Apex Predator

Panic

I sat cross legged on my floor, my dog Max on my lap. I was nodding my head to the music that was playing on my phone as I flicked through a magazine. My mom was out so I belted out the top notes with much enthusiasm. Suddenly I heard a knock at the door. I shifted Max, stood up and walked downstairs. When I opened the door I was surprised to see Quinn Fabray, face wet with tears, hair a mess, panting and shaking.

'Quinn what's wrong?'

'I'm so sorry Tana, I didn't know where else to go. I don't have anywhere else to go I just...'

'Hey, it's ok. It's gonna be ok.'

I pulled her in for a hug and she wrapped her arms around me tightly. I remembered when she had done the same thing at the party. We hugged for a while and then she came inside. We went up to my room and sat on the floor. Quinn wiped at her tears and smiled as Max jumped on her lap.

'So, you wanna tell me what's happened?'

She took a deep breath in, still shaking.

'Have you ever had a panic attack?'

'I had one once. It was about a year ago and these guys were bullying me. They were chasing me and I thought I was gonna die.'

'That sounds horrible.'

'Yeah it sucked.'

'Well I have panic attacks all the time. I don't know why. That's what you heard that time in the bathroom. They just come at the most random times. Like one moment I'm fine and the next moment the walls are closing in and I can't breath. I had one at home but nobody was in and I had to get out. Usually I can deal with them but today it got so much that I couldn't cope. I needed distracting. I'm really sorry, I shouldn't have come here and I shouldn't be telling you this, I don't even know what's wrong with me.'

'Hey, there's nothing wrong with you, ok? It's really brave of you to tell me all of that. And it's super brave to ask for help when you need it, I know that's hard for you.'

'I love your dog!'

'His name's Max. He likes you.'

'Yeah he does. I've always wanted a dog but I've never been allowed one. Is your mom home?'

'No she's at work.'

'Oh ok. Is it just you and your mom? Sorry, do you mind me asking?'

'No, not at all. Yeah, it's been the two of us since I was little. My mom had me when she was still in high school and my dad wanted nothing to do with me. When she graduated we moved out and we've been the two of us ever since.'

'She seems really nice.'

'Yeah, she's pretty cool. It sounds sad but she's one of my best friends.'

'That's not sad. I wish I had that with my mom.'

And for the rest of the afternoon we stayed in my room, flicking through magazines, chatting and laughing. Quinn Fabray was the most normal of human beings that day. She was friendly, she laughed, she ate Maltesers, she played with Max. It was heaven, if only for a few hours.