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It was one of those days for Alistair when the meds weren't really doing their job and he felt too tired to actually try to do anything. He laid in bed, headphones in his ears as he listened to whatever Spotify suggested. He wasn't really paying any attention to the lyrics, it was supposed to be a way to shut down his thoughts but it wasn't working, just like everything else in his life.
He wanted to be optimistic, he wanted to draw a smile on his lips but it was too much effort. He could feel the weight of the school day that hasn't happened yet crushing him down. He was already too tired, he wanted to skip school, preferably the whole day too.
He hadn't slept much the night before. His eyes were red rimmed and hallow of any emotion. He had waited for the alarm to go off but until then he laid in bed unresponsive to anything around him.
He felt guilty, tired, sad yet completely numb.
But he threw all of that aside as his alarm rang and he decided to try and get ready for school.
Brooke was also having one of those days. She received a text yesterday that shook her to her core. She couldn't sleep after that, nightmares plagued her, otherwise, dreamless sleep. She was terrified and continued to shake and dry heave until she couldn't even get a blink of peaceful oblivion.
I know you told your friends. It was the same number as the pervious one but this one scared her even more.
Because it wasn't just blackmailing anymore, it's borderline stalking.
Whoever they are, they know who is her friends and what she has been up to recently. It was chilling. They could be watching her through the window right now. They could be watching her parents, her dogs. She felt absolutely unsafe to the point where she locked every window and closed every door and then hid under her thick blanket.
But as sleep got harder to catch, her mind drifted farther.
Could it really be Alistair? She wondered. It wasn't far fetched and as of recently he has been around her a lot. He could tell her friends and her are hiding something from him but it's not really considered hiding if he's the one behind this all along.
Her train of thoughts came to a halt when her alarm clock went off. She gathered herself, made her bed and headed to the restroom to continue her routine.
She finished getting ready in a daze, not really paying attention to anything but her thoughts. She felt like she is stuck up there with no exit. It will surely drive her insane sooner than later.
She rode her trusty old bike to school, hoping that the crisp September air would brush away her problems.
But reality wasn't nice to her as her phone felt ten times heavier in her pocket. She was scared of it now. Scared of every ring and notification. She has barely scrolled her phone since she got that first text. She might develop a phone phobia of some kind.
"Hello, Brooke." Alistair was standing near her locker. She might have missed him if he hadn't called out.
"Hi," Alistair's posture was off. She could basically sense it. His shoulders were a little sagged as if he was Atlas carrying the whole world on his shoulders. His eyes weren't glistening. His smile was crooked and he could barely hold the corners of his mouth up.
"How are you doing?" She decided that innocent until proven guilty was a saying she should follow. Everybody needed somebody to ask about their wellbeing - not only their physical health but also their mental health.
"I've been better." Alistair came to school with the intention of pretending that everything is okay - just like he always does - but Brooke's question threw that thought out of the window.
It is unusual for people to ask about him. They consider him a creepy guy with violent tendencies. It's easier to pretend everything is fine and dainty when no one really cares but as Brooke stared up at him with her intense blue eyes, he almost wanted to spill his whole life story to her.
"Me too." She mumbled but Alistair heard her anyway.
"Don't worry, it gets better." If she only knew.
"I'm here to help, too." She smiled softly and he swear a huge amount of the weight that he was carrying was lifted off.
Before they could exchange any more words, the bell rang. They gave each other a last long stare before they headed to their classes.
Alistair thoughts completely drifted from his troubling feelings to the girl with electric blue eyes and hair as shiny and bright as the sun. He could count the days that he has known her for on one hand but yet he already feels as if she's has been with him for a lifetime.
She was a boat in a sea where he was drowning.
She was helping him without even realizing it when it was supposed to be the other way around.
That's when the guilt started to settle in. He wants to help, to take whatever was upsetting her and rip it into shreds then burn it until it's ashe.
But how could you help someone when they weren't asking for it, when you didn't know what's exactly the problem? He has no right. Not yet anyway. And he is planning on changing that as soon as possible.
Brooke's fear was slightly forgotten when she was next to Alistair. As if her body knew that he was safe and it relaxed almost instantly. She didn't understand where all of this was coming from. One minute she was doubting him but the second she lays her eyes on him, she is almost certain that it can't be him. Because despite his hard exterior, she knew he had a heart made of pure gold. A heart as white as a white rose. But her situation made her doubt everything. The good, the bad, the one she knew and the she doesn't.
She needed to find a way to make sure it wasn't him, maybe then she could ask him for help and maybe then she would be able to feel a little less scared and little more safe.
