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NINE, the fall through
italics — rues narration
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i ditched rehab.
not only did i ditch, but i may have jumped out of my moms car and ran away when she told me that's where she was taking me. but what you all don't understand is how much rehab actually sucks.
they pick you apart and analyze you like crazy, humiliate you by making you tell your trauma to random people in a support group that isn't any support at all. it's a sadist joke being played over and over on addicts for a profit.
besides, it wasn't like i was gonna come out clean anyway. my mom knew that, everyone probably did. but until the coast was clear, i needed somewhere to crash while trying to avoid withdrawals. and what better place to stay than...
"fuck no." elliot said quickly. rue looked confused, "oh, you're just gonna shut me down that quick?" she asked. elliot nodded, not even paying any attention to rue as he did homework on his floor. "elliot, i just need you to do me this one solid. literally this is the only thing i will ever ask you to do for me." she said.
elliot snickered, "yeah, right. who are you trying to fool exactly?" he asked. rue scoffed, "it's not even like you have to do any work, okay? just hide me incase my mom mysteriously ends up here and whenever they decide not to take me to rehab, i'll leave." she explained. elliot looked at her with no expression, "that's the stupidest fucking idea i've ever heard. are you anne frank or some shit? i'm not hiding you."
"don't be a dick dude, just do it." the two had been going back and forth for nearly ten minutes before elliot slammed his pencil down and got up from his desk. "you know what rue? do whatever, i really do not give a fuck." he said. "but if you're staying, you're not bothering me. just sit and shut the fuck up." he said.
if it were anyone of his friends besides me, he would've done it. but elliot had been clean for a few weeks now and felt like i would mess up his sobriety, which was true. but not right now, i didn't even have any drugs on me.
"now, you got something i can take? i'm in immense pain and going through the worst fucking withdrawals known to man." she began to rummage through his desk without permission as elliot sat on his bed with his books, scoffing as he looked up. "no, i'm sober." he muttered.
rue laughed, "yeah fuckin' right. where are your drugs elliot?" she found the tin case that he hid his pills in but when she opened it, it was empty. she turned to elliot, "no shit, you're serious." she said. he nodded, "yeah, i wasn't lying. i've been sober for like two weeks." he said.
elliot was doing really good. whenever he felt like relapsing he would just go to lianas or text her, finding some way to communicate with her so he had something else to think about besides drugs. he hated it to say because it sounded cliche, but he genuinely believed that liana changed him for the better.
she was the good influence that he never had, but truthfully he cursed her sometimes for bringing another bad influence into his life as well.
"why?" she asked, taking a seat in his spiny chair tucked under his desk. he shrugged, "liana." he said. rue furrowed her brows, "liana?" she asked. "what, she changed your life or something? give me a break, elliot. we all know that's bullshit." she chuckled.
everything rue was saying was pissing elliot off more and more. "okay, it was you overdosing. are you happy now? since you think my girlfriend isn't enough to make me want to get sober." he said. rue put her hands up in defense and spun around in the chair, "jeez! what's up your ass?" she teased. elliot rolled his eyes, "nothing, you're just seriously so fucking irritating rue."
rue sat in silence and spun around again, continuing to spin until elliot scoffed again. "and will you stop fuckin' spinning like one of those cracked out fairy toys?"
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"did you hear about rue?" liana asked, making elliot shift uncomfortably in his bed. rue was hidden away in ziaylas room since liana wouldn't go in there, elliot couldn't let liana know she was there. "no, what?" he asked. "she ran away. her mom came to my house today to see where she was, apparently she's been missing for like three days." she said.
"that's crazy." he said. liana looked over at him suspiciously, "you didn't hear from her or anything?" she asked. he shook his head vigorously, "no." she hummed in response, tilting her head at him. "that's weird actually, i felt like she would reach out to you first or something." she shrugged.
"nah, i haven't heard anything. i hope she's good though, probably going through badass withdrawals." he said. he laid beside liana in bed, his hand mindlessly traveling into her hair and massaging her head. she looked over at him with a small smile, "you know you've been doing really good. i'm proud of you." she said.
elliot grinned down at her and shrugged, "light work, for real." he bragged. she rolled her eyes in response, "shut up, i'm serious." she said. "so am i. it's easy when you have something, or someone to keep you going with getting clean. and i feel really good, i have a lot more energy and stuff." he said.
"i told you. getting clean was the best decision you could have ever made." she said. "do i look sexier?" elliot ran a hand over his face. "no, but you look healthier and that makes you sexier." she said. "you think so?" he asked. "mhm," elliot leaned over and placed a small kiss on her lips before resuming back to his pervious position in bed.
"it's just weird because i have this fear that god is gonna throw a curveball at me and make me relapse." he admitted. liana looked over at him and shook her head, "as long as i'm with you, i'm not letting anything throw off your sobriety,"
"and i mean anything."
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y'all r gonna end up hating rue in this book i'm sorry 😔 it's needed ok bye
