Love, Poison.

01

L A Y L A   | K E N N E D Y
16th June 2022

"Shit." I mumbled in slight agony as I rubbed my forehead trying to seek relaxation from the ongoing stinging sensation. I've been having headaches on and off now for at least two months, no medication is helping either. It's like an on going war with my brain as I looked down at the pages bellow with a blurred vision.

I raised my hand in front of my face gasping slightly when I saw how disoriented it was, I've never needed glasses before but I was beginning to think I did. At first my blurry vision came on slowly until one night aggressive. It came to a point where I could only see shapes and figures with a hint of colour but now it was like looking through a glass of water.

Tears were felt forming in the back of my eyes as frustration and confusion grazed over me, what was happening to me? I glared down at my hands thinking that they were going to explain this whole thing to me, but nothing made sense.

Only yesterday my vision was perfect so why wasn't it now? Why was this happening all so sudden and what is wrong with me?

"Layla Kennedy, what is the answer of equation on the board?" My head shot up immediately as I heard my math teacher - Mr Dobson - call out to me from the front of the classroom. I was on the second the row in the middle which I always loved since it was the perfect spot, not too close and not too far. That was until now.

I've been in Set 1 maths since I was 5, my eldest brother Pheonix used to call me an Einstein in miniature. Pheonix was always the troublemaker out of the three of my siblings and I. Lincoln being the second eldest and me the youngest.

Lincoln and I have always been close due to our common similarity of being on Pheonix's least favourable people list. He's always had my back and would always defend me from Pheonix and his harsh words, just as I would defend him.

So as I looked at the board trying to figure out the small equation on the board with blurred eyes I wondered why someone with perfect vision like me couldn't read a board I've been reading for almost two years.

"C-can I go to the bathroom please?" I stuttered incoherent as glances were thrown my way not expecting me to not brag about knowing the answer and most definitely not expecting to see me leaving during class. I've never left class even if I was desperate for the toilet, I'm what you often call a try hard.

I could make out the slight turn of my teachers head as he stared at me with an unreadable expression before nodding, "yeah, sure. Do you need a note?" I shook my head as I pushed my chair back, grabbing my bag then ran towards the door, closing it behind me with a loud bang.

I ruffled through my open bag searching for my mobile device feeling a sense of relief when I noticed it staring back at me. I picked it up going to type in my password only to realise I couldn't see the letters so I resulting in using Face ID.

"Siri call mum." My voice was hoarse as I heard the high pitched beeps of my phone altering me that my needs were being assisted. "Hello? Layla, I can't talk right now I'm at work honey what's wrong?" Tears rushed down my cheeks at the feeling of my mums voice. She calmed me.

"Mum, it's happening again." I cried out as I felt the sting sharpen worse than before making me drop my phone as I clutched onto my head tightly wincing.

The feeling of my stomach rising like it would do on a rollercoaster took over me as one of my hands quickly switched over to my stomach holding onto it tightly clawing at it to stop. Everything feels strange, it's like I'm not even in my own body.

My hand began to twitch uncontrollably as i shook it to get rid but nothing worked, it didn't feel normal. What was wrong with me, what's going on? I heard my mums disoriented voice yelling from the phone but I couldn't move.

A weird noise flooded through my ears like it would when your underwater, a disoriented echo rumbled through my brain like a tidal wave. Breathe. I did as my mum had once instructed, a twitching sensation came over me as I fell onto the hard ground.

I could hear a male voice call out to me as my body shifted all over the place, I didn't have any control over myself as I drifted from consciousness. My eyes were wide open but my mind wasn't, I could see a foggy figure in front of my face but i couldn't pin point it.

The sound of shoes banging on the marble ground made me aware of my senses, more body's and faces clouded my vision one simple call of my name being the last thing I heard before my world went black.

That was the last time I ever knew the world as quiet and peaceful, this is my story and this is how I'm going to tell you it.

My name is Layla Kennedy, i used to be a normal girl  surrounded by butterflies and the perfect family. Now I'm surrounded by wasps and a broken home.

My life switched so quickly and it was all because of my own head, I was going through a slow suicide. So, sit down, grab a snack and pay attention because I'm going to show you every high and low of my disease.