audrey was acting weird all of a sudden. He wondered what he had done and all her weird attitude started after the night of the party.
She had been keeping her distance and had brief conversations with him "Just when things were getting better" he muttered

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Audrey sat in one of the stalls in the girls bathroom. She had been crying her eyes out all week.  Her mother's bill had doubled and her rent was due in a few days. She had been working non-stop and hadn't eaten more than five times in five days. Her eyes looked pale and tired and she just couldn't take it anymore. She needed to let it all out,  she didn't want to ask for help, she was better than that. She could handle it..... or maybe not. The money that she had wasn't up to $500 and her rent was $250 her mother's bill was $700 minus the medications which all together some up to $235.95 So, altogether, she needed $1185.95 and a little extra for food. She clutched her stomach tighter as she buried her face in the space between her knees and abdomen. The bullying hadn't stopped still and Megan soiled her clothes with a liquid substance only a few days ago. She didn't tell Reece about it, she didn't want him to worry.

She even stopped talking to him much, mostly because she was afraid of crying to him and asking him for help but she was also too busy with work and assignments to even hang out with him which broke her already broken heart. She cleaned her eyes and tried to pretend like she was okay, but she was not and Reece knew it when he saw her come out of the girls bathroom. He walked briskly to her and caught her before she disappeared "Drey" He called and she stared up at him "Hey" she tried her absolute best to smile "are you good? What's up?"  "I'm fine, I've been really busy with work Reece, So I haven't really had time"  "I thought you only did one shift"  "Well I'm working two now" "Why, anything the matter?"  Yes my mother is sick and I think if you don't help me I may join her too, she wanted to say the but bit her tongue "No" she said coldly and left.

Reece stared at her.

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It was lunch time and everyone was in the dining hall eating and having a chill time, talking with friends and the rest. Reece sat with Jack, Megan, Juliet and Robert. They were all talking about the latest news and making cruel and mean jokes about people behind their backs... all accept Reece who just listened and smiled Seldomly.