fragile

22

Living without Casey was hard.

Mira and Sammy made it a little easier, but that void was always going to be there.

He knew it could never be replaced.

A few months passed like that; sad, alone and grieving.

Colton downed yet another bottle. Before he knew it, he was out like a light.

***

Mira stared at the door.

She had been getting strange messages from Colton and a gut feeling told her that he needed help, especially with everything that had happened.

It had been months since Casey's death, but she knew how it felt. The feeling of utter helplessness and anger when the world moves on as if the person who passed away meant nothing and had never existed.

Before she knew it, she had found herself standing outside his front door. Mira wanted to slap herself; she had never changed.

This is what happened back in high school with Willow. Mira cared too much, and that's what got her into all the mess in the first place.

She didn't want to care.

But she did.

Mira vowed to herself that she would help Colton and then leave immediately. She would not stick around and let herself get hurt in the end.

No way.

She didn't want to be her weak self.

But a part of her knew she was always that fragile, gullible Mira who would instantly see people as her friends not knowing they were her worst enemy and only wanted to hurt her.

It was her greatest flaw.

Mira let out a shaky sigh. She stared down at the key in her hand.

For some reason, Colton had given her a spare key. She didn't know why he gave it to her; it was a sign of trust, she assumed, but she didn't like the responsibility that came with that.

With all the confidence she could muster, she pushed the key into the hole and opened the door.

As Mira walked in, she noticed it was deathly silent. Her stomach churned uncomfortably as her eyes glanced around.

"Colton?" she called out, hoping he would respond.

There was nothing.

It was when she peeked into Casey's room that her shoulders fell in relief. Colton was lying stomach down on Casey's bed, half of his body off the mattress and empty alcohol bottles on the floor.

The bad feeling in her gut left her and was replaced by sorrow. Colton hadn't changed drastically after Casey's death — he was going through the typical stages of grieving.

She would know.

Mira sighed. She was glad that this was what he was doing to get through it. Drinking wasn't a good thing, of course, but it was better than most things other people would have done in the name of grieving.

She calmly walked over and gently kicked the bottles to the side. She then turned him over and brought up the blanket to cover his body.