The Other Half of Me

Chapter 4 ~ Don't Do Drugs, Kids

Elliot

When the summer started, I had a session with my therapist, Mrs. Baird. I told her I was able to come out to a few friends this year. She was proud of me, but most importantly, I was proud of myself. I got the courage to come out to Trinity, who apparently already knew that I was and was never dating Destiny. Eventually, I just stopped hiding the fact I was gay. I didn't make a huge announcement, but I cleared things up with people. I told them the truth about Destiny and me and how we were never actually dating. I didn't want Destiny and Atticus to hide their relationship any longer.

I also opened up to my therapist involving my constant nightmares of the night of my parents's overdoses. She told me that these nightmares can be linked to me being stressed or anxious. She also wanted to evaluate me a little more because she felt like I could potentially be having PTSD nightmares. I didn't even know that was a thing until now.

After my session, Trinity picked me up, and we went to get some ice cream before returning home. I went upstairs and began painting. I wanted to make some money this summer, so I decided to take commissions. Atticus earned me a lot of money three years ago when he sold my paintings in order to get me money for Christmas. I got a lot of commissions from people online and from school. Not only was I benefiting by getting paid, I was enjoying what I was doing. Painting always calmed me down and just relaxed me.

Considering today was so good, I should've known something bad was going to happen. I woke up to yelling coming from downstairs. I quickly got up and ran out of my room, which startled Tsuki. I ran downstairs to make sure Trinity was okay. When I made it down, I saw her holding her metal bat and glaring at a familiar man: my uncle Arthur. I know she had a slight grudge against him because he didn't help me get away from my parents, but I didn't think she'd want to hurt him because of it.

He looked a lot different compared to the last time I saw him. He lost a bit of weight, and he stopped dying her hair to cover his grays. He was wearing a red flannel, which reminded me of the night my father overdosed—he was wearing the same flannel as Arthur—dark blue jeans and black sneakers.

He turned to look at me. He had bags under his eyes, exposing the fact that he hasn't gotten much sleep. He towered over Trinity and me, which only made my heart beat faster. Was he going to hurt us? He wouldn't hurt us, right? My thoughts were interrupted when he held his arms out, walking towards me as if I would just let him hug me. Trinity bolted in front of me, holding the bat up. Okay, what the fuck is going on? There has to be more to this. She wouldn't just be acting like this over something that happened a few years ago.

"You need to leave, now!" she ordered.

"I just want to talk to Riot," he said, using the nickname my parents gave me. Hearing him say it made it feel as if he put a gun to my heart and pulled the trigger.

"I don't care. I want you to get out of my house."

"Trin," he said softly.

"Get. Out." Her voice was harsh. "If you don't leave, I'm gonna hurt you."

He obliged and left the house. Trinity quickly locked the door and put her head against it, sighing in relief. She let go of the bat, it hitting the wooden floor, making a loud noise that made my head hurt. I wanted to question her about what just happened, but she looked like she was already at the tip of the iceberg.

"I'm sorry for waking you up," is all she said.

I returned to my room and laid in bed, cuddling up with Tsuki. I tried going back to sleep but couldn't. I stared at the ceiling, thinking about why Trinity was acting like that. When I checked my phone, it was four in the morning. I gave up trying to go back to sleep. I continued painting the commissions since I had nothing better to do.