The news surprised the ton of students who had never expected it. They went to school to study early morning but was welcomed with news about attempted suicide!
What's worst was that, the one responsible for the existence of said news was their classmate.
The adviser waved her hands to silence the students, who was as quick as the speed of light to gossip, with a grim look still etched on her face.
She never expected this either. The young boy was most often than not, would remain silent at the corner and detached from any social interactions. Aside from Cohen, who seems to be avoiding him lately, there was no one in the class who could be considered his friend.
The polished nail tapped against the paper she was holding, creating a crumple.
The more the adviser thinks about this the more it doesn't feel right. She never knew anything about this boy's well being before, she internally admitted this was because of her negligence as his adviser.
But she did noticed some things.
He doesn't seem to be depressed nor does he reject it when someone approaches him. He just wouldn't initiate a conversation with anyone, making his peers walk past him and ignore him in most instances. One more thing was his obvious dislike towards the boys, this was made obvious when 'that' happened in the past.
"He did that? Oh my!"
"Then if he died, wouldn't he go to hell?"
The voices of several students and the sound of chairs being pushed back as they stood up from their seats, to head to their friends so they could have their personal gossips, irked the adviser.
"Now-! Go back!" The dismissive and obviously annoyed tone made them unwillingly oblige.
In this mess of a room, Sherdan's eyes were unnaturally wide opened.
It was as though he had heard something ridiculous, that left him so surprised he turned dumbly stunned.
'Impossible'
The noise of the room was gradually drowned by the unnatural beat of his heart. Becoming nothing but mere background.
'No way'
The furrows burrowed and his thoughts were driven to chaos. There was no reason he could think of as to why Friedde would do that.
Arice, Sean and Martin all glanced towards Sherdan. The puzzled expression on the three's face made Sherdan more uncomfortable.
He....he doesn't know. He wad oblivious as to why things ended up this way.
"Make sure to visit him after class, and give him words of encouragement. He...might need it." The adviser soon shifted the conversation elsewhere after dropping the bomb. After a while, she left the room. It was still far from the start of class, so there was no reason for her to stay when she still had to attend to the duties in her desk.
Once the teacher was out of sight, the students who couldn't gossip with one another earlier, stood from their seats in a flash. Everyone formed their own group and talked among themselves.
They talked about what to say and what to bring. Although most of them weren't Friedde's close friend, that doesn't mean that doing something as easy as visiting him, when he's at his lowest point, would be a hassle.
Sherdan could no longer handle the gossips and went out. Tucked underneath his pockets were a pack of cigarette.
He needs to let out some steam.
"Bye" Arice waved at Sherdan's retreating back.
He laid his head on his table's desk, with his cheeks against the hard wood. Sean glanced his way with uncertainty. The small mouth opened and close, as if there were words he couldn't get himself to ask.
Arice grumbled underneath his breath. This type of 'emotions' was what he dislikes most, specifically receiving them, he desires to never have anyone look at him in such ways. Pity, charity and unnecessary concerns.
He's not someone anyone should pity, more so Sean.
"Just say it"
Sean flinched after he was called out. He thought of not asking about it, but since Arice turns out to be well aware of his thoughts, he was relieved to be given permission and ended up asking nonetheless.
"Are you alright?" He leaned forward and asked this question with a low voice. Afraid of having others hear what he had asked.
Arice raised his head and saw Sean's face, obviously very worried. He felt the urge to tease him and so he did exactly that.
He leaned in and pouted a little. The soft hair brushed against the other's hands, which he just raised, making Sean turn red from both embarrassment and anger.
He pulled his hands away, irritated. He could never get used to this habit of Arice.
"You sh--Guess you're fine then." Sean placed a distance between them. Seeing that Arice didn't turn dead serious meant he's really alright. He got worried for nothing.
Arice stiffled a laugh and grabbed Sean to pull him close. Sean tried to struggle out of his hold, but it was futile. Arice is way stronger than he is.
"Why? Are you worried I'd see my dead mother in him?" The echos of laughter overpowered the noises inside the room, making everyone look his way as if he's a crazy man.
'Someone could laugh in this situation!'
'How insensitive is he?'
"He's always like this...." Girls whispered amongst themselves. Everyone knew how Arice could be a bit overboard with his antics, but they didn't knew he could be this insensitive!
"This psychoti--" One of the boys who have a personal grudge against Arice spoke to criticize him, but Martin immediately shut him up.
Sean tried to lower his voice, but Martin heard what he had asked earlier.
"Shut your trap!" Martin kicked the chair the boy was sitting on. Making the latter so mad that a fight almost broke out.
It was not a secret to them four--the reason why Sean asked Arice if he's alright, right after the adviser breaks the news of Friedde's attempted suicide to them.
But, that was not the case with the other's who weren't in their circle.
To Arice, matters about people killing themselves was equivalent to reopening past wounds.
"I didn't see him doing the deed anyway, so why wouldn't I be alright?" Arice asked. Sean and him ignored the ruckus Martin was creating for Arice' sake, as they secluded themselves in their own world.
"This....is different from before." Arice pulled Sean's hands and rubbed his face against it. The feeling of the slightly calloused but warm hands, made the tiny amount of anxiety in his heart, vanish in an instant.
'Hearing a news about someone, i'm not close with, attempting suicide and seeing your mother hang herself with your own eyes--'
How it affected him differs vastly.
....Or so he thought.
Lucian groaned as pain continuously assaulted his head, it wasn't comparable to when they received the first retribution, but it was still painful. Whats worse is that it wasn't going away.
He doesn't feel his body growing weak, unlike the usual symptoms of a cold. It was just his head that kept on aching.
He stood up to head to the kitchen for a glass of water.
The world in his eyes, seems to be under a high magnitude earthquake.
The dizziness paired with the searing headache, made him want to vomit everything he had eaten for the month.
But he walked nonetheless, with great difficulty.
'I have to drink some medicine' Gila went to work, although reluctant, leaving him all alone in the house.
She left medicines and tons of water beside his bed so he wouldn't have to stand up. She even promised to go back earlier during her lunch so she could tend to him. Despite how far her workplace was from the house.
But, Lucian had already emptied all bottles and drank the medicine she had left. The pain continued to increase by the minute, and his throat feels so dry. His needs to hydrate himself, was like a man without a jug of water walking in a endless desert, extremely desperate. He couldn't possibly wait for lunch to arrive.
It took several minutes before he was able to reach the kitchen, despite it being close to his bed.
He took a jug of warm water and drank it, he then looked around for a medicine but the cabinets were all empty.
'Did i consume them all?' He couldn't even remember the exact amount of tabs he took in his body.
His eyes teared up, and the hotness in his head spread all through out his body. It was as if he's being burned alive. At this point, he couldn't even discern whether this is fever, or a free trial to hell.
DING DONG!
The silent room turned noisy, as the door bell rang in a successive pattern. Lucian doesn't even want to lift a finger, but he had to.
Someone arrived when he need someone to buy him medicine. He had to take a medicine, again, or else he might really get burned alive by this fever.
So with hard steps, he went towards the door. Just after he opened it, the world circled around before it went black.
"Kyaaak!" The woman who was ringing the bell earlier was frightened out of her wits. She came to distribute foods to her neighbor, since it was a custom when you're a new tenant. But instead of a lively conversation, she was welcomed by the sight of a teen passing out.
Lucian fell to the ground with a loud thud, unconscious.