The Forgotten One

5 - TJS

"One of the keys to happiness
is a bad memory."
-Rita Mae Brown

♡
This chapter is from Theo's perspective.
EDITED. changes will be discussed at the end (feel free to skip to see the main difference)
—

Have you ever met someone that appears to be stuck in a cage with no lock, no key?

No matter how hard they shake at the bars, beg someone to release them, no one does. A few people may attempt to. They may pry at the bars, desperate to gain entry. But most people- most people- don't. Don't waste their time, their energy, on it. They see it as someone else's job- not their responsibility. They see it as something that was destined to happen. They're stuck? Probably means they're a bad person, they probably deserve it.

But, that's not always the case. Have you ever seen a good person be treated so horrendously by life, for no conceivable reason? They've done everything right- treated everyone with respect, and kindness, but still get suffocated and stopped at every turn.

Ara is like that.

She was kind, unnaturally so. Always willing to call a boy out for the way he spoke to her- and how he spoke to other girls. She'd never accept a girl being treated badly by a boy, and she'd pretend to be someone's friend in a heart beat if she thought they were uncomfortable.

That changed, though- a few weeks ago she came to school and was a ghost- she was dead from the girl she'd been for the last six years. A shell of herself. She'd try to mask it with different stimulants: weed, alcohol, pills, cigs- anything.

But it didn't work. Her eyes still looked haunted- she still looked haunted.

It's even like last Tuesday, she bumped into me in the corridor and, when I stuck my arm out to stop her from falling, she flinched. She flinched and backed away, in something only describable as total fear. Fear of what I don't know.

It's not like she's ever been a particularly talkative, or even happy, person. But I always put it down to not knowing her- a lot of other people seemed to sing praises about her, so clearly it's just my lack of insight.

But, I've seen that same reaction too many times in the mirror to mistake it for anything other than what it was. Terror.

That alone you could put down to me startling her, I'm aware. But it's in everything she does. Particularly in her response to boys- it's as though she's always expecting them to take advantage of the situation. Of her. And if I'm honest, I'm not at all surprised.

It's no secret how most people view her. If you knew even half the bets and dares that have centred around getting her into bed, you'd be sick. Changing room conversations, and whispers during parties. All with the same aim- shag Ara. It was as though she was nothing to them. Well nothing, but how she looks. Nothing but beauty. And not in a way that could be considered as genuine fancy, or even admiration; they only wanted what no one else had. The shiniest on the shelf.

But what happens when that shiniest thing begins to fade?

And I'm not talking about her physical appearance. I'm not even sure what I am talking about- not sure what particularly stands out as being different. But something is. Something so unbelievably haunting.