Losing Trust (sequel to Secret Admirer) ON HOLD

Chapter Twenty four. ALONE BY A CLIFF.

I need you Nishi. I miss you. A single tear falls onto the floor and I dig my face into my knees. Come back. Please.

Time skip.

I wake up, my stomach rumbling. I didn't finish my pizza. Thanks Alex and Sascha. I stand up, hair a mess. Suddenly, I remember what happened. I quickly eck the time. Lunch had finished half an hour ago and I was ten minutes into my next lesson. I run out of the library, receiving odd stares from the librarians.

I run through the hallways, passing the odd student now and then. Each person, staring at me and for some, trying not to laugh. I get to my next classroom and knock on the door. The teacher opens the door and stares at me. He then coughs and starts speaking.

"Where have you been?" He asks.

"I-I" I forgot to think of an excuse whilst I was walking through the hallways. "I had to do something for the receptionist then I fell down and I then went to First Aid." He nods and beckons me to my seat.

I walk into the classroom and everyone stares at my face. I hear a few giggles but ignore them and sit at my place. I look at my partner David but he immediately looks away, trying to hide his laughter. It must be my hair. I get my hair brush out of my bag and brush my hair until it looks reasonable. I look at the teacher and he looks at me blankly.

"Aria?" He asks me slowly.

"Yes sir." I say, confused.

"Would you like to go to the bathroom and maybe clean up a bit?" He sounds serious so I nod my head and leave. I touch my face to see if there's something on it but it feels normal. I sigh and enter the bathroom. I walk up to the mirror and immediately gasp. My forehead had the word LOSER clearly written on it. A drawing of a tear just below my left eye, a moustache below my nose and my lips had been coloured in black and had been made to seem bigger then they originally are. The worst bit was that someone had wrote things on my cheeks in red too. The words FAKE and B*TCH written the biggest. I step backwards and look away, not wanting to look at my reflection anymore. Who could do this? Mia. Mia Reynolds. But she apologised to me this morning. It must have been fake... I grab loads of toilet roll and wet them. I try and wipe everything off with it but it doesn't do much help. It must be a permanent marker. I try again, pressing harder. A bit comes off but you can still see everything quite clearly. I bring the whole roll from the toilet and use more for my face. After about five minutes, I look at my reflection again. I sigh. I'm just making it worse. Everything had smudged together and it now looks like I don't know how to do make up. I throw the used roll on the floor being the great person I am and walk back to the classroom. I enter and the teacher immediately looks and me and gestures for me to sit down. I walk to my seat, my classmates eyes nearly burning into my back. I look at everyone and see them all trying not to laugh. I sigh and the teacher carries on talking. I look over at the table at the back and I see a boy smirking at me. I recognise his face from a few days ago. He was the boy who tripped Sascha up and made her spill her lunch on me. I glare at him but he just laughs at me. He was probably the one to write on me with the marker while I was sleeping in the library.

When the bell rings a few minutes later, I run out of the classroom, ignoring the calls I get from the teacher.
I run home and go up to my room. I get changed into my leggings and throw a grey hoodie over it, pulling up the hood. I pull on my white converse and grab my keys, leaving my house. I walk down the street, unsure of where to go. Time passes by and the sky darkens but I keep walking. I end up in a small, dark alley. I suddenly hear a voice of a drunken man behind me. I quicken my pace, not daring to look behind me. I feel him grab my wrist and pull him towards him but I slip out of his grip. I pull my hood further down my face and run. I end up at the entrance to a wood. Trees everywhere, towering over me and their branches sticking out like arms. I look behind me, the voice of the man a bit further back calling out to me. Would I rather be lost in a wood or goodness knows what will happen with that creep? Wood. I run into the wood, jumping over fallen branches. I continue for about five minutes until I'm sure the creep's long gone. I sit down by a tree, panting. I know I'm not the fittest of people, you don't have to tell me.

I continue walking until it gets dark. I reach a cliff and sit on it. I reach into my hoodie pocket, searching for my phone to check the time but it's not in there. I frantically search all of my pockets, not wanting to give into the fact that I probably left it on my dressing table. I let out a sigh and look down. It's a long way down. The cliff was about twenty meters and where I was sitting didn't look very stable. The sea looked like it was drowning the bottom of the cliff. I wonder what happens when you die. It's probably better then living. I stand up, edging away from the cliff. I sit down by a tree and my mind floods with thoughts about Nishinoya, Sascha and Alex. Why didn't they tell me he was leaving? Why did they lie? Why did he leave? Tears roll down my cheeks, wetting my hoodie. I'm pretty sure I've cried enough today to fill my boiler. No one cares about me. The people I thought cared for me betrayed me. My boyfriend left me and I'm pretty sure I've been to the hospital in the last month more times then a married couples times put together. I look at the cliff in front of me. I shouldn't...

Suddenly, I hear footsteps a few meters behind me. I quickly stand up, looking around. Creepy man or cliff... Cliff.

I walk towards the cliff. I sit at the edge and see the water at the bottom. Surely it's not that bad... I close my eyes, tears rolling down my cheeks. Again.
I shift forwards but I stop as I hear a voice shout my name. Nishinoya...
I turn around to see him standing there, hair a mess and jeans ripped.

"Don't you dare jump. I'm back. I'm sorry. Everything I did to hurt you. Let's start over." I can see tears well in in his eyes too.

"I forgive you." I say quietly. Nishinoya comes closer to me and I turn to give him an hug but I slip. And fall...