Why Am I Like This?

Chapter 1: Aftermath

Katie walked into her college halls, expecting nothing but for her new friends to meet up with her. But as soon as she took a step...

ITS HER! SHE GOES TO MY COLLEGE!

KATIE, CAN I GET YOUR AUTOGRAPH?!

I LOVE YOU!

YOU SAVED ME!

Katie was backed up into the college doors, being bombarded by almost the whole school. Everyone's faces were shoved into hers and lights flashed in her face. She covered her eyes, her expression clearly uncomfortable.

She shuffled her way through the crowd, trying her best to ignore the amount of hands trying to grab even just a piece of her skin and hair. Tears formed in her eyes.

Her grey converse squeaked across the tile floors. She ran as fast as she could, her glasses slowly slipping off her face. She looked a total wreck.

She made it to her door room, rushing in and shutting the door behind her. 

Jade poked her head out of the kitchen and her face lit up, oblivious to the shock on Katie's face.

"You came! Ohmygosh I can't wait to show you around and-"

Jade's smile quickly faded, though, as she noticed the panic on Katie's face.

Katie stood in shock, her back against the door. 

"Oh my god, Katie are you okay? You look like you've seen a ghost!"

Katie couldn't do anything but whimper and fall into Jade's arms. She broke down into a fit of tears and almost fell to the floor.

Jade hugged her back, rubbing her back sympathetically.

———

"It feels so weird. Everyone is totally obsessed with me."

Katie took a bite of the cookies that Jade had made for her arrival. The rest of her friend group sat at the table with her.

"At least they haven't found you're dorm room yet." Hanna spoke.

Great. One more thing I have to worry about.

The silence in the room was broken by the sound of a ringtone on her computer.

Katie stood up and looked over to her desk. Her mom was calling.

"I'll be back."

Katie took a sigh and answered the call. Her moms face was full of joy, completely different from Katie's.

"Hi honey! How's your first day at college so far?" Linda exclaimed. 

Katie spoke up, but her voice sounded tired and raspy. "It's okay, mom." Katie answered, pulling a fake smile.

Linda noticed something was up and her smile turned into a concerned frown. "Are you okay, sweetie? Did something happen?" Her mom spoke.

"Mom?"

"Yes, honey?"

"Why do people like me?"

Linda gave a confused look. "What do you mean?" She asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Like, I walked into school and all of a sudden I was bombarded by compliments." Katie said.

Linda took a sigh and looked down. "I knew this was going to happen."

Katie raised an eyebrow. "Wha- What do you mean...?" She said, her voice growing shaky.

"A few hours ago a bunch of people almost broke our door down. There was paparazzi and everything." Linda said. Katie grew worried, not only for herself, but for her family.

"So, does that mean...?"

"Yeah."

Katie couldn't understand. It was as if a burden was placed on her shoulders.

"Mom, can I call you back?"

Linda looked at her sympathetically. 

"Sure, honey."

Katie hung up and put her hands in her face. What is she supposed to do? She already had to deal with the overwhelming thoughts of the apocalypse.

And the trauma caused by it.

And the anxiety.

AND THE PANIC ATTACKS.

"Get a hold of yourself!" Katie whispered under her breath. She got up and grabbed her phone. She laid in her bed and looked at the ceiling.

Jade came over and sat at the edge of her bed. She placed a gentle hand in her leg.

"You okay?" She whispered softly. Katie sighed and sat up.

"It's just- I didn't want this, y'know?" Katie said, her voice starting to falter. "I don't want this." 

Tears swelled up in her eyes and a lump in her throat grew. She fell in Jade's arms. Hanna and Dirk came over, and put sympathetic hands on her back.

She couldn't do anything.

She was hopeless.

———

Katie woke up the next morning. Her head was foggy and her arm was wrapped around Jade. She assumed she cried herself to sleep, because her head hurt and she felt her dried tears on her cheek.

She sat up and put a hand over her forehead.

"Ow..." She groaned in pain. She tucked strands of hair behind her ear and got up out of bed as gently as possible. She didn't want to wake Jade up.

She made her way towards her dresser and got her phone. She opened up her phone and...

*DING!* 

*DING!*

*BZZZZZ...*

"AH!"

Katie slammed her phone screen down and took a step back, her hands over her mouth. She looked over to Jade. Jade stirred but went back to sleep 

She took a sight of relief and lifted her phone back up again. She looked through every notification.

She saw comments of support on her short films on YouTube, and her constant likes from instagram. 

She was confused, sure, but the thought of being famous warmed up in her mind.

Maybe it wasn't that bad.

———

A/N: heyyyy! new fic! i have to hold back on the pals puppet sequel for a while because there have been a LOT of technical difficulties with working on the fic :( sooooo here's a fic for the wait! i love all of you guys! thank you for your patience! 🫂💖