𝐇𝐞𝐫 𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐧 𝐀𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧

FORTY FOUR

Vivianne

I was exhausted as I sat in my counselor's office.

We were still honoring the deal my mom and her had made to have me talk to someone about my feelings and all that mushy shit from when my parents originally had found out about my pain kink. I had been spending my lunches coming in here and spilling out my heart to Ms. Will all of this semester. Right now, the couple of hours of sleep I had gotten after our bus dropped us off so late in Houston wasn't doing much to keep me functional and talkative- two things that Ms. Will definitely was.

"Rough night? I heard about you guy's win," she commented, taking a bite out of her Subway sandwich. Those black little circular things, some lettuce, and white sauce oozed out the back side of her sandwich in the parchment paper onto her brown napkins.

"Yeah. The charter bus dropped us off at the school like twelve minutes before twelve. We were runnin' a lil late because of some unexpected traffic. I barely got any sleep because it was dam- almost one when I got back to my aunt's," I sighed, eyeing her coffee machine.

"I know I'm not supposed to, but...would you like some?"

"No, no," I waved away her offer, "I'm fine, Ms. Will."

I'd really like that, actually.

"So what are some coping strategies you're going to use now that you won't really have volleyball for comfort anymore? Since the season is ending," she asked.

"I don't really know. I just plan on throwing myself into school and stayin' on my family's good side."

"Is it hard...to stay on your family's good side, Vee?"

"For me it is. They're ashamed of what the family found out since my mom had to go and blabber about the photos...and I like girls. So there's that too," I shrugged. "It's hard but I only got a couple of months left of this."

"Hm," the counselor nodded.

The bell signaling the end of this lunch rang and I stood, wrapping up what I had barely munched on and putting it back into my bag.

"Thanks again, Ms. Will," I said tiredly.

"No problem, sweetheart," she gave me her best attempt at a smile, a little bit more down than her usual cheerfulness.

I left out of her office, switching my mind from 'sad time' to 'I wonder how I'll convince my aunt to let me go to the library soon to see Con'.

I hadn't seen Izzy all day, or her boyfriend for that matter. I didn't wanna wonder what was going on too much with that situation. Being nosy is also something that got me into this whole photo situation in the first place. Only thing was, it wasn't my nosiness- it was my mom's.

I stopped by my locker before my next class.

I had text Con last night but she hadn't responded.

She had probably went straight to bed. Might not have even attended class today, because I know Coach Wang and her had to stay much later than any of the players who had went on the bus.

I went down the halls, people I didn't even know congratulating me on my team's win. Wang made us wear our jerseys today- a task that required staying up an extra fifteen minutes to make sure my clothes were handled for the laundry last night, and another fifteen this morning making sure it was dry enough. I sported our school colors with our sweatpants, and I had my braids in a top bun.

Let me have this shine for now.

If you're gonna put the fake messages out, at least wait a little while Izzy.

"Vivianne," Ms. Will called out.

I turned around, realizing that she had been chasing me down. "Would you come back to my office please?"

"Sure," I frowned, following after her.

Did I do something wrong? Did a family member die? Was she going to give me the coffee anyways? Did I say something too personal during our meeting?

Ms. Will closed the door behind herself and didn't bother sitting back down in her chair. I sat down, still a bit sore from our game.

"I got an email regarding Izzy Reyes, Tyone Block, and you."

"Izzy and her boyfriend?" I frowned deeper.

"They didn't show up to school today and apparently they're reported runaways. The girl left her phone behind and a note. The phone was open on her notes and she had written some things, and although the physical note also left, was at her home in her bedroom, it was obviously written by Mr. Block. Her note stated her admittance to faking some messages between you and her and her sending those photos to your parents on purpose. His stated that they were running away to get married and no one should look for them."

"Wow," I said, gripping the top of the chair.

This was a lot to take in.

"If you have any sort of idea where they could be...the cops wanna come in and talk to you."

"Well, sure...I don't necessarily like either of them but, I'm sorry. I don't know anything about where they could be. Especially Tyone," I shook my head.

"What about Izzy?"

"Izzy knows a lot of people, especially a lot of people older than her. She could be anywhere at this point. Might not even be in the US anymore. I know her and her dude were obviously goin' through some things in their relationship."

"Some things like what?" Ms. Will inquired.

"I saw bruises on her. No tellin' where they came from, but yea," I shrugged.

Ms. Will frowned, "When's the last time you saw them?"

"At a college party we all happened to be at," I said.

"Who all was there?"

"Just me. More people from my school might've been there, but I wouldn't know," I lied smoothly. I sighed, "Hey. You mentioned the cops, if the cops come my parents have to be here right? Or my aunt and uncle, or something like that. Those fake messages were about me and this girl I'm talkin' to and they don't want me datin' anymore cause of all the shit I'm in. They can't see those messages."

The counselor rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Izzy's the only one with those messages right?"

"Yeah, doesn't sound like she sent them out or anything. It just needs to be deleted from her phone."

Ms. Will pulled out a clear bag from her pocket.

"Your parents don't have to know about this but if you know anything about where Izzy could be, I'd much appreciate it, Vee. Tyone could hurt her, or worse."

"I don't. But thank you, Ms. Will," I said.

"I need to know who the other person is," she stated.

"The other person?" I asked.

"Who you're dating. I'm obligated to at least inform her that these fake messages are in existence. What class is she in right now?"

"She, um, doesn't go here," I said, panic catching in my chest. "She already knows about the messages though. We were worried about it."

Ms. Will pressed her lips together. "I really should contact her myself but I trust you, Vee. It could be a serious thing if the girl isn't notified and later on the two of you get bullied because of the things Izzy fabricated on this phone about intercourse and other things and then the school's down on my back."

"She knows. Thank you, Ms. Will."

"No problem," she called out as I walked away.

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