Brandi had slept through her alarm twice. On the third round of obnoxious beeping, she decided not to go to work. She somehow felt worse than the last two days. Turning away from the picture of her and Ice at her graduation from the Academy, she stared at the ceiling. Brandi couldn't look at the photograph anymore, her dad looked so happy, so proud. It made her feel like she had been tied to the back of a horse and dragged through mud for hours on end. She couldn't even cry anymore, she was just a shriveled-up husk.
A knock sounded on her door and she huffed, She hadn't left her room all day nor had she eaten. Sarah checked on her periodically, sometimes bringing her something light to eat. A collection of snacks and drinks sat on her desk untouched, all gone cold or stale.
Not hearing a reply, Sarah hesitantly peeked inside and immediately noticed that she hadn't eaten a thing. She sighed by ultimately chose not to say anything about it. "Honey? You've got visitors."
She really didn't want to interact with anyone and their pity. "Tell them to piss off."
"It's your friends."
"I don't want to see them," she grumbled.
"Mrs. Kanzansky, may I?" a gruff voice asked gently. "Darlin', we're just worried about you. It's unlike you to be a no-show."
Brandi flipped, facing away from the door, and curled into herself. "Yeah, well, you don't need to be. I'm fine."
"Said every person who wasn't." She could hear him rolling his eyes in the tone of his voice. There was a brief pause and then the click of a lock. Brandi thought Jake had given up and a part of her was disappointed that he hadn't tried harder. But then the bed dipped and a hand was placed on her arm. "It's all right, Brandi, to not be all right. Bob and Phoenix are outside-"
"Where's Bradley?" They hadn't talked since that infamous phone call.
Jake startled. "I - I don't know, darlin'. He disappeared when we told him we were going to see you."
Her heart contracted. He left her when she needed him most. "Come back when you find him."
"Brandi-"
She pulled away from him, the absence of his warmth leaving a void. "You heard me, Hangman." She then pulled her blanket over her head, shutting the rest of the world out.
