♥ I Never Thought I'd Love You ♥

~Chapter 2: Things Aren't Always What They Seem

~Chapter 2: Things Aren’t Always What They Seem

~Flashback~

            “Mummy! Mummy, no!” I screamed. I shook my mother. She had been the only one who ever truly loved me. Some man had just stolen her money and shot her. I watched the whole thing happen. Tears ran down my face as I called for help. Dylan wasn't there. He was never there for us. But Mum was a hard working woman who didn't complain. The police came and drove me to the police station as people took care of the scene and caught the man.

            I sat in the police station, trembling and afraid. “What’s going to happen to me?” I asked a police standing next to me.

            He turned to me and patted me on the head. “It’s gonna be alright, kid.” He kneeled down next to me and told me, “Sometimes, bad things are going to happen. Nothing’s ever going to be perfect. But just promise me you’ll remember, that when bad things DO happen, you’ll be strong. There isn’t always going to be somebody there to save you. Sometimes, you gotta learn to save yourself. Remember that, okay?”

            I looked at the police officer. “Okay.” I nodded.

            He smiled and walked away.

~Flashback End~

            That scene had been playing in my head over and over again that day. School was over, everyone had gone home to celebrate, and I didn’t know where to go. I never knew where to go. I walked into the bathroom alone and stood there, staring at myself. The flashback repeated. I promised him, I thought. But now I’m breaking the promise. I never stand up for myself anymore. I don’t know how. “I don’t know what to do,” I said out loud. “I don’t know what…” I stopped. “I don’t even know what is worth standing up for anymore…” I looked at my wrist. There wasn’t any space left for another cut.

            “Hey, are you okay?” I heard a voice ask.

            I gasped, turning around. “Go away! I’m fine.” It was Adriana, my biggest enemy. “What do you want from me?” I asked. “Were you spying on me?”

            “No, actually. I just walked in and I saw this.” Adriana lifted my wrist slightly. Her face looked at my cuts solemnly.

            I pulled away. “Don’t touch me.”

            “The reason I told you that One Direction can stop depression is because… well…” Adriana stopped. She rolled up her own sleeve, and to my surprise, she had cuts too.

            I looked at her. Adriana Courtney. A popular girl at school, cheerleader, rich, smiles every day, laughs and hangs out with giant groups of people… She'd been that way since as far as I could remember. Somebody you’d never expect to be depressed. She was also the girl who insulted me the most. “Y-you… cut… too?”

            Adriana shook her head. “Use to.”

            “But why? You’re always so happy and laughing and smiling…” She was the last person I’d think to be depressed.

            Adriana looked down at my wrist, then her own. She reached out and held my hand. “Things aren’t always what they seem.”

            I stared at her for a second, but then pulled my hand out of hers. I wasn’t use to interacting with people physically, so it was uncomfortable for me. “I know.” I looked at her. I didn’t know what else to say.

            Adriana smiled lightly at me. “I want to tell you something.” She took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for calling you names. I’m sorry for making fun of you. I did all those things because I never realized you were just like me. I was hurt. Afraid. Unsure. But now I feel terrible. And I’m sorry. I know it might seem difficult to take in, but I had to let you know. Somehow.”

            I felt awkward. I didn’t know how to respond because nobody had ever told me they were sorry. Nobody. “It’s okay…” I looked at her. Adriana use to seem like she towered over me because we were so different, but now I felt like she was the same as me.

            “Hey, Cordelia. Do you want to come see One Direction with me?” Adriana asked. But then she stopped. “Oh wait, you don’t like them…” She sighed.

            I took a deep breath. I hadn’t spoken to anyone like this since my mother was alive. “I will, if you want me to.”

            Adriana broke out into a smile. “Really?! Oh my god! I was going to ask Ari, but she becomes too annoying. All she does is fangirl over Niall.”

            I looked at Adriana weirdly. I didn’t understand what “fangirl” meant or who this Niall person was. Little did I know, he was going to make a big difference in my life later on.

            “Come on, you’ll meet them during dinner.” Adriana led me to her car, both of us still in our graduation dresses. “By the way, Cordelia… you look really pretty today.”