Musical Angel

I'm Done

Corey woke up the next morning feeling tired, not physically but emotionally, he was just drained. But tired or not he had school so he got up, got dressed, grabbed his stuff, and simply headed out the door. He could have tried getting a ride from Trina or taken the bus but his sister would refuse and he didn't like the bus.

It was loud and there were too many people that rode it everyday for his liking so he chose to walk. It took over half an hour to get to school and when he finally walked through the front doors his friends were waiting for him. He had to remind himself of how to act, put on a smile and act like nothing could go wrong.

So he did, he played the role he'd taken on so long ago and no one suspected anything, not that they'd ever figure out something was wrong anyway. While Corey played his part Nick had tried to find him in the hallways once he walked inside the school. He spotted him pretty quickly and he was with his friends, he was smiling but something about it seemed fake.

The smile was almost cold, it didn't reach his eyes, Nick was sure he was going to break at any second. He tried to talk to Corey throughout the day but never got a chance since the hallways were crowded and they were in different grades. After school Nick tried to catch up to him but a group of girls stopped him in his tracks.

Corey managed to avoid the girls but Nick couldn't, they surrounded him and he could barely even move. Nick had a feeling Corey had been avoiding him on purpose without him even realizing, when Nick finally broke free from the girls Corey was gone. Thankfully Nick knew where Corey lived, he made his way there and when he arrived he walked up to the door.

He knocked and waited for a second before someone opened the door, Nick smiled, "Hello Mrs. Riffin."

Mrs. Riffin looked a bit surprised, "Oh, hello, you're Nick right?"

Nick nodded, he was just about to say something else when Trina yelled from upstairs, "Mom, who's at the door?!"

She walked into view as she spoke and when she saw him at the door she shrieked and ran over. "Nick, oh my gosh, what are you doing here, come in!"

She then dragged him into the house and Nick looked at Mrs. Riffin, "I'm here to talk to Corey, is he here?"

Mrs. Riffin smiled, "Of course, Corey!"

The last word was yelled up the stairs and Trina looked at Nick, "Why would you be looking for my loser little brother?"

Nick was about to say that her brother wasn't a loser but he was cut off when Corey appeared at the top of the stairs. Corey took one look at Nick and spoke, "Nope." He immediately disappeared from sight and a second later they heard Corey's door slam shut, Nick was shocked.

Meanwhile, when Corey had heard his mother call him he'd been sitting at his desk trying to write. He chose to just see what she wanted and get it over with, when he could clearly see the living room he spotted Nick. There was a very simple word to sum up his feelings about this, "Nope."

He quickly ran out of sight and then went to his room before he closed the door while wondering how he was going to get out of this. He sat on his bed and cursed everything, why the hell was Nick here, he'd been following him all day and Corey hated it. A minute later, someone knocked on the door and Corey didn't respond, whoever it was opened the door anyway.

Corey knew it was Nick but he didn't want to deal with this, Nick cleared his throat a little before speaking. "Um, Corey, it's Nick."

"Yeah I figured, why are you here?"

Now that definitely wasn't something he'd normally say or how he'd act but he was irritated now. Nick actually looked slightly nervous, "I wanted to see if you were okay, you seemed a little off yesterday."

Corey crossed his arms, "I'm fine."

"You were sitting by the road, in the rain, without so much as a coat, that doesn't seem fine to me."

Corey groaned, "I was out there because I was trying to think okay?!" Nick looked a bit shocked and Corey sighed, "I hate this, everything just seems so wrong lately but no one cares. My parents won't understand, Trina won't listen, and everyone else thinks I'm this happy-go-lucky moron!"

Nick stared at Corey in complete shock, Corey sat on his bed and Nick hesitated before sitting next to Corey, "You're not a moron."

"Well whether I am or not everyone thinks I am, they think I can't come up with lyrics on my own. I come up with crazy and stupid schemes to gain a fan base, I pretend not to listen to rational suggestions. Actual idiot or not everyone thinks I am and I'm sick of it, at first it was fun but I hate it now."

Nick was silent for a minute, "Even if other people think you're an idiot I don't, but what are you going to do about it?"

Corey sighed, he thought for a few seconds before speaking, "I'm done."

Nick looked worried and confused, "What?"

"I'm done pretending, I'm done with all of it, honestly it's about time I stopped being someone I'm not." Corey smiled just a little before standing up, "It really is about damn time."

Nick stared at Corey not in shock but in amazement, he'd never seen him like this but he had a feeling he'd like this new Corey, the real Corey.