to the moon and back || christopher sturniolo

12

i awake to being in the er. i honestly dont know how i passed out but i did. they had treated my burns and i honestly felt worse than before. wait til chris hears about this one.

———

after leaving the er, i had no place to stay other than my aunt and uncles house.

"dad?"

"hm?" he hums.

"can we go back to boston instead if staying here?"

"im sorry but your mother and i like it here," he replies.

"but i dont," i add.

"go tell your mother that."

i groan and go over to my mother.

"mom, can we go back to boston? i dont wanna stay here anymore."

"ask your fa-"

"he told me to ask you!"

"we will see."

i storm over to the room i have to share with my cousin. her name is marisa. shes always out of the house i heard. her brothers name is oliver. he was the one who took a picture of me.

im alone in here so ill talk to the triplets about everything that happened. i havent talked to them in a long time. three days is a long for me. i go to the gc with them and see that theyve been texting me a lot. gosh theyve been so worried about me.

eventually they get all the details and they facetime me and i show them the scars. they werent huge but they werent small. chris ends up shedding a few tears because the only reason i got burned was because i was grabbing the necklace he gave to me. they all feel sorry for me.

———

why do my parents want to live here still?
i dont know
i just wish we could leave this place already.

i put on my headphones and listen to some calming music. music was always my escape. ive been listening to it more lately because thats how i deal with being away from the triplets. ive also rewatched all of their videos at least five times. i walk out the door listening to the playlist i made of my favorite songs that calm me down. its pretty dark so i make sure to have one headphone out just because, well, creepy old men that are planning to kidnap me. i start to go for a long walk with my head down. at this point, i end up in the neighborhood ahead of us. just when i cross the street i see three boys and one girl all talking and laughing together through the window. they really remind me if me and the triplets. i sigh and wipe a tear that i didnt even know was there. one of the boys notice me and look at me confused. he taps one of the other boys on the shoulder and two others turn with him. i freeze like a deer in headlights. i choke on my tears and wipe them then start to speed walk away so i didnt have to talk to them. soon i hear someone walk up behind me and my heart stops. i start to walk faster because i thought it was someones grandpa. turns out it wasnt. i heard the voice of a sweet girl and turn around. i see the three boys behind her and quickly look away so i didnt make a whole puddle of tears. i look away not acknowledging them. she turns my face with her hand and looks at me.

"are you okay?"

i felt another tear slip down my face.

"yeah," i whisper looking at my feet.

"whats your name?"

"any intentions?" i roll my eyes.

did i mention she looked as if she could rip me up if she wanted to? well she did.

"wha- no," she answers.

the three boys walk closer. i cant look at them without getting reminded of the triplets. these definitely werent triplets but they still reminded me of them. i face the girl and answer her question.

"y/n," i sigh.

"layla. these are benjamin, aiden, and marcus," she replies.

they wave to me and i force a smile.

"i should head home," i say.

"come by soon?" one of the boys ask.

i nod and walk away.

———

i arrive back home and get ready for bed. i see that marisa is also getting ready for bed. she was brushing her wet hair when she looked at me then went back to what she was doing. i do the same. she then leaves the room.

i look at myself, the necklace, then to my visible scar that was on my arm. i smile at the necklace and take a deep breath. i get on the pathetic mattress on the floor beside her bed and grab my phone. i open tiktok and put my headphones back in so i didnt disturb anyone. marisa came back into the room and got into her bed and did the same. i scroll and come across videos of the triplets here and there but i watched less of them til they came up less and less.

———

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