hypochondria // tate langdon

pretty average day if i say

i forget how shitty public school was. and my god it's 10 times worse in california. i didn't plan on trying to fit in or make any friends. i had myself and that was enough for me. i figured if i kept my head down and minded my own business, people would leave me alone.

i was wrong.

i walked through the courtyard of westfield high school, cigarette between my lips. it had already been a long day. i breathed in the ashy smoke before taking a long exhale, walking past a group of preppy sorority girls.

"hey! student council passed a rule against smoking in public spaces," one girl shouted at me, overly furious over a cigarette.

"yeah, second-hand smoke kills," one of her minions agreed, crossing her arms.

"oh, sorry," i said dryly, putting out the cigarette and attempting to walk past them. but the first girl grabbed my shoulder, pulling me back.

"what the hell is wrong with you? people sit here. they eat here," she ranted like a madwoman.

"ok?" i shrugged. i honestly couldn't give a shit about these girls.

"leah's grandma died of lung cancer. she takes this stuff pretty seriously," the second girl explained.

"well lucky for me, i don't have lung cancer,"

leah picked the cigarette off of the floor, "eat it. or i'm gonna kick the shit out of you," she said, as she grabbed my face, holding the cigarette to my face.

"try me,"

"come on leah, that's enough. we don't know her," the third girl, held her back.

"no, i want to see her eat it. do it bitch!"

at this point, leah was violating me and my space. and i wasn't about to put up with it. so, i slapped her right across the cheek. the newly crowd around us gasped, her friend's jaws dropped as they tried to comfort leah. but leah bounced back, taking a swing at me to the eye. that's gonna leave a nice bruise. i groaned, holding my eye before pouncing on leah, tackling her to the floor. i pulled her hair, scratched her pretty little face, and made sure she was left with a bloody nose.

i saw teachers in the distance, confused at the large crowd. this was my time to run without a word. i got to the school bathroom after running, which was a mistake.

my chest hurt. so bad.

suddenly when i tried to breathe in, it turned into a cough. a violent cough.

i couldn't stop. i was hunched over the bathroom sink. 

coughing. gagging.

i picked my head back up from the sink to reveal blood.

what was going on? what was happening to me?

i was so tired. mentally and physically. i ended up leaving school early and going home.

luckily my mom wasn't home at the time and dad was with a patient, so they wouldn't see i was home or my black eye. i sneaked up to my room and closed the door behind me.

"pretty eye, ey?"

"holy shit, tate?!"

yep, there was tate. in my room. why? i couldn't tell you.

he looked casual and amused that he scared me. he was sitting on my bed, holding my teddy bear in his lap.

"what are you- put that down, you idiot," i grumbled, snatching my bear out of his arms and setting it next to him.

he chuckled, leaning back on my headboard, putting both his hands behind his head.

"what are you doing in here?" i asked, still very confused.

"your dad and i have a session today, i was early," he said simply.

"i sure hope whoever beat you up looks worse than you." he smiled, looking at me through the mirror i was using to look at him.

i scoffed, "she does," i mainly reassured myself, grabbing my makeup to cover my black eye.

"she?" tate raised an eyebrow, intrigued.

"leah at westfield high," i replied.

"i used to go there until i dropped out,"

"it's that bad?" i questioned, lightly dabbing concealer on my eye, despite the pain of the bruise. it'd be a lot worse if my parents found out.

"look at yourself," tate reasoned.

i shrugged, nodding in agreement.

"see, can't even tell," i smiled, turning back to face him to show my makeup-covered eye.

"pretty," he tilted his head, studying my facial features.

"yeah, i heard you yesterday," i teased, plopping next to him on my bed.

we stared into each other's eyes, forgetting about time and existence. that was until my dad decided to join the party.

"what the hell is this?" my dad asked, bursting through my door, stunned in astonishment.

"what?" i asked.

"tate, get away from my daughter, and get out of my house," my dad said sternly, staring bullets at tate.

why was he overreacting so much?

"dad, relax. we were just talking," i chuckled at his overly dramatic reaction.

"lydia, he's dangerous, you can't be near him,"

"he's my friend," i frowned, trying to get fake sympathy points.

"what about our session?" tate butted in.

"last time i checked, sessions don't take place in my daughter's room," my dad fired back, pulling tate's arm away from me.

"bye, lydie" tate winked, smiling his contagious smile.

lydie...

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author's note - hello! i know my chapters are short, but for someone who has an insanely short attention span, whether i'm reading or writing stories, shorter chapters help me stay engaged. how are we liking the story so far? feel free to comment :) the way i'm writing/publishing this is posting the first 5 chapters cause i had already written them lol. i hope to continue to write and stay motivated though! ok, enough talking, love you!!!

word count - 850