Taken

Chapter 1: Donavan

Today is November 6th, the day of his disappearence. It' s been a whole year without his comforting words, his warm smile, his contagious laugh, and it's taken a while but I've begun to accept the fact that he may never return, he may be lost in a memory that I can never retrieve.
I was in bed, my phone in my hand as I rewatched the last video we had together, once.. twice.. and again and again it played, his voice was imprinted in my brain. It has been rough, the guilt, the non-stop starving to the point where my brain begins to rot and my body becomes numb. I can't stop replaying what happened, and only that video can stop it for a split second before I'm back in that ever-continuing limbo.

Finally, I decided to get up, school was important and today was a day I refused to miss. I don't like when people point out my pain and look at me as if a small breeze could knock me down. I refuse to let people see me like this again.
I let myself go on autopilot, getting dressed, refusing food, styling hair and so on. My house was only a short walk away from my school, and when Donavan was still here, we would often skip class to spend time at my so called 'home', where we felt safe. It's not the same without him visiting everyday. Even in extreme weather, he would show up.

I'd now arrived at school, waving to some friends, Nolan ran over. Let's just point out that Nolan was also Donavans best friend, he was quiet, taller than him and weirdly strong, his hair was a mess and his glasses barely hid his puffy eyes. He'd been crying. It was comforting, knowing that this wasn't just affecting ME, and that I wasn't alone.
"Come on.. let's just get through today." I spoke softly, he went to say something, but instead he just nodded, and we headed inside the school.

"It's been a year now.." "Do you think she'll cry?" "Honestly why are we not over this." "She's obviously a mess!"
Those were just some of the whispers I could make out.. I can only imagine the torture Nolans going through. I stare out the window, remembering before he was taken, when you would rarely see Nolan cry, and when he did, only Donavan could cheer him up.
Donavan.

I stood still, watching in awe as Nolan and some other guy fought, cheering their names in laughter while they scrapped. It was a friendly fight which quickly escalated as the other guy hit Nolan on the back of his head, HARD. Donavan noticed it, watching as Nolan held back his pain and punching the other guy square in the nose, causing blood to splatter on the guys face and on the freezing snow.
"Blood. Guys, stop he's bleeding!!"
They both stopped, but Donavan was rushing to Nolans side, worriedly holding him up and pulling his jacket off to hand to him. We all went inside, although we weren't supposed to with COVID mandates, we still snuck in. Donavan was focused only on Nolan, nothing else. It was always clear that Donavan loved Nolan more than a friend loved another friend.

"Rain." I jumped, looking over to see my teacher at my desk, kneeling next to me. My face was burning wih embarassment when I noticed everyone was watching me, I held my gaze with my teacher as he spoke more loud than I would've liked. "Listen. I know today is hard for you, but I need you to either turn your attention back to my lesson, or go to the office." I laughed dryly, before shaking my head angrily, picking my stuff up and speaking to him coldly "Then I will gladly leave."
I can tell you this much, he was not happy with my reply.

I walked to Nolans class, 213B, it was on the second floor and basically across the entire school, but it was better than listening to my teacher drone on and on about complete bullshit that wouldn't aid me in the real world. I peeked in, seeing my friends head down on the desk, face turned towards the wall. This had become a common occurence, I would stand at the door of the class, the teacher would be expecting me and let me take Nolan for our little walks throughout the school.
Today was no different, we walked through the halls quietly, just being comforted by eachothers presence and knowing that we aren't alone. He was distant, looking at the floor but sometimes glancing over at me.

"Donavans never coming back.. is he?" It was quiet, but I know I heard him right.