"It" Can't Be Helped (Revised) | ✔️ | Blue Exorcist

46

In case you missed my post, there will be a one-week hiatus next week. Next chapter will be on December 1st.

After what felt like an eternity, the distant echo of the bell sounded from the academy. The teacher dismissed the class, but as we all headed back for the doors, I heard him call out my name. Not capable of handling that kind of conversation at the moment, I ignored him. A girl eventually spoke up beside me, letting me know I was being requested as if I couldn't hear him myself. I ignored her as well, my eyes trained on the ground as I treaded across it. The air-conditioned breeze inside the academy swept across my skin, but it only served as a reminder of what had just transpired. As I pushed open the locker room door for what felt like the tenth time that day, a hand clasped my shoulder.

Not caring who it was, I ripped myself from their grip. I moved quickly toward my locker, feeling the tension that was in the air with my presence. The usual chatty atmosphere held less voices, and those who bothered to fill it sounded forced with their conversations. Grabbing my school uniform, I shut my locker fairly loudly before beelining for the bathroom. I had barely made it into the handicap stall before a force stopped me from closing the door. I looked back with wide eyes to see Bon yanking the stall open and entering behind me. He made quick work of the latch before turning his attention toward me.

His brown eyes were filled with unbridled concern and it wasn't until I saw them that I realized I was borderline hyperventilating. I backed up until my spine hit the tiled wall, the cold temperature quickly seeping through my damp shirt and shocking my system. I cast my eyes upward as tears sprouted in my vision. Now was not the time to have a mental breakdown. Where was the numbness from earlier? Couldn't this wait until I was alone?

Bon took a tentative step forward, looking unsure of what to do with himself. My breaths ricocheted off the hard surfaces and I threw my head back to slam against the tile. Bon reacted to that, lurching forward and grabbing on either side of my skull to prevent me from repeating the action.

Just then, voices entered the room and my watery eyes widened even further. My breathing hitched and Bon moved a hand to clamp over my mouth, trying to quiet my high pitched wheezing.

"Didn't you fucking see, dude? He had gashes going up his arms." If I wasn't so panicked, I would've tried to decipher whose voice echoed in the small room. However, I couldn't find it in me to care, I simply wanted them to leave. My eyes flashed up to Bon's and I saw just how perturbed he was, as well. "You know what they say; to get the job done, go down the road and not across the street. There's no way he didn't try to kill himself." My fingers dug into Bon's arm and I hadn't even realized I was clutching on to him. A thud sounded and the same voice grunted before a new one told him to shut up. "What? I'm being serious. Everyone saw it, are we going to pretend like we didn't? Do you think he did it over the summer?"

My eyes flashed over to the stall door, not sure what I was expecting to happen. After a moment of silence passed, I looked back up at my friend, seeing his eyes closed tightly and his jaw clenching.

"Probably," the newer voice whispered before the warning bell rang. Footsteps echoed off the walls as the exited the restroom, but their voices carried to my ears. "What the fuck were those bite marks, though? That's fucking crazy."

I screwed my eyes shut, my tears falling down my cheeks and over the hand Bon had over my mouth. The soft click of a door latch resonated in the locker room and Bon dropped his hold on me. Immediately, sobs broke free and I slumped against the wall. I slid down to the floor, dropping my uniform into my lap and shoving my face into my hands.

"Fucking hell," I keened, my breathing sputtering and my chest heaving in the absence of oxygen. I rubbed my eyes against the back of my hands, but fresh tears took place in my waterline to no avail. Giving up, I pulled my knees to my chest and lowered my head. "This is the worst thing that could've happened." Simply saying it aloud deepened my cries and I dropped my knees, wiping at my face with the underside of my wrists. My hands were slick with tears and I rubbed them harshly against my shorts just to bring them back up to wipe my face again.