Overdose

60. Yvonne Mcreary

I don't think most of us knew what was going to happen when we went back to the Facility. Evan was on another world, completely detached from all of us. I had tried talking to him, but it was like he wasn't able to hold a conversation past "Hey". Tristan tried his best to talk to his brother, but there was no point.

"Falling apart before it's even started." Nathaniel sat next me on the thin, uncomfortable surface of the catwalks. The metal of the circles that built the floor of the walkway dug into my skin. "I don't know how you-"

"I don't know either, Nathaniel, but I'm being positive. It's an important coping mechanism. You should try it."

"Something you've learned from your therapist, I assume? Didn't think that's someone you'd be using advice from." I hated that I could hear the smirk in his voice, and it took everything to not just turn around and just beat him to a pulp.

Weird. It had been a minute since I'd thought about hitting someone. I mean, it crossed my mind a few times before the Facility, like sometimes I thought about just pushing Tiegan away, but full on hitting someone to an inch of their life?

Hitting was not a positive coping mechanism. Well, hitting a person. A pillow or a punching bag would be a much better way to get your anger out. And yes, I learned that from my therapist.

"Well, sometimes bad people can give good advice." I sighed.

"My father never gave me good advice."

"Nathaniel, I'm not even sure if your father is human."

We both looked at each other, and started laughing. Nathaniel was the only person I had laughed with in a while, and while he wasn't the most expected one, he certainly was a welcome one.

"So, what's your plan when we get to the Facility?" I asked.

"I thought you were coming up with a plan."

"Nathaniel, I know you don't follow plans. Are you going to-"

"Yes. If I-when I see him, I'm going to kill him. There's no doubt about that." Nathaniel sounded so sure of himself. Of course, he always sounded sure of himself, but I knew this was something he had his mind on. I knew all that time he was in that prison he was thinking about what he was going to do when he had the chance to be in the same room as his father.

Could I kill either of my parents, if they had done something to me? Parents are supposed to be the people who raise you and are the first ones to teach you about trust and love. Without that in a child's life, they end up becoming cold and unable to carry on those values with anyone else. I should know, I was sitting next to a living example of that.

"You going after anyone?" He asked.

"No. My main priority is helping the people stuck there. There's been a rise in suicides, I know they're taking more kids."

Around five people from Elbridge had died. I'm sure it was more, but everyone was being so quiet about it. I only knew from Miss Romano, who confided in me that it was always the same officers who went after being alerted, and even though she had asked about why they thought there was a rise, higher-ups stayed very hush-hush and scolded her for asking questions. She already had some officers treating her differently after Evan and I came back.

"So you're ready for next week then?" Nathaniel asked.

"Yes." I was not.

It was two nights before the weekend of our...journey, and I had chosen to stay the night with Lilith. I had brought some blankets and pillows with me, and she looked at me in confusion when I pulled them out. "Why do you have those?"

"Well..I figured they'd make the couch a bit more comfortable.'

She laughed and patted the space next to her on the bed. "Come on, of course you're sleeping up here with me."

"Oh. I just thought-OK." I put the blankets and pillows back in the bag and got on the bed with her.

"Did you enjoy dinner?" I asked, trying to make some conversation that would draw my mind away from the way my heart was beating. It always sped up when I was around Lilith.

"Yes, Evan's mom is such a good cook." Lilith, Damion and Kieran always came to Evan's house for dinner, seeing as how Damion's mom was always working, and Kieran just liked free food. Rose had no problem with it, and welcomed the extra children into her family.

"Yeah, she is."

"You know, I'm really glad you're staying the night. I feel like you and I don't really get moments like this together anymore. Like...like how close we were in The Facility." She smiled at me. She had such a pretty smile. Everything about her was pretty.

"The only difference is now we're choosing to be around each other." We both laughed. "But you weren't a bad roommate."

"I'm happy to hear that." She moved a bit closer to me, pulling the blanket over her. "I'm really happy I met you, Yvonne. I mean, I know the Facility was a terrible place, but it brought me...you."

"I'm really happy I met you too, Lilith." I smiled at her. "After this weekend, you and I...we should, I don't know-"

"Yeah," she nodded, "we should." She looked at me for a few econds, and then gave me a kiss on the cheek. "Let's get some sleep. We have a long day of packing and getting ready."

I pulled the blankets over me and laid down. "Goodnight, Lilith." "Goodnight, Yvonne."