Flaws of Stars

Chapter 8

[THREE MONTHS LATER]

[pov Lou]

I opened my eyes.
In the atmosphere of the party, the faces around me were fuzzy and the lights blinded me. I tried to escape from the room, but the people around me grabbed me by the arms so I couldn't move. I screamed, but I didn't have the strength to resist them.

All of a sudden, I realized they were all celebrities. They judged me by their looks, and I could hear their thoughts.

- You're hurting my friend, said Zendaya. I won't forget that.

- Why did I invite you in the first place ? wondered Uma. I just knew all of this was gonna happen.

- Why are you so complicated ? added Maya. You could have just had fun, but you chose to ruin my evening, by leaving the party twice !

- Why did you do that to them ? Asked Kit, angry. To us ? You're too young to be here.

- We were all happy without you anyway, said Finn coldly.

- What is wrong with you ? Added Melanie.

- We thought you were cool... said Aurora, looking disappointed.

- No... Please let me go... I begged.

- Stop running away ! Take responsibility for once ! exclaimed Tom.

- See? What cowardice makes you do? You shouldn't be there, affirmed Xavier. But you ruined the evening, therefore you have to pay for every suffering you caused.

- I'm sorry, I'm sorry... I whispered continuously, panicking.

They lit a lighter and brought it closer to me. I tried to struggle but they tied me by the arms.

- You wanted to be there, now you'll face the consequences, whispered Uma in a psychotic voice in my ear.

- NO, PLEASE ! I screamed.

Someone put the lighter against my arm. I howled in pain, feeling my skin burning under the heat.

- You are awful, said a familiar inner voice.

The voice repeated itself in loop inside of my head, louder than anything else. I felt an horrific sensation of fall, then, for a moment, it went all black.

I opened my eyes. I felt as if I was emerging from the surface of the water, out of breath. My arm was still hurting me. I looked around me. I was in my room, and it was just a nightmare. Again. I closed my eyes and catched my breath. A notification sounded and I looked at my phone : it was 11 AM already.

I forced myself to get up and take a shower, then had breakfast on my balcony. The buildings of New York were long shadows in front of the beautiful sunny blue sky. I felt nostalgic about the view of my home in France, sometimes. It could have helped me to forget all of this better, this view only reminded me of everything about this town. A phone call saved me from my dark thoughts. It was Pal.

(in french)

- Hey, purple girl.

- Hey...

- Where are y'a ?

- At my place, you ?

- Taking a coffee down the street. You woke up earlier, this time ?

- No... Still at eleven.

- Well, it's still better than last week.

I smiled.