Meant to be half

~1.Tessa~

Present day

Why is it that we are seeking the truth with all our heart, no matter the cause, although we are well aware of its torturing pain?
Why do we want to feel the painful truth?

I had moved. I came here for a fresh start. To forget and to try to start over. Now I am engaged to my best friend.

Life was better. It seemed like everyone and everything had finally settled down around me. School had been much more relaxing too. My colleagues were not chattering about my habits anymore, at least not in a vocal tone, to make it audible for me; and James and Tori became close friends of mine. We even tend to meet up once in a while, which is quite nice. Yet, my social skills are pretty low.

Wow... I never expected to see it like that. Enjoying to go out. Mateo was right, after all. I should simply trust the process. And it surely was worth it.

Wasn't that what I was supposed to say in my position? Life was better now?

I mean, to be fair, after a few months into dating Mateo, I was quite surprised to see him kneeling down to propose. However, I think it was a good thing to say the least. He enlightened my life. He was this little sparkling light.

"Remember to take your pills, babe." He smiled at me, whilst disappearing into our bedroom.

Talking of it, it was the only thing not so bright in my life. The nightmares returned to me. They torture me every night and although I'm taking some calming pills, the dreams stayed.

I still wake up in the middle of the night, bathed in sweat, a hastily pounding heart and quickly heaving lungs. The only factor that disappeared along with the pill taking, was the screaming.

No more screaming. At least one of us was able to sleep now.

I turned off the lamp next to me and gathered my notebook and phone. The pills were quickly swallowed as well and I was able to leave the dark living room behind me. My feet walked on their own, towards the room Mateo just walked into as well. He rose his gaze from his laptop he was using for late night work and smiled at me lovingly.

With a deep sigh, out of my throat, my body sunk into the softness of the mattress.

"I know that kinda noise." My fiancé stated and immediately closed his laptop, putting it aside and turning his body towards me. "What's bothering you? You've been off for the whole weekend. Well, your mind was."

My eyes remained on the ceiling and I parted my lips. "It's one of my students. She acts so different now." I fiddled with my fingers.

"Mh.. did you try to talk to her about it?" Mateo hummed softly and I nodded.

His fingers stroke hair out of my face, whilst I parted my lips again. "She was not really... open for a conversation." Tessa was worrying me a whole lot. For two weeks —no, three. It were three weeks by now.— She's been hanging out with the trouble makers. Not that these kids are bad, because they are not, they can be beyond charming, however they don't seem to be suitable for the sweet and quiet student. The student Tessa was.

She was a kind girl and usually pretty open and talkative even. I had the impression she was trusting me. At least a tiny bit. As much as one could trust their teacher.

"Try again or call her parents?"

Her parents... I've never talked to her father and the chat I exchanged with her mom, Cate, was rather short and not deep in any kind of way.

"I don't want to be that teacher, Mateo." And finally I glared at him, although it was in a more.. helpless way, than anything else.

"Babe, you care too much, you know?" And if that hasn't come from him, I would have been beyond upset and hurt about the comment, because screw you!