Save Me, Stranger | A Dialogue Story

[17] - No Matter What

alex | stranger

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"Hey."

"Hey. Where have you been?"

"You haven't called me back in a couple of days. Something wrong?"

"No. Everything's fine. I've just gotten...caught up in a lot of things."

"Things like...?"

"You know, homework. Working. The usual stuff."

"Does that usual stuff include Declan in any way?"

"We're not together anymore."

"I know Alex. What's actually going on?"

"Well.."

"I...I didn't think breaking up with him because of the way he treated me would end up like this."

"..."

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone...everyone has been glaring at me. I hear whispers in the halls or outside in the court yard. They think—people have been saying I gave him an STD and that I slept with another guy and got pregnant."

"That's terrible..."

"Yeah, no kidding. Apparently I'm this diseased slut walking around town hopping on any guy that lets me now."

"What am I suppose to do, Stranger?"

"Ignore them."

"Don't you think I've tried? It's not that simple!  I can't go anywhere without feeling like I'm being looked down on for something that's not even true."

"Then why don't you tell them the truth?"

"It's his word against mine. No one will believe that this 'innocent victim of a whore' could have done any harm. That he wouldn't punch or push a girl to the ground, that he wouldn't dare try to rape her or take bottles of glass and throw them at her head. Why would they believe me...a depressed nineteen year old that doesn't know what she wants in life?"

"I believe you. I do. And I'll be here for you no mater what. I'm that person over the phone you can talk to to get away from reality."

"That's really nice...but why do you still talk to me? Why are you so persistent on being here even though we're strangers?"

"There's a lot of reasons."

"Tell me."

"Alex I—"

"Please."

"I don't want this to come out the wrong way."

"Just say whatever's on your mind. I'll listen."

"Ok um..."

"So, my dad and I haven't ever been close because both him and my mom were constantly out of town for work. These past few years though, dads been in the hospital and mom hasn't been able to keep up with medical bills. I stepped in to help but it's still tough. He's been getting worse too.

"That stress topped with getting played by a girl I was madly in love with, having to work two jobs, and also paying for college has been..a lot to handle. I wasn't sleeping, didn't eat very well, drank too much...

"Getting to talk to you though, has been slowly changing me—in a good way, of course. I'm not as stressed out anymore, haven't touched a beer in almost two weeks. I've been happier too, knowing I've got this person, even though they're a stranger, to talk to.

"Alex, besides you and my whopping three friends, I don't have anyone. And I don't want you to think that I'm using you as a way to stay out of bad habits 'cause you're way more than that. Way more."

"I...I don't know what to say."

"Say we'll always be here for each other no mater what."

"..."

"No matter what."

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Overview:
• Now we know what Stranger and one of his friends named "Cam" were talking about when they'd been discussing Stranger having to get another job to "pay for HIS medical bills" in chapter 12. Strangers dad has never been in his life, so why does Stranger feel like helping a man who never seemed to care about his own flesh and blood?
• And will these accusations against Alex continue to get worse? What do you think will happen if they do?

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