It had been hours of me laying on the floor. When I finally felt like I had the strength to stand my phone was able to unlock. Tons of messages from thirsty guys asking me inappropriate things and sending me unsolicited private pictures. A bunch of girls writing on my timeline telling me I'm a slut, whore, deserve to die, etc. I had to deactivate all of my social media.
And for the first time in a while I contemplate giving up. Shutting my eyes and resting forever. Anne, I'm coming home. You were my only real friend.
Friend.
Josh , Joshykins.
The one thing I don't think I could leave behind like that. My heart breaks and I sob. As I scroll through my phone I see he's messaged me twenty two times and has called me seven times. I text him "girls bathroom" so he knows. I put my phone back and try to stand up but end up crashing on my butt when I attempt. I'm going to need actual help. They got me good.
Josh rushes in , less than six minutes.
"You came." I say almost in disbelief. My voice is cracking. They kicked my throat.
"That's what friends are for." He says and he carries me. I wheeze and let out a small gasp from the pain I feel.
He carries me across the school and into the parking lot where his car is. He puts me in the back so I can just lay down instead of sitting.
"Did she do this to you?" He's looking at me through his mirror.
I nod my head as much as I can. I feel like I can't speak. Alice managed to get me on the neck once with a kick. She got me several times on the cheeks. Maddy did too. It felt like the longest beating of my life and I actually believed it might've been my last moments.
Truthfully, I wanted them to be. I haven't felt that since Anne left the world.
Josh stops the car and I can see that we're parked in his driveway.
"My moms here, she can help us clean you up a little." He gets out of the car and goes around. He lifts me again and I swear it hurts more this time around.
When we approach his door, his mom, Sarah, opens it and lets us in. They lay me on their huge living room couch. His mom tries to gently touch my face. I wince.
"I'm so sorry Ariel." She takes an ice pack to my bruises. "Who did this?!" She demands to know and looks at Josh.
"I don't remember," I whisper slowly. It hurts to talk.
I lift my shirt up to reveal my stomach and let her see the bruises there to ice them as well. She gasps in shock. She asks Josh to get more ice packs and he leaves us alone.
"Does Cheri know?" She asks. I don't say anything. "I have to call her." I shake my head no. She doesn't care what I say, she's a concerned parent so of course she calls.
"Cheri, something awful has happened." She looks over at me. "Ariel was beaten up at school or something and she can't talk right now. No knowing who did this, yet."
She stops talking while Aunt Cheri is. I can't make out what she says but I can tell she's trying so hard not to freak out.
I'm willing to bet she's going to want me to transfer schools again. There's only one other high school in this small medium sized city and it's a private school. I would definitely be better off here. I would not get along with anyone who's as selfish as the richer side of town.
"She'll be here in five minute," Sarah says to me. Pushing my brain just for a moment. "You'll have to rest for the next few days and an ice bath wouldn't hurt." She gives me a sympathetic smile.
I hear my phone buzzing away. Someone must've given my number out when I deleted your socials. Of course she would why wouldn't she? My life is basically over. What college would accept someone who's nudes got leaked their final year of high school?
Josh finally returns with an ice pack.
"Thank you." I managed to whisper.
"It was Alice Winnie." He says to Sarah.
I grip his wrist and squeeze.
"I'm sorry but she has to know."
Shit.
Aunt Cheri shows up within the next couple of minutes. Meanwhile Sarah is writing an email to the principal and the school head district.
She immediately rushes to me and touches my forehead.
"My Poor baby. Who did this?!" She demands to know.
"She can't talk much." Josh answers. "It was Alice."
"I never liked her." She sighs and shakes her head. "We're coming after that little—"
"Already been taken care of." Sarah says from the kitchen counter where she's typing away on her laptop.
"Thank goodness you're a nurse and a mother!" Aunt Cheri says.
Aunt Cheri was a lesbian. Sarah was too I think. Josh and I have caught them flirting several times throughout the years. Except his mom did marry his dad. His dad left of course when they were younger. He was a heroin junkie and eventually Sarah couldn't take it anymore, constantly working just for him to take most of her money and go do drugs in an alley. Josh was only seven when he left. Josh and I bonded over deep things like this. Things we've both experienced in our own ways. Alice never really fit into that but we were all close because we've liked the same things. We all had school spirit, at least I used to before this year. Friendship was strange, especially because you always never know someone until afterwards.
Aunt Cheri and Sarah are whispering away in the other room. I hear aunt Cheri mention how she wants to switch schools for me. I just never fit anywhere. Rosemond was the schools name. Prestigious. I would never fit there either.
Josh leaves my side for a split second to go over to the other room and demands to be switched too. He shouts "I will NOT leave her side."
I hear some of the battle but I feel my eyes shutting and my mind slipping. I'm sinking again into the depression. Maybe I never really reached the surface and I feel my throat swallow. The air tightens around me. Suddenly the brightest room becomes the darkest.
Anne and I are in her car. I'm riding back seat and there's a guy I've never seen in the passenger. I can't make out his face but I see him with a tiny spoon and powdered lines on his phone screen. No rainbows plays in the background.
"Take one." He dares Anne.
Anne was very anti drug and she was a square. At least from what I've seen.
"No." She scoffs. "I'm driving."
"You better take one, cost me 80."
"You wanted it, it's for you. I said No Charles!" She rolls her eyes.
"You dumb bitch!" He throws her phone in the back seat. It was being used for the aux. It was Charlie.
"What the fuck?!" She swerved. She got honked at and swerved back into her lane.
He grabs his spoon and dips it in a small tiny bag with the rest of the rock. He immediately goes to shove it up her nose and she tries to fight him off. She doesn't sniff it , it falls out of his hands as they're swinging. She loses control and spins out. She gets hit by a truck that keeps driving off and manages to hit another car. It felt like the beating from earlier, my body aches at every touch.
Anne is now next to me, unconscious. Charlie survived without anything but a limp. I watched him run as fast as he could with his right leg in pain. I can't speak, I can't move. Just like the dream a few weeks before it felt like I switched with Anne and I was the one stuck on a piece of broken wood and metal, drowning.
I admire her beauty. She was a pretty brunette with pale skin and freckles surrounding her cheeks. Her eyes were closed but I would've liked to see her hazel green eyes beam with joy one final time. She was wearing a cute pink blouse with light blue denim jeans, I'm pretty sure they were mine. One small bicker we never got to have that night.
I think about our mom for a moment. She would be hurt if she lost us, at least that's what I tell myself. Aunt Cheri wouldn't be the same. She would feel like she failed the both of us considering she was our legal guardian. But there's one person I realize I will miss, one who I know would be absolutely broken if I died. Josh.
How could I leave him behind? Josh doesn't have many friends and I don't want to lose my best friend. I don't want him to come visit me where my ashes are spread or gravesite and talk to me like I'm still here. I don't want that depression to struck him ever. I don't want Josh to be without me and I don't want to be without him.
The moments are fading and I can see the light. Small light in pitch black. I feel a tear fall on me. I look up to see Anne. Alive and well.
"Not yet." She says and she gives me a push back into reality.