✦ ⁺₊˚ More Than You Realize ˚₊⁺ ✦

4- Realization

You sat up from your bed, wiping the sleep from your eyes and squinting at the light pouring from your bedroom window. Someone was knocking at your bedroom door.

"Y/n, wake up! You're gonna be late for school again! You're lucky I still take care of you, or your education would be wasted."

You sighed, struggling out of bed and throwing on some appropriate clothes. It had almost been three years since Mari's death, and aside from visiting her grave once in a while, you had wanted nothing to do with it.

You even pushed away everyone that you had become friends with before her death.

Sunny...

Basil...

Aubrey...

Kel...

And Hero.

Sure, you felt terrible, but you didn't have good coping mechanisms that were set up properly. You had never gone through dealing with any death in your family, because everyone was just healthy and lucky.

You also didn't want to bring what Sunny and Basil had covered up into the light. Every time you see them outside your window, it brings back flash backs of what they had done and what you didn't do.

You didn't run in there before it was too late.

You didn't call an ambulance when you saw it happen.

And you didn't try to piece the gang back together after the tragic incident.

You just stood there in the window, staring at her body wondering if she was breathing.

You walked out of your house and hopped in your car, turning the keys and driving to your class.

✦ ⁺. ⧣₊˚

You were listening to your teacher yap about things that had nothing to do with your class.

Which meant time to sleep, of course! You felt the lack of rest weigh on your shoulders like the guilt of you-know-what.

Staring down at your papers, you started to feel your conscious drift off to someplace else, but a tap on your shoulder stopped you. Your head jerked up, looking around.

No one was paying attention to you or looking your way. There wasn't anyone sitting near you. This was really getting confusing. The teacher continued on with the lesson, with you half-listening-half-thinking.

You felt someone's presence beside you but you couldn't see anyone nearby. You couldn't help remember the only other time someone cared enough to wake you up was your freshman year, and that was...

Hero.

You thought about his kind actions towards you as a friend.

Perhaps you didn't have to be alone in this. You go to the same school anyway... why don't you find him? Talk to him.

You felt the same cold feeling on your shoulder and on your hands. Instead of feeling eery this time, however... it felt reassuring. As if beckoning you towards the small idea.

You decided you were going to see Hero sometime today. Perhaps you could check by his and Kel's house, or look for him after your class. Whatever you were planning to do, you knew that you could find comfort and comfort your closest friend.

✦ ⁺. ⧣₊˚

You walked out of the walkway and outside, onto the school grounds. The air smelled of fresh blossoms planted nearby, with the sound of birds chirruping on the breeze. You looked around for any sign of your friend, but didn't find any, so instead you leaned against a nearby tree and continued your watch.

A blue sweater caught your eye.

There he was.

Messy brown hair, tan skin, brown eyes, jeans, but... something was off about him. You squinted, trying to see what it was. A gust of wind blew your hair in your face, blocking your vision. You tried to move your hair out of the way, but the wind kept pushing it back in your face.

When the breeze slowed down, Hero was way up the walk way, with his hands in his pockets, looking down. His steps were slow, so you decided you could catch up with him. He was walking towards where you were going, anyway.

You felt another breeze push against your back, driving you towards him. "Oh man, here goes nothing... Hey! Hero!" He lifted his head, and turned in your direction. You waved with a shy smile on your face, hoping he'd recognize you.

His eyes widened for only a second before going to normal, making you think it was only your imagination. He slowly lifted his hand, sending a small wave your way before turning back around and continuing on his way.

Huh... weird. That's not usually what Hero does... he would've... sent a smile back and waited for me to catch up... I guess I should've talked to him more...

You frowned to yourself, about to go your own pace, when the breeze pushed again, like a best friend encouraging you to talk to someone other than them, to help you step out of your comfort zone.

Might as well try.

You ran to catch up with Hero. "How've... how've you been?..." you said a little quietly, but loud enough for him to hear.

"...fine..."

"Oh, that's good! We should really... catch up some time, eh? That would be fun!-"

You were then cut off by Hero. "Y-yea, maybe, uh, hey, um... listen, I gotta go... got a lot of work to do... so... see you later, Y/n." He walked to his car.

"Oh, that's... that's fine!... I'll, um... I'll come by later tomorrow, then?..."

There wasn't an answer.

His car drove off, leaving you standing at the college grounds watching him slowly leave your vision.

You felt a clear substance sting the edges of your eyes and trickle down your face. The gentle breeze flowed by once more, ridding your face of its redness and wiping your tears (and your fears) away.

You felt your fists clench up, your nails digging into your palms. You had done many things that you regretted, but admitting defeat would not be one of them! Tomorrow, you were going to learn how to be extroverted!

And who would be a better teacher, of course, than the one and only Kel?

HOWDY HEY YALL (finally decided to continue this book 👹👹👹 hope it's still interesting, I had a serious case of writer's block)