Bleed me Dry

chapter twenty-seven

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"Avril!" I called out, but her walk had turned into more of a sprint — and with my sister being on the track team, catching her up was out of the question. She hadn't heard me anyway, and I definitely wasn't going to yell outside of Ms. Tristan's office, even if I was a complete idiot most of the time.

The large oak door in front of me didn't feel as inviting as it usually did, but I still found myself knocking it twice. A muffled voice responded before I swung open the door, walking inside with purpose.

"Oh Mae, I thought you were-" Ms. Tristan paused, looking behind me and then at her lap, composing herself from the startled expression her face once formed. "Well, it doesn't matter now."

"Avril?" I replied, folding my arms. Ms. Tristan rubbed her face and sighed slightly, not angrily, but tired, drained even.

"You saw?" she asked, filing a few pieces of paper in her drawer and arranging her stationery a little neater. "As you can imagine, I'm not able to discuss other students with you, even if they do happen to be your sister."

"I get it." I snapped, maybe a little harsher than intended, closing the door behind me. It wasn't like Avril, to cry or to be irritable. She had turned into an entirely different person over the past few weeks and I couldn't help but worry it was all my fault.

"But, I will say this because it's you — and it must stay strictly between us — that Avril is not in a good place. She needs support and I know you can help her. Do you think you could do that for me?" asked Ms. Tristan, her voice a little softer, calmer.

"I'll try my best. Avril and I haven't exactly been on the best of terms lately." I confessed, tugging on my bottom lip with my teeth. Scratching the back of my neck, silence filled us and I could only assume it was because Ms. Tristan wanted me to continue. "I think it's my fault."

"Your fault?" she pressed, now sitting upright with her pen against the corner of her lip.

"I spoke to my parents. I tried- I tried to speak to them... it went badly." I explained, now sitting on the arm of the plumped chair. "I told Avril about it but then she was mad that I'd even contacted them in the first place. It's obvious, I mean I spoke to those roaches and now all of a sudden she's crying? It's clearly my fault."

Ms. Tristan ran a hand through her dark hair, worry lines showing as she did. "Avril didn't mention that."

"Oh." I said flatly. "Well now you know."

"Avril aside, I congratulate you on at least trying, Mae. I've seen an outstanding change in you recently." Ms. Tristan smiled, stepping towards me and sitting on her desk. "And I'm sure that Avril isn't mad at you."

Something in the back of my mind made me doubt her words. I loved my sister, but there was always a nagging thought in my mind that I was an embarrassment to her, a failure. And whilst Avril may not have mentioned anything to Ms. Tristan about our parents, it didn't mean that my phone call bothered her any less. It told me that something bigger was concerning my little sister, but until I spoke to her myself, I wouldn't know the truth.

"Hm." was all I managed to say before my eyes began to prick. Shaking them away, I reminded myself of why I was there. "I actually wanted to talk to you about something, if that's okay?"

"Sure. Is something wrong?" Ms. Tristan inquired, folding her arms tightly.

Pausing, I considered backing out. With my sister in a mess of her own, was mine really worth talking about? Was it wrong for me to put her worries to the side?

"Well, Drama's funding has been cut, which I'm sure you're well aware of..." I began, slumping down into the seat, my legs outstretched. "And I want to raise the cash so we can still do the performance."