Toxic For Me

Chapter 17: I'm Your Home

"Would you like an orange juice, Lav?"

"No, it's fine."

"I'll go make some right now."

"I SAID IT'S FINE!" Lavender growled like a monster, furiously smashing her fingers on her keyboard. "Geez, fine." Claire said with a hand placed to her chest. "You've been like this ever since your return from Bilsburg."

"I need to write."

"I know better, Lavender."

"THEN LEAVE!" She threw the cushion on her lap at Claire who caught it successfully. "Fine. I'll talk when you're back to your human form." She exited her room, shutting the door behind. Lavender grunted monstrously with her eyes bulging out at the screen.

It had been a couple days she had been that way. Locked up inside her room, messily grooming herself, clacking the keys of her keyboard without a break. She would have her breakfast, lunch, evening snack and her dinner alone in her room; that is, if she wished to. Claire would always come back up to pick up her empty plates outside her closed door, sometimes untouched. She was growing with worry about Lavender's health, since she even refused to talk about it.

Why was she like that, you might ask?

She'd tell it herself.

"Just get me some spicy crisps." Lavender said, coming out of her room after an entire week. "Right away!" Claire happily ran into the kitchen to get it for her. Meanwhile, she got comfortable on the couch and turned on the TV, hugging a cushion. "Eat up." Claire placed a bowl of her favourite crisps on the table. She proceeded to sit on the couch perpendicular to Lavender. "Are you really not going to talk about it?" She sighed, as Lavender aggressively changed channels. "Mmh." She hummed.

"Is that a yes? Or a no?"

"Both or none."

"Lavender, come on!" Claire grabbed the remote from her hand and turned off the TV. "I've seriously had enough of you. You either tell me what's going on or I'll ring up Brendon ask what happened between you and Tristen. I know this is related to him." She changed her seat to sit beside Lavender.

"How do you even know Brendon?"

"LAVENDER PLEASE!"

"Fine!" She sighed, facing Claire. "It's just that Tristen hasn't been talking to me lately."

"Is everything alright?"

"That's what I don't know. He hasn't shown up for days, no calls or texts to say if he's alive. No sign of his existence at all. Could you reach Brendon, though?"

"Yeah, obviously! We talk every night-" Claire bit her tongue watching Lavender pierce daggers through her eyes. "And you couldn't ask about Tristen?" She asked, calmly. "Honestly, I did not know you were going through something like this, else I would've asked. You know, we both were talking about...." Claire blushed, forgetting that Lavender was on the verge of breaking into tears.

"My bad." She sealed her lips. "I've been texting him everyday since the past few weeks, spending everyday hoping he'd reply to me at night since he must be busy during the day. But he just does not call me, or reply to me. Let alone playing me a visit. He didn't show up to the party either." Lavender said in a heartbroken manner. "Right, he wasn't there on your birthday." She held her hand. "However, we will always be there for you; Jim and I. So what if no one else shows up, huh?"

"I know, Claire. You both are the only people I know in my life. But Tristen..." Lavender sighed sadly, her lip quivering as a gentle whimper of cry escaped her lips.

"Your first love. It must hurt so much." Claire cooed.

A tear fell down Lavender's cheek. It had been hard. Really hard. She would spend days and nights waiting for his call or a text, at the bare minimum. But she got nothing. It was finally when she decided to channel it all towards her writing. At least that way, it will be of some use and increase her productivity.