nobody | brad s.

nine

I reluctantly trail behind my mother as we walk up the driveway to the school. Once we get inside the office, my mother quietly speaks to him for a minute while I stand off to the side.

Principal Snapp motions for the two of us to sit down, to which we oblige. I keep my focus downward and continue to pick at the old nail polish on my fingers.

"I'm glad to hear that you've been making friends here, Ella." He sends me a polite smile.

"Well, a friend."

"Uh, right." The principal shifts in his seat and glanced at my mother before continuing, "We thought you'd like to take a look at his student file."

"Why are we here?" I grumble toward my mom.

"Ella." She warns.

"So if you could tell me his name, please?"

I roll my eyes, then widening once I spot Brad sitting in the chair in the corner behind Principal Snapp's desk, arms crossed and glaring at me. I send him a weak smile but his expression doesn't change. I shake it off, replying to the man after realizing how long I've taken.

"Bradley Simpson." I cross my arms and slouch back in my seat, wondering what the point was in bringing me here on a day that I don't need to be.

I watch as the man spins his chair around and digs through one of the file drawers. He then faces us with nothing in his hands, folding his hands together and placing them on the desk before sighing. "There is no Bradley Simpson here. Nor is he a part of any other school throughout the district."

I glance back at Brad, staying silent for a moment in order to attempt to process this. It's impossible right? I mean he's right there for crying out loud.

"What about a Tristan Evans?" I question, leaning forwards.

"Ella, we came here to talk about...Bradley." My mom grimaces.

"Just look for the file."

"No record of a Tristan Evans either." He speaks slowly, confused.

This causes my moms face to pale, her frantically speaking, "T-That can't be right. I-I mean, I spoke to the kid the other day, he's an actual person."

I glare at my mom for not considering Brad an 'actual person'.

"Well it is possible that he jumps around school to school, or is a dropout." Mr. Snapp shrugs.

"Right. Okay." My mom nods, shaking her head a bit. "Thank you, Mr. Snapp, we appreciate your help."

"Are you understanding now, Ella?" Mom hesitantly asks once we're back in the car.

I ignore her, "You know Brad could be one of those people too. A dropout or something."

"He's not, Ella. You have a disorder." She mumbles.

"I can prove it to you! He gave me a shirt!" I snap.

The moment we arrive home, I drag her up the stairs to my room. It doesn't take me long to find the light blue Arctic Monkeys t-shirt. I hold it up, giving my mother and James an 'I-told-you-so' look.

"Seriously?" James scoffs, ripping the shirt from my grasp. "That's mine. You know I was into that stuff grade nine. How did you even get that?"

"I told you, he gave it to me! You must've had the same shirt or something, I'm one hundred percent sure that used to be Bradley's."

"Look, dumbass." James holds up the shirt, revealing the initials 'J.M.' written in sharpie across the inside collar of the shirt. "She really is crazy." He mumbled to my mom on the way out of my room.

I feel like breaking down in tears right here and now. I was so sure of everything, but so far, all that's happened is me being proved wrong.

Mom walked over and ran a hand through my hair. "You need to rest. We'll talk some more later, okay?"

The very second my mom closed the door on her way out, I grew angry. Angry at myself, at Bradley, and at the world. Suddenly I start to see everything differently. And I don't like it. I start to wreck my room, pulling clothes off hangers, tearing my posters down from the wall, pushing everything off my desk. In fact, I end up knocking over my desk entirely, everything in the drawers spilling out all over the floor. I stop once I see the box of pills I never took. I crouch down and scoop it up, popping open the top and staring at all the small pink tablets.

"What are you waiting on?" My head snaps up to find Brad sat across from me. "I'll do it with you."

"You're...You're not real." I mumble, wiping tears that I hadn't realized were falling.

"You don't believe that. I know you don't. Think about all that's happened between us, how is that not real?" He reaches for my hand.

I drop the box and shudder away from him. "What's going on! You owe me an explanation."

"There's nothing to explain! We'll each take half the box. Then it'll just be the two of us. No one here like you, no one here likes me. All we need is each other because that's all either of us has got and you know it."

"Everything we've done; the stealing, the ditching, the getting drunk. It was all just me, wasn't it?" I realize, speaking quietly to myself.

"Ella, take the pills." He demands, ignoring my previous statement.

"No!" I cry.

"Are you insane?! Do you really wanna stay here?! Take the pills!"

"Go away!" I yell, shutting my eyes an full out sobbing. "Bradley go away!"

I open my eyes, and he's gone. I take in heavy breaths and tug at my hair once I see the mess I've made. I crawl into my bed and hide under the blankets. Maybe the world is right, maybe I really am insane.

this is short lmao sorry. last chapter/epilogue will be up soon