𝐋𝐄𝐓 𝐈𝐓 𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐏𝐄𝐍 . . . 𝐚𝐥𝐞𝐱 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐚𝐥𝐥

43. 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩𝙞𝙣, 𝙞'𝙢 𝙨𝙤 𝙨𝙘𝙖𝙧𝙚𝙙

XX. justin, i'm so scared

season 2, episode 5: the chalk machine

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Nessa sat down at the dining table next to Zach, their plates already prepared and ready for them to eat in front of them. Mrs. Dempsey was already sitting, the local newspaper in her hand as she read it.

"Have you two seen this?" she asked as soon as her kids sat down. She held up the newspaper to show them. "My God, was there anyone in your class this Hannah wasn't involved with?"

"I'm sorry?" Nessa asked, pausing with her fork in the air as she stared at her mom, Zach doing the same.

"Everyday, there's another boy in this story." she said, placing the paper down in front of them as Zach shrunk down into his seat. "It's not surprising that she had a reputation."

"Wow, mom." Nessa said through a scoff as she rolled her eyes, her appetite gone.

"I will just be glad when all of this is over for this family tomorrow, and you guys are as far removed from this mess as possible." Mrs. Dempsey said calmly, and both of her kids just glared at her.

"Yeah." the twins said in unison, forcing themselves to finish their breakfast as quickly as possible.

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"So." Alex said as the two of them walked down the hall. "How pissed is your mom about yesterday?"

"Not bad, actually." Nessa told him. "She's too worried about Zach's court date tomorrow to be mad at me."

"Well, I guess that's good?" Alex said in a questioning tone.

"Yeah, and she didn't even flinch when I said Jessica invited me to group therapy." Nessa continued. Jessica had called her last night, telling her that her parents were adamant that she needed to go to group therapy to talk to someone, and asked if Nessa would go with her.

She protested at first, but the sleepless nights of flashbacks and nightmares were coming back, so maybe it would do her some good to be able to talk it through with some other people that understood her.

"Are you going to go?" Alex asked her, and Nessa nodded.

"Yeah." she said softly. "I think it would be good for me. How are you, after the tapes?"

"Okay." Alex said as they stopped in the hallway in a vacant spot, the groups of people far away from them. "How are you doing?"

This was a very loaded question for Nessa. Physically, she was fine. She was eating normally again, which was a huge win for her, but mentally, she was far from okay. It was a battle every single day, one she hadn't let Alex know about yet.

"Not great." Nessa replied. "Every time I lay my head against my pillow, I just freak out. It's like it's always happening all over again, and I can't escape it." She looked down at her feet, scared to look up at Alex and see his sad face, full of pity.

"Why didn't you tell me?" Alex asked as he grabbed her chin, pulling it up to look at him and reveal the tears that were streaming down her face.

Nessa sniffled. "Because, you have a lot going on too." she said. "I didn't want to be a burden."