The Ballerina & The Devil

Seventeen. The Devil Emerges

WARNING: Possibly triggering content towards the end of this chapter!

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"We have to go shopping," Kenzie said, slamming her lunch tray down on our table.

I jumped a little from the sudden impact her tray made to the table and looked up from my phone. I glared at her, annoyed. "Was that necessary?"

"Sorry," she said, not sounding sorry at all as she slid into her seat across from Majesty and I.

I rolled my eyes and looked back down at my phone screen where I had been rereading the screenshot I took yesterday.

Autophobia:
The fear of being alone or abandonment.

Doctors believe in majority of these cases, the phobia stems from childhood trauma when a parent or loved one leaves following a divorce (or death).

"What do we need to go shopping for?" Majesty asked, sipping her milk through a straw.

So, Aidan was scared of being abandoned.

"Other then the fact that I need a new pair of boots?" Kenzie asked.

I set my phone down and rested my head in my hand that wasn't casted and mulled it over for what had to be the one hundredth time.

"We haven't been shopping together in a while," Kenzie said. "Like a couple months while, and we need some bonding time. Right, Dem?"

I suppose it made sense. His mother had died, which would be the childhood trauma. Although, I had no idea how old he was when she passed.

"Dem?"

The age he was wouldn't exactly matter though. Death is death and when a parent or loved one died there's bound to be trauma there. Whether you were six or sixty.

"Demi?"

I would have questioned Aidan about it, but I didn't want to come off as rude or disrespectful. It was his decision to go more into detail about it with me if he wanted to, and why would he want to? He barely knew me. I wouldn't want to talk about something like that with a someone I didn't know that well.

Plus, he had completely shut down after his little declaration and hadn't said two words to me on the way back to school. He wasn't in Lit today either, so it's not like I had the chance to talk to him about it.

"Demetria."

I looked up and glared at Majesty. "Don't call me that."

"Maybe if you answered on the first try, I wouldn't have to," she shrugged.

"You okay?" Kenzie asked, frowning a little. "Are you, like, in pain?" She eyed my cast.

"No, no," I waved a hand. "I'm fine. I just get lost in thought I guess," I looked between my two friends. "What were you saying?"

"I was proposing we go shopping," Kenzie said promptly. "After school?"

"Sure," I agreed eagerly. "I've been dying to get this leather jacket I saw at Forever 21. It's brown and so cute."

"It's a triple date then," Majesty nodded, picking up her piece of overcooked chicken.

"I just hope my mom doesn't start acting difficult," I sighed. "She's been really overbearing lately."

"That tends to happen when your child almost dies," Kenzie shrugged.

"I honestly think that's really overdramatic. She needs to relax a bit," I examined my chewed up nail beds. "Can we get our nails done too? Mine look like Hell."