My brothers bestfriend (A.M fanfiction) [EDITING]

Chapter 24

Austin makes his entrance late.
I hear the door swing open more loudly than usual.
I don't turn, not wanting to acknowledge him.
He's late and after what I saw you should know that no girl  or boy should have to be in a relationship with a cheater.
I just continued to finish writing down the objective on the board.
Then he speaks, I know it's him but the voice is all wrong, like he's speaking while being choked.
I turned towards him at the front of the classroom.
In one shattered moment my heart and breathing stopped.
As he nears my heart falls right through my sneakers, he's more purple than brown.
His left eye is swollen, he can't be seeing a thing out of that and he won't for a while yet.
His face still bears congealed blood and his clothes are an utter mess.
His arms are wrapped round his guts like he's holding them in and to be honest his beat so bad he could be.
Austin's eyes meet with mine before he tries to say my name, his cracked lips failing at the first syllable.
I didn't know what to say or do.
I couldn't process anything.
"I can't do this" was the only thing I could say before leaving the classroom.
Everyone's attention was on me.
But I didn't care at the moment.
I just had to leave... it was too much.
Leaving makes a mess of it all, it rearranges things.
Healing forces you to move.
Healing forces you to embrace the silence in the steps.
Healing forces you to change, to leave behind the familiar.
Healing forces you to rebuild.
And how difficult must that be? To leave everything you have known behind.
When you have to say goodbye to that, suddenly, you are by yourself in a world that you don't recognize.
Suddenly, you have to adapt.
There is nothing more harrowing than that.
You'd much rather grip at what you knew, at the past, because that is where you are safe, that is where you are sheltered.

~A week later~

Suddenly a loud piercing stream of light exploded on my face, blinded by its brightness.
Feeling disgruntled with my sleep I moaned for more sleep, but the devilish light of the sun begged for justice to win over me.

The phone buzzed in my hand notifying me that a voicemail had been received which I decide to listen to immediately.
"Hey Hazel... it's Austin again. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.
I know you didn't have an umbrella yesterday and it was pretty nasty out there when we all broke to go home. Sorry to bug you I was checking up on you I wouldn't forgive myself if you weren't okay"
My heart fluttered at the sound of his voice, and my lips expressed the slightest of smiles.
I had to admit I felt good when he had called to check on me and it was nice to know someone other than my family cared for my safety.
His voice caused more than a small chest flutter and squeezed my thighs together at the thought of him.
Curse you Austin.
I'm supposed to be mad at you.
He'd been calling all week.
Literally none stop.
I just ignored it after what happened last week when he cheated on me with Colby.
I've been trying to avoid him all week and I've been thinking about doing online schooling.
I couldn't stand to get the taunting looks or whispers in the hallway as I head towards my locker.
It was Austin who cheated and everyone gives me the hard time.
Even the others were trying to avoid me.
I tried to open my eyes adjusting to the dim bedroom light.
Everybody hates me and I'm not the one who cheated... it was Austin.
However, there was one person that I could always speak too.
One person who understood.

*phone rings*

"Hello?" A sweet voice speaks on the other side of the phone
"Hi" I say with as much enthusiasm as I could give out.
"Hello baby, how have you been?"
My ear presses against the glass just to hear her voice.
I missed her so much.
She would know what to do in this type of situation.

"Not too great that's why I called" I took in a deep breathe before continuing.
"Your the only one that understands me and I just need you to comfort me when I'm down... just like old times"
I croak out with sniffles.
I couldn't help but let a tear roll down my face.
The tears burst forth like water from a dam, spilling down my face.
I feel the muscles of my chin tremble like a small child and I look toward the window, as if the light could soothe me.
There is static in my head once more, the side effect of this constant fear, constant stress I live with.
My walls, the walls that hold me up, make me strong just... collapse.
Moment by moment, they fall.
Salty drops fall from my chin, drenching my shirt.