Tyler and the Valaholics: The Beginning

Chapter 43

Song of the chapter- 'Stay' by Zedd ft. Alessia Cara

'Waiting for the time to pass you by,
Hope the winds of change will change your mind.'

My eyes feel like they're going to burst open with how wide they are but I can't help feeling like I have to widen them further. Sure, I'm happy Cormac's moving on but Jessica all but destroyed her performance that was supposed to be relief from her ill-timed one in the morning, and yet she's moving on to the next round? It isn't like I am not happy for her, I truly am, it's just that I feel at least one of the other two did better than her and hence should have the chance to be one shot closer to winning this.

I'm jolted out of my thoughts by someone roughly shoving me to my side, mercifully steering clear of the still throbbing arm. Blinking blindly, I wait until my eyes refocus on the scene playing out in front of me to observe Josh standing right in front of me and glaring daggers at Generica, Cormac by his side.

"Sorry, Valerie," Cormac whispers to me as I realize Josh and Generica don't seem to be ending their game of glaring at each other any time soon.

"Josh, chuck it. Why are you wasting your time?" I ask him, tired of all the drama and craziness.

Metaphorical fumes billow out her ears as she angrily turns her attention to me, "Are you implying that I'm not worth your time?"

"Nope, just saying that arguing with someone who won't listen is pretty pointless."

"You better hold your tongue, kid," she decides to warn me before sneering at Josh and turning on her heels to exit.

"So, now that the trash has taken itself out, what do you propose we do?" Josh exclaims but his enthusiasm evaporates when his gaze settles on my face that must hold a far-off expression.

"Go home and sleep," I half-heartedly attempt to stifle the yawn begging to be let out of my mouth.

Laughing, he agrees and says he has some things to attend to so he'll see me Friday. Absent-mindedly nodding, I mechanically lift my bag and walk out to the entrance where I spot Stacie and reach her side in seconds. I feel far too exhausted and drained and all I want to do is drop for a very long time. Perhaps I can make up for all the lost sleep tomorrow- oh, wait, I have to attend college tomorrow!

When I groan at this reminder, Stacie seems to take it as a cue and bids everyone goodbye before latching onto my arm with her left and Tracie to her right, signaling Van and Violet to walk in front of us. My mind turns quite foggy and I blindly walk with Stacie, thankful for her guiding arm.

I can't admit to remembering much after that until one vivid moment where I hear Violet say something in her squeaky voice. Her voice registering as a sign that they're safe, I let my head burrow deeper into the familiar pillow under my head as a blanket is draped around my shoulder before I fade out of consciousness.

Tugged out of my deep slumber by a hand caressing my head, I involuntarily smile and snuggle closer to the hand that reminds me of Mom. She must've returned home and found me asleep right?

Did I leave Van and Violet alone in the house? Perhaps they went over to Tracie's to play? Why does nothing add up? Maybe Mom will take care of it, unless she does what she did back when- no, that can't happen again!

Sheer panic fills me and jolts me awake and I sit right up, the blood rushing out of my head blocking my vision for a few seconds. When my eyes clear up a bit, the events of the past couple of days flash by like a reel on the screen of my mind. But it's all only a wild dream, right? Unwillingly, I turn to the direction I felt the hand caressing my face, my face scrunching up in the process. With eyes still blurry, I can just make out the outline of a head with bushy hair jutting out like corkscrews against the light from the streetlights. The dim beam of light reaches in with its long tendril-like fingers as it traces the outline of the hair in a light yellow colour. Mom never had bushy hair, and hers was dark so it's certainly not her.

I rack my brain hard to try to remember who this is. An image of a bunch of large poofy blonde curls enters my mind as I realize this has to be Stacie, and that one detail brings me crashing back to earth. It all really happened.

She attempts to calm me down when the sound of a sob escapes my lips and gently pulls me back down into bed. Running her hands through my hair soothingly, she mutters words of comfort that are deemed to be useless for I can't stop sobbing. I really thought she was here and I can't help wishing for everything to be a dream or for it all to stop.

What are we going to do now? Nothing feels right, and when Grandma does happen to go, which is plenty close by the looks of it, we'll probably be separated once we're sent into the system. I don't think I can handle being without those two constantly by my side, let alone even in different places. No, I can't let that happen and I also can't let my selfishness get in the way of their wellbeing. I'm not going to care if I can't further pursue my education and get the degree I wanted to have if I could only ensure that both of them have everything they need.

Now determined, I forcefully swipe away the tears from off my face and flip myself so that I'm on my stomach now and attempt to fall back asleep, prying her fingers off me. I can't let myself be weak now.

- - - - - - -

Hi there and thank you for reading! Sorry for the humongous gap between this and the previous chapter. I've started writing a new story that I'm really excited about and I want to revive TBG so I'll divide my already divided time between those. Don't worry, I won't not post here anyways.

You can read the blurb and epigraph of my new story called 'Anemophily' now. I'll try to post the next chapter ASAP!

Also, excuse me if these few chapters are a little awkward, it's in the transition phase between phase one and phase two so I do expect it to be weird...

- - - - - - -