Beautiful • OBJ (under editing)

chapter seven

what friends are for.

|Raj|

I opened my eyes to a dark room. I was in a bed with the covers up to my midsection and someone beside me.

They had their bare back to me but I quickly noticed the familiar haircut and blonde tips. I looked over to the night stand to see that it was 3am.

"Odell. Odell. Odell!" I said, shaking him softly.

"Hm..." He moaned slowly, shifting in bed.

Eventually, once he woke up more, he reached and turned on his lamp beside the bed and sat up. He looked down at me and brushed my hair out of my face.

"How are you feeling?" He asked, his voice raspy, gently stroking my hair.

"I'm fine, a little confused..." I admitted.

"You passed out in the hallway. I heard some commotion outside the door. A couple of my neighbors found you and tried to call an ambulance but I figured you didn't want that. So, I brought you in here."

"Thank you." I said, taking a deep breath.

"And I saw you brought me food. That was nice." He said, getting out of bed.

"Sure. " I replied, following him with my eyes.

"I got you something..." He said, going into his closet. A second later, he came out with a big teddy bear and a balloon that said 'Get Well Soon'.

"Odell, you're too sweet." I gasped. I got out of bed and walked up to him. He playfully made the teddy bear dance in my face. I grabbed it from him and then looked up at him.

"Wow, thank you. I've never had anyone be this nice to me."

He shrugged, "It was nothing. I just, ya know, thought it might make you feel better."

"Yea, I think I was just a bit overwhelmed being here is all." I have him a half smile and sat down on the edge of the bed.

We were in a comfortable silence for a while as Odell laid back down in bed and flipped through he tv channels.

"I want to tell you why..." I said just above a whisper.

He sat up and muted the television, "Um, ok."

We sat on this bed and talked until the sun came up. I told him about James, having to sell all my mothers things, even the abortion, which is something I vowed to never tell anyone.

I thought he'd be too shallow to understand some of my issues, or not care, but he attentively listened the entire time and made me feel a lot better by the end of our conversation.

•••

|Odell|

"Odell, you didn't have to bring me home, I'm fine, really." She insisted as we walked up the stairs of her apartment building.

"You said that already." I lightly pushed her in the back, toward her apartment door.

She unlocked her door and we walked in. She opened the curtains and let the sunlight shine into the room.

"What's your plan?" I asked her, taking a seat on the couch, "Like for living?"

"I don't have one, right now. I honestly don't feel like having a plan." She admitted, her voice was very sad. I had never experienced someone with depression this severe. It was like a dark cloud just lingered over her.

"Some fast food places don't care about criminal records." I suggested.

She sighed, "Have you ever had a job that didn't pay you hundreds of thousands of dollars?" I took her question as a rhetorical one so I didn't reply.

"I thought so."

"I'm just trying to help." I said.

"You have been more help than you'll ever know, but I'm just tired. I don't want to talk about plans or jobs."

"Ok. Alright."

"I'm going to go take a shower." She said, leaving out of the living room and going into her bedroom.

A few minutes later, Raj came back into the room and sat next to me.

"What happened to your shower?" I asked.

She just shook her head, laying on the arm of the couch. I got up and went to the kitchen sink, I turned it on and a very small amount of water dripped from the faucet.

I sighed, turning it off and making my way towards her bedroom, "Come on."

"What are we doing?" She asked, lifting her head a little.

"Packing."