Trigger warning: This chapter contains sensitive mentions of loss, substance abuse, death, and complicated family dynamics. Please read with caution.
~~~
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Oh, gosh... Don't hate me you guys..." Chey said humourously, laughing when I said, "Let me guess, toilet break?"
"Yeah," she giggled adorably.
"It's your lucky day, 'cause I need it too," I smiled, letting go of Towa's hand to accompany Chey to the restrooms. "We'll be back, you guys."
For some reason, I couldn't shake the feeling that someone's eyes were on me. All day long, I felt this strange presence, but I charged it up to the paranoia that comes with newfound fame. Still, I looked around, and once again, saw nothing.
"You okay?" Chey asked when I exited my cubicle and went to wash my hands in front of the mirror. To our left stood a girl with a body similar to Chey's, washing her hands at the sink. She had on an oversized NLK hoodie with cargo jeans and a pair of sneakers, and the hoodie obscured her face from view.
My eyes lingered on her for a moment before I turned my attention to Chey. "I'm good, I just had a weird feeling earlier."
"A weird feeling about what?" she questioned, taking a protective step closer to me.
"Like someone was watching me," I said, distracted by the girl's running faucet. It was the kind that had a biometric sensor that kept the water running for as long as someone's hands were under it. She'd been washing her hands for minutes now. "I'm probably just being paranoid since more people recognise me now. Good thing we're leaving."
"Okay, wash your hands and let's get out of here." Chey's eyes darted to the girl and returned to me with a look of pure concern. She picked up on her strangeness too.
"Sorry, are you okay?" I gently asked the girl, unable to ignore her any longer.
When she didn't acknowledge my question in the slightest, I realised she might not have even known it was her I was talking to, so I tried again. "Excuse me? You've been washing your hands for a while now."
The girl froze, turned her head slightly, but not enough to show her face, and then she violently yanked her hands from under the water, as if she wasn't even aware that she'd been washing them in the first place. Chey and I watched her hurriedly dry her hands and discard the paper towel she'd used. She squeezed a small blob of hand lotion onto her palm and rubbed it in as she headed for the exit, her head ducked down.
"Hey, are you okay?" Cheyenne echoed my words with an outstretched arm as the girl tried to stumble past us on wobbly feet.
"I'm fine," the girl rasped, her words slurred.
Cheyenne and I exchanged a worried look as she walked past us, both of us clearly not knowing what to do. The girl hesitated at the door, her lifted hand nimbly falling to her side. "Was it easy to forget about me?" she asked, and my heart began to slam against my chest. Her voice was clearer now and I knew exactly who she was.
